Aritz Aduriz

Aritz Aduriz Zubeldia (Basque: [aɾits̻ aðuɾis̻]; Spanish: [ˈaɾits aˈðuɾiθ]; born 11 February 1981) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a striker.

He spent most of his career with Athletic Bilbao, scoring 172 goals across all competitions for the team over three spells. He also surpassed a century of goals (104) in La Liga, in which he additionally represented Mallorca and Valencia.

In addition to playing for Spain, Aduriz was a regular goalscorer for the Basque national side. He appeared for the former at Euro 2016, at the age of 35.

Born in San Sebastián, Gipuzkoa, Aduriz came from a family keen on sport but more inclined towards the likes of surfing, mountaineering and cross-country skiing. He excelled at the latter as a child, finishing runner-up in the junior national championship.

Learning to play football on the sand at La Concha beach, he was brought through the ranks of local youth club Antiguoko where he shared teams with future elite players Xabi Alonso, Mikel Arteta and Andoni Iraola, but was not initially picked up by a professional club like his teammates. He became part of the famed Lezama youth system at Athletic Bilbao, although he was already 19 when he arrived from amateurs CD Aurrerá de Vitoria.

After two seasons in the reserves, Aduriz made his first-team debut on 14 September 2002 against FC Barcelona in a 0–2 home loss, but made only two more league appearances during the campaign, still turning out for the B-side where he made just short of 100 appearances in the Segunda División B. He went on to spend almost three seasons elsewhere (one with Burgos CF, one and a half at Real Valladolid in the Segunda División) before returning to Athletic in December 2005.

Aduriz showed continuous progress, attested by his nine La Liga goals in 34 games in 2006–07, including a hat-trick against Real Zaragoza on 19 May 2007, albeit in a 3–4 defeat. He was overshadowed by the younger Fernando Llorente in the following campaign, but still managed to net seven times in 33 league appearances.

On 4 August 2008, Aduriz became the first player to score at the Colchester Community Stadium, in a friendly match with Colchester United. He was sold to RCD Mallorca on the 23rd, signing a four-year contract.