Xiker

Xiker Ozerinjauregi Mendikoetxea (born 30 January 1997), known as Xiker, is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a central defender for Segunda División B side Sabadell.

This article uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Ozerinjauregi and the second or maternal family name is Mendikoetxea.
Xiker Ozerinjauregi
Personal information
Full name Xiker Ozerinjauregi Mendikoetxea[1]
Date of birth (1997-01-30) 30 January 1997
Place of birth Zalla, Spain[1]
Height 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)[1]
Playing position(s) Centre back
Club information
Current team
 Sabadell
Youth career
2007–2014 Athletic Bilbao
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014–2016 Basconia 42 (0)
2016–2017 Toledo 7 (0)
2017–2018 Peña Sport 37 (2)
2018–2019 Real Sociedad B 3 (0)
2019 Cornellà 9 (0)
2019–2020 Real Betis B 10 (0)
2020– Sabadell 4 (0)
National team
2013 Spain U16 3 (0)
2015 Spain U18 3 (0)
2014 Spain U19 4 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 06:42, 28 July 2020 (UTC)

Xiker began his footballing career in 2007 when he joined the academy of Athletic Bilbao. He progressed through the club's youth and reserve sides over the course of the next nine years before being halted by a serious injury. Following his recovery he spent a season each at Segunda División B clubs Toledo and Peña Sport before joining Real Sociedad B in 2018. The following year, he signed for Cornellà before signing for Betis six months later.

Xiker is also a former Spanish youth international and represented Spain at various youth levels between 2013 and 2015.

Club career

Early career

A product of Athletic Bilbao's famed academy, Xiker joined the club at the age of ten and spent nine seasons developing his game at the Lezama training ground.[2][3] During his time with Athletic, he represented the club at the UEFA Youth League and was considered to be one of Spain's brightest defensive prospects.[4][5] His progression through the ranks was interrupted, however, when he suffered a serious injury while on international duty with the Spanish youth team.[6]

Toledo

Following his injury, Xiker saw his game time with Athletic feeder-club CD Basconia reduced, and on 5 August 2016 Segunda División B side Toledo announced that the club had signed him on a two-year deal after Athletic agreed to the termination of his contract. Part of the agreement was that Athletic retained the option of re-purchase on Xiker at the end of each season.[3][6][7][8] He made his debut for the club on 3 September, starting in a 2–0 loss to Arenas Club.[9] On 23 October, Xiker suffered a muscular injury in Toledo's 1–0 win over Real Unión and was ruled out for the remainder of the year, with doctors only giving him the clear to return to training on 3 January 2017.[10] He made his long-awaited return to the first team on the final day of the regular season on 14 May, starting in a 3–0 loss to Bilbao Athletic.[11] The result saw Toledo end the campaign in second position, four points behind champions Albacete, and thereby qualified for the play-offs to the Segunda División.[12] The club were ultimately unsuccessful in their bid for promotion, however, as they were knocked out by Atlético Baleares after a 3–1 aggregate defeat.[13]

Peña Sport

Having been restricted to just seven appearances as a result of his injury, Xiker rescinded his contract with Toledo and signed for newly-promoted Segunda División B side Peña Sport on 16 July 2017.[14] He made his debut for the club on 20 August, starting in a 1–0 defeat to Real Unión.[15] Ten days later, he featured in the Copa del Rey for the first time, though Peña were unable to hold onto the lead in a 2–1 defeat to Mirandés.[16] He scored his first professional goal on 14 January 2018, netting Peña's third in a 3–3 draw with Arenas Club. In doing so, he helped the club to their eighth consecutive match without defeat, having previously not won in their first 13.[17][18] The club's resurgence ultimately came too late, though, and they suffered relegation in the penultimate match of the season following a 3–0 defeat to UD Logroñés.[19] He ended the campaign having scored twice in 37 league appearances.[20]

Real Sociedad

In June 2018, following a collaborative agreement between Peña Sport and Real Sociedad, Xiker joined the latter on a two-year deal where he linked up with the Real Sociedad B side.[21] He made his debut on 9 September, starting in a 2–0 defeat to Barakaldo.[22] He struggled for game time thereafter, however, and made just three appearances before leaving the club in January in seek of first-team opportunities.[23]

Cornellà

On 28 January 2019, Xiker signed for Cornellà after his contract with Real Sociedad was terminated by agreement.[24] He made his debut for the club on 2 February in a 1–0 loss to Badalona. In his debut season, he made 14 appearances as Cornellà reached the final of the Copa Federación, where they were defeated 5–2 on aggregate by Mirandés, and the promotion playoffs.[25]

Real Betis

On 19 July, Xiker was on the move again when he signed with Real Betis, joining up with the club's reserve side.[26] He ultimately made 10 appearances for the club before leaving midway through the season to join Sabadell.[27]

Sabadell

On 31 January 2020, Xiker rescinded his contract with Betis in order to sign a new deal with Sabadell.[27] He ultimately made four appearances for the remainder of the season, which was largely interrupted by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, including one in the play-off final victory over Barcelona B which secured the club's promotion to the Segunda División.[28]

International career

Spain national youth teams
Xiker (right) captained the Spain U18 side at the SBS Cup in Japan in 2015.

Xiker is a former Spanish youth international and represented the nation at all levels from the U16s to the U19s between 2013 and 2015.[29] In 2015, he was part of the Spain U18 squad which won the Atlantic Cup after beating Portugal, Costa Rica and the Canary Islands.[30] Later that year, he was included in Spain's preliminary squad for the UEFA European Under-19 Championship in Greece.[31] He was one of six players cut from the final squad, however, as Spain went on to claim their seventh title in the competition.[32][33]

Career statistics
As of match played 27 July 2020 [1]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup1 Other2 Total
LeagueAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Basconia 2014–15 Tercera División 250––250
2015–16 Tercera División 170––170
Total 4200000420
Toledo 2016–17 Segunda División B 7000–70
Peña Sport 2017–18 Segunda División B 3721030412
Real Sociedad B 2018–19 Segunda División B 30–0030
Cornellà 2018–19 Segunda División B 90–50140
Real Betis B 2019–20 Tercera División 100–00100
Sabadell 2019–20 Segunda División B 40––40
Career total 112210801212

1 Includes Copa del Rey matches.
2 Includes Copa Federación matches.

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References
  1. "Xiker Ozerinjauregi". Soccerway. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
  2. "Xiker Ozerinjauregi Mendikoetxea". Aupa Athletic. Retrieved 4 January 2017.(in Spanish)
  3. "Xiker Ozerinjauregui nuevo jugador del CD Toledo". Toledo. Retrieved 4 January 2017.(in Spanish)
  4. "Xiker Ozerinjauregi". UEFA. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
  5. Atkinson, Tre' (9 May 2014). "7 Athletic Club Bilbao Youth Stars That You Should Be Aware Of". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
  6. "CD Toledo completes its defense with an international". El Digital Deportivo (in Spanish). 5 August 2016. Retrieved 4 January 2017.(in Spanish)
  7. Beltrán, Javi (9 August 2016). "Xiker: "Son muchos años en el Athletic, viene bien salir"". El Desmarque. Retrieved 4 January 2017.(in Spanish)
  8. "Rescisión de contrato de Xiker". Athletic Bilbao. 5 August 2016. Retrieved 4 January 2017.(in Spanish)
  9. "Arenas Club de Getxo v Toledo: 2–0". Soccerway. 3 September 2016. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
  10. Delgado, Ruben (3 January 2017). "Los médicos dan el OK a Xiker". Cadena Ser. Retrieved 4 January 2017.(in Spanish)
  11. "Despedida amarga del Toledo antes de afrontar el play-off". Marca. 14 May 2017. Retrieved 14 May 2017.(in Spanish)
  12. "Estadicas Segunda Division B Grupo 2 2016-17". Marca. Retrieved 14 May 2017.(in Spanish)
  13. Galicia, Samuel (28 May 2017). "El Atlético Baleares despierta al Toledo de su sueño por el ascenso". Marca. Retrieved 28 May 2017.(in Spanish)
  14. "2ªB: Xiker se desvincula del Toledo y ficha por el Peña Sport". El Digital Castilla la Mancha. 16 July 2017. Retrieved 16 July 2017.(in Spanish)
  15. "Un gol del navarro Jorge Galán echa por tierra las ilusiones de la Peña Sport en su regreso a Segunda B". Navarra. 20 August 2017. Retrieved 20 August 2017.(in Spanish)
  16. Cervantes, Patxi (30 August 2017). "Una derrota cruel: la Peña Sport pierde en el minuto 92 y queda eliminada de la Copa por el Mirandés". Navarra. Retrieved 2 September 2017.(in Spanish)
  17. "La Peña Sport sigue sumando ante el Arenas y alcanza ya ocho jornadas seguidas sin perder". Navarra. 14 January 2018. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
  18. Valera, Inigo (3 May 2018). "Xiker: "Hace tres meses nadie daba un duro por nosotros"" (in Spanish). VAVEL. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
  19. "El Logroñés apabulla al Peña Sport (3-0)". Sport (in Spanish). 6 May 2018. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  20. Parcero, Bruno (5 June 2018). "Xiker Ozerinjauregi, refuerzo para el Sanse" (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  21. Recalde, Mikel (27 June 2018). "La Real se interesa por Paul Miguélez" (in Spanish). Noticias de Gipuzkoa. Retrieved 30 June 2018.
  22. "El Sanse sigue a cero lejos de Zubieta" (in Spanish). El Diario Vasco. 9 September 2018. Retrieved 11 September 2018.
  23. "Xiker se va al Grupo III" (in Spanish). La Segunda B. 30 January 2019. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
  24. Gonzalo, Marta (28 January 2019). "La Real rescinde el contrato de Xiker Ozerinjauregi" (in Spanish). El Desmarque. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
  25. "CD Mirandés wins its first RFEF Cup against an UE Cornellà that has tried it until the end (2-2)" (in Spanish). Real Federacion Espanola de Futbol. 28 March 2019. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  26. "Xiker Ozerinjauregi, nuevo jugador del Betis Deportivo" (in Spanish). El Desmarque. 19 July 2019. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
  27. Munoz, Joan (31 January 2020). "Xiker Ozerinjauregi tanca el mercat arlequinat" (in Spanish). iSabadell. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  28. Hayward, Ben (27 July 2020). "Barcelona B miss out on promotion to Segunda after play-off defeat vs Sabadell". The Evening Standard. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  29. "Xiker rescinde con el Athletic y ficha por el CD Toledo". La Cantera de Lezama. 5 August 2016. Retrieved 4 January 2017.(in Spanish)
  30. "Bernaola, único representante del Athletic para el Torneo Atlántico". El Desmarque. 30 January 2017. Retrieved 6 February 2017.(in Spanish)
  31. "Unai Simón y Xiker en la preselección para el Europeo Sub'19". El Desmarque. 16 June 2015. Retrieved 4 January 2017.(in Spanish)
  32. Egea, Pablo (29 June 2015). "Marco Asensio, Ceballos, Vallejo y Meré lideran la sub 19". Marca. Retrieved 4 January 2017.(in Spanish)
  33. "Spain see off Russia for seventh Under-19 crown". UEFA. 19 July 2015. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
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