Place of birth Pamplona, Spain Name Ion Goikoetxea Position Forward, Midfielder 1985–1988 Osasuna Weight 75 kg | Years Team Height 1.75 m Role Footballer | |
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Full name Ion Andoni Goikoetxea Lasa Date of birth (1965-10-21) 21 October 1965 (age 50) | ||
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Ion Andoni Goikoetxea Lasa (born 21 October 1965) is a Spanish retired footballer.
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An attacking player of wide range, he operated in various positions on the right side of the pitch (right back, midfielder or forward), and was best known for his FC Barcelona spell, during the club's Dream Team years.
Having amassed La Liga totals of 386 games and 36 goals over the course of 13 seasons, Goikoetxea appeared for Spain at the 1994 World Cup.
Club career
A product of hometown's CA Osasuna's youth ranks, Goikoetxea was born in Pamplona, and he first appeared in La Liga two days shy of his 20th birthday, in a 0–2 away loss against Celta de Vigo. An automatic first-choice from early on, he scored a career-best 11 goals in the 1987–88 season, as the Navarrese finished fifth.
Subsequently, Goiko moved to league giants FC Barcelona, but was immediately loaned for two years to Osasuna's neighbours Real Sociedad where he would only missed two league games in two seasons combined, achieving another fifth place in his second.
In 1990–91, Goikoetxea arrived at Camp Nou, joining several other Basque players, including Txiki Begiristain, Julio Salinas and José Mari Bakero. These would help form the backbone of the legendary Dream Team, winning four league titles in a row, with the addition of the club's first European Cup (where he appeared in the second half of the 1–0 win over U.C. Sampdoria).
Goikoetxea played 37 matches in his first season with Barça, being voted the Spanish Footballer of the Year by Don Balón magazine. In the 1994 summer he joined another Basque side, Athletic Bilbao, amassing nearly a further 100 top flight appearances in three years.
Goikoetxea retired in 1999 after a brief spell with Japan's Yokohama F. Marinos – where he again teamed up with Salinas – and a return to Osasuna, now in the second division. Six years later he started his coaching career, always under former Osasuna and Athletic teammate José Ángel Ziganda; the pair worked at newly promoted Xerez CD during the 2009–10 campaign, leaving in early 2010 due to poor results.
International career
Goikoetxea played 36 times for the Spanish national team during six years, representing the country at the 1994 FIFA World Cup. His debut came on 12 September 1990, in a 3–0 friendly win over Brazil.
During the 1994 competition in the United States, Goiko appeared in all the matches, scoring twice in two draws against South Korea (2–2) and Germany (1–1), his misplaced crossing attempt catching goalkeeper Bodo Illgner off-guard in the latter game.