Place of birth Bilbao, Spain Name Sendoa Agirre Current team Retired Role Footballer | Years Team Height 1.76 m 1994–2001 Bilbao Athletic | |
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Full name Sendoa Agirre Basterretxea Date of birth (1975-12-31) 31 December 1975 (age 39) | ||
Sendoa Agirre Basterretxea (born 31 December 1975 in Bilbao, Biscay), known simply as Sendoa, is a Spanish retired footballer who played as an attacking midfielder.
Football career
After finishing his football formation at Basque giants Athletic Bilbao, Sendoa spent several years competing at amateur level in the region, on loan. In 1998, he returned to the first team, but only appeared for them during pre-season games under Luis Fernández, going on to exclusively represent the reserves during two seasons.
Aged nearly 25, Sendoa had his first taste of professional football, playing one season with SD Eibar in the second division, but he moved immediately after to the third with neighbouring Barakaldo CF. In the following four years he represented division three club Alicante CF, finishing twice in the top-three but never promoting in the playoffs.
Sendoa signed with second division side Hércules CF for the 2006–07 campaign, being an undisputed starter from early on and contributing with three goals in 39 games (almost 3,000 minutes) in his fourth year as the Valencians returned to La Liga after a 13-year absence – he was almost 35 at the time of promotion.
On 28 August 2010, Sendoa appeared in the 2010–11 opener, a 0–1 home loss against Athletic Bilbao, thus becoming the oldest rookie in the history of the Spanish first division. On 7 May of the following year, he scored his first goal in the competition as Hércules fell 2–3 at home to Racing de Santander and were finally relegated; he added a brace in the following fixture, a 2–2 home draw against RCD Mallorca, which certified the team's fate.