He spent most of his career with Athletic Bilbao, scoring 172 goals across all competitions for the team over three spells.[6] 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.
Learning to play football on the sand at La Concha beach,[9] 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.[10][11] 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.[12]
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,[13] 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 Segunda División) before returning to Athletic in December 2005.[14][15]
Aged 29, Aduriz moved to Valencia CF on 14 July 2010, for about €4 million.[23] He scored on his official debut on 28 August, opening an eventual 3–1 win at Málaga CF.[24]
On 27 June 2012, Aduriz rejoined first professional club Athletic Bilbao for a fee in the region of €2.5 million, signing for three years.[28] On 23 August, he scored his first goals in his second spell, netting a brace in a 6–0 home rout of HJK Helsinki in the Europa League playoff round (9–3 on aggregate).[29] On 20 October he returned to the Mestalla Stadium to face his previous team and netted twice, albeit in a 3–2 loss.[30]
Aduriz continued with his form on 4 November 2012, scoring two goals in a 2–1 away win over Granada CF.[31] He quickly profited from Llorente's shaky contractual situation to become first-choice,[32][33] and finished his first season in his second spell with 18 official goals, 14 in the league.[34]
Llorente left for Juventus FC in summer 2013, and Aduriz was made the starter by new manager Ernesto Valverde.[35] On 28 February of the following year, he scored three of his team's goals to help the hosts beat Granada CF 4–0.[36]
On 8 February 2015, Aduriz scored in a 2–5 home loss to Barcelona to complete a century of goals in Spain's top flight.[37] In the last match of the campaign on 23 May, he netted twice in a 4–0 home victory against Villarreal CF to clinch the Zarra Trophy by surpassing Rayo Vallecano's Alberto Bueno, whilst also qualifying for the Europa League. In the 24th minute, he ceded a penalty kick to Iraola who was leaving the club after 16 years, but his teammate declined, so he converted it instead.[38]
Aduriz scored a hat-trick as Athletic won 4–0 against Barcelona in the first leg of the Supercopa de España, on 14 August 2015,[39] and equalised in a 1–1 draw in the return match to hand his team the trophy, the first of his career.[40] On 16 October, after starting the season strongly with 11 goals in 14 matches in all competitions, the 34-year-old agreed to a contract extension until 2017.[41]
Aduriz again proved influential for his team on 5 November, scoring one goal and assisting a further two in a 5–1 defeat of FK Partizan in the Europa League group stage – in the process, he reached the 100-goal mark with the club.[42][43] On 24 January 2016, he netted through a bicycle kick to help his team come back from a 1–0 deficit to win 5–2 over neighbouring SD Eibar.[44] On 18 February, in the Europa League's round-of-32 tie at Olympique de Marseille, he scored what was described as a "wonderful" and "incredible" goal, the only one at the Stade Vélodrome.[45][46]
Aduriz was the La Liga Player of the Month for March 2016 after scoring three goals, becoming the first Athletic player to win the award since its introduction in 2013. In that month, he also struck to eliminate former side Valencia from the last 16 in Europe.[47] Even though the team was eliminated in the following round by eventual winners Sevilla FC, he finished as the competition's top scorer with ten successful strikes,[48] totalling 36 overall and only trailing Telmo Zarra (47) and Bata (37) for goals during a single season with the club.[49][50]
2016–2020, retirement
On 3 November 2016, in a Europa League group stage home fixture to K.R.C. Genk, Aduriz scored all five of his team's goals (including three penalties) in a 5–3 victory, becoming the first player to accomplish this feat in the competition in the process.[51] Having previously been level with Llorente on 16, that achievement also took him clear as the club's top scorer in European matches.[52]
Aduriz renewed his contract with Athletic once more in November 2017, this time to run until summer 2019.[53] The following month, he became the club's oldest goalscorer after surpassing Agustín Gaínza.[54]
Aduriz was named the league's Player of the Month for the second time, winning the January 2018 award after showing good sportsmanship during a derby against Eibar: he fell in the penalty area going for a loose ball between two defenders, but immediately signalled to the referee and the supporters that no foul should be awarded (he also scored a few minutes earlier, one of two strikes during the month).[55]
Despite the club being eliminated from the 2017–18 Europa League at the last-16 stage, 37-year-old Aduriz finished as the competition's top scorer – along with SS Lazio's Ciro Immobile – with eight goals in the tournament proper.[56] His 2018–19 campaign was severely curtailed by injuries[57] as the team generally struggled to score and collect points, and he scored only two league goals from 20 appearances; both were penalties in successive home fixtures, the first in a Panenka-style against Girona FC past former teammate Gorka Iraizoz for a last-minute 1–0 victory,[58][59][60] and the second against Valladolid an unusual precise kick with no run-up, described as a "remarkable... five-a-side... minimalist" technique.[58][59][60] He agreed a new one-year contract in May 2019,[61] later confirming at the outset of 2019–20 that it would be his last season as a player before retiring.[62]
On 16 August 2019, Aduriz scored the only goal in a 1–0 victory against Barcelona through a bicycle kick in the last minute of the first league fixture, helping his side to their first league win against that opposition since 2013 and also equalling Lionel Messi's record of scoring in 15 consecutive league seasons.[63][64][65] He had a stoppage-time penalty saved in a match away to previous employers Mallorca four weeks later,[66] and injuries then caused him to miss three months of matches over that winter. He returned to play a role from the bench in wins over Barcelona and Granada in February that helped the team qualify for the 2020 Copa del Rey final,[65] but did not score again himself before the season was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic[65]– his last appearance being as a last-minute substitute in a win over another former club, Valladolid.[67][65]
On 20 May 2020, Aduriz announced his retirement as a professional footballer.[68][69]
International career
Spain
After an impressive start to his Valencia career, 29-year-old Aduriz earned a first call-up to the Spain national team, being picked for two UEFA Euro 2012qualifiers in October 2010. He made his debut on the 8th, replacing Llorente for the last 15 minutes of a 3–1 home win against Lithuania.[70]
Six years later, at the age of 35, Aduriz was recalled by manager Vicente del Bosque for friendlies with Italy and Romania.[71] He started and scored in the first match, a 1–1 draw at the Stadio Friuli,[72] and was selected for UEFA Euro 2016 in France.[73][74] He made two substitute appearances in the group stage, always replacing Juventus' Álvaro Morata in the second half.[75][76] On 27 June, in the round-of-16 clash against Italy at the Stade de France, he came out for Nolito at the start of the second half, but had to leave the pitch injured in an eventual 0–2 loss.[77]
On 12 November 2016, after contributing to a 4–0 victory over Macedonia in the 2018 World Cup qualifying phase in Granada, Aduriz became Spain's oldest ever goal scorer at the age of 35 years and 275 days.[78]
^ abSan Cristóbal, Ainara (28 June 2012). "Aduriz, 11 goles por campaña" [Aduriz, 11 goals per campaign]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 21 June 2016.
^"´Aduriz marcará más de once goles´" [´Aduriz will score more than eleven goals´]. Diario de Mallorca (in Spanish). 12 December 2009. Retrieved 21 June 2016.
^Álvarez, Fernando (14 July 2010). "Aduriz ya es jugador del Valencia" [Aduriz is already a Valencia player]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 November 2015.
^Pardo Latre, Clara (14 September 2010). "El Valencia sale líder del infierno turco" [Valencia emerge leader from Turkish hell]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 September 2024.