Elisabeth Ibarra

(Redirected from Eli Ibarra)

Elisabeth "Eli" Ibarra Rabancho (born 29 June 1981) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a midfielder or defender. She played club football for Eibartarrak FT from 1995 to 2002 and for Primera División club Athletic Bilbao from 2002 to 2017.[3] She made 44 appearances for the Spain national team, scoring two goals.[3][1]

Eli Ibarra
Ibarra in 2017
Personal information
Full name Elisabeth Ibarra Rabancho[1]
Date of birth (1981-06-29) 29 June 1981 (age 43)[1]
Place of birth Azkoitia, Basque Country, Spain[2]
Height 1.59 m (5 ft 3 in)[1]
Position(s) Left midfielder, left wing-back
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1995–2002 Eibartarrak FT
2002–2017 Athletic Bilbao 367 (104)
International career
2002–2015 Spain 44 (2)
2006–2014 Basque Country 4 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Ibarra held the record for most appearances for the women's first-team of Athletic Bilbao (413)[3] until overtaken by former teammate Erika Vázquez in 2022.[4] Her 111 goals across all competitions made her their third-highest goalscorer of all time.[3] She is also the only player to have taken part in all five league championships that the club has won.[3]

Club career

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Ibarra started playing football at the age of 13.[5] She played for Eibartarrak FT (now SD Eibar) for seven seasons, from 1995 to 2002,[6] before joining the newly-founded women's team of Athletic Bilbao in the summer of 2002, ahead of the 2002–03 Superliga Femenina season.[7][3] When she first arrived at the club, she chose the number 17 shirt, in homage to former Athletic footballer Joseba Etxeberria.[6] She made her debut in a 7–1 win over Torrejón at the Lezama Facilities, in what was the first ever match played by Athletic's women's team.[6]

Ibarra scored in Athletic's first two appearances in the UEFA Women's Cup. In December 2012, she played her 300th match for Athletic.[7] In 2016, she won her fifth league title with Athletic and agreed to remain with the club for another year.[8]

In May 2017, at the age of 35, she announced her retirement from football.[9][10] She made a total of 413 appearances for Athletic Bilbao – 367 in the league, 32 in the Copa de la Reina, and 14 in the Champions League.[3] She is the club's third highest goalscorer of all-time, behind Erika Vázquez and Nekane Díez, with 111 goals; of those, 104 came in the league, five in the Copa de la Reina, and two in the Champions League.[10][3]

International career

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Ibarra was a member of the Spain national team,[11] where she was deployed by Ignacio Quereda as a left wing-back.[12] She was part of Spain's squads for UEFA Women's Euro 2013 in Sweden[13] and the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup in Canada.[1]

Career statistics

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List of international goals scored by Elisabeth Ibarra
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition Ref.
1 24 June 2010 Estadio Municipal de La Albuera, Segovia, Spain   Malta 3–0 9–0 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification [14]
2 7–0

Honours

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Athletic Bilbao

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "Squad lists" (PDF). FIFA. 6 July 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 February 2020. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  2. ^ "Ibarra profile". Athletic Bilbao. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h "Eli Ibarra, a queen in the history of the Red and Whites". Athletic Club. 29 June 2020. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  4. ^ Erika Vázquez, una leyenda del Athletic que cuelga las botas [Erika Vázquez, an Athletic legend who hangs up her boots], Diario AS, 10 May 2022 (in Spanish)
  5. ^ Menayo, David (14 January 2009). "Eli Ibarra: "Lucharemos por el título hasta el final"" (in Spanish). Marca. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  6. ^ a b c Menayo, David (10 November 2014). "Una rojiblanca incombustible" (in Spanish). Marca. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
  7. ^ a b "Eli Ibarra alcanza la cifra de 300 partidos con el Athletic" (in Spanish). El Diario Vasco. 13 December 2012. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
  8. ^ Zaballa, Carlos (23 June 2016). "Eli Ibarra y Vanesa Gimbert siguen un año más" (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
  9. ^ Rubio, Eidan (15 June 2017). "La mundialista Leire Landa anuncia su retirada". sefutbol.com. Royal Spanish Football Federation. Archived from the original on 19 November 2021. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  10. ^ a b Menayo, David (17 May 2017). "Tres leyendas del Athletic cuelgan las botas: Iraia Iturregi, Eli Ibarra e Irune Murua" (in Spanish). Marca. Retrieved 18 May 2017.
  11. ^ "Noticias - Real Federación Española de Fútbol". rfef.es (in Spanish). 13 October 2011. Archived from the original on 10 December 2011. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
  12. ^ Roldán, Isabel (21 July 2013). "Eli: "Cogí una excedencia para poder venir a la Selección"". AS.com (in Spanish). Diario AS. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
  13. ^ "Spain stick with tried and trusted". UEFA.com. UEFA. 29 June 2013. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
  14. ^ "Spain-Malta". UEFA.com. UEFA. 24 June 2010. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
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