Borja Ekiza
Borja Ekiza Imaz (born 6 March 1988) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a central defender.
 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Borja Ekiza Imaz | ||
| Date of birth | 6 March 1988 | ||
| Place of birth | Pamplona, Spain | ||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Centre back | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2001–2002 | Chantrea | ||
| 2002–2006 | Athletic Bilbao | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2006–2008 | Basconia | 41 | (0) |
| 2008–2011 | Bilbao Athletic | 36 | (1) |
| 2011–2014 | Athletic Bilbao | 67 | (0) |
| 2014–2016 | Eibar | 15 | (0) |
| 2016–2017 | Zirka | 10 | (1) |
| 2017–2018 | Omonia | 6 | (1) |
| 2018–2019 | Enosis Neon | 1 | (0) |
| Total | 176 | (3) | |
| National team | |||
| 2011–2013 | Basque Country | 2 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only | |||
Club career
Athletic Bilbao
Born in Pamplona, Ekiza arrived at Athletic Bilbao's youth system at the age of 14, being eligible to represent the Basque through his Navarrese roots. He spent his first two senior seasons with CD Basconia, the club's third team.
Subsequently, Ekiza played with the reserves in Segunda División B, being sparingly used over two years. On 8 January 2011, after a string of injuries to the defensive sector in the first team awarded him with promotion to the main squad,[1] he made his La Liga debut in a 1–1 away draw against Málaga CF, playing the full 90 minutes;[2] he finished his first top-flight campaign established in the starting XI, beating competition from seasoned veterans Fernando Amorebieta, Aitor Ocio and Ustaritz and being booked only once.[3]
In 2013–14, Ekiza lost his starting spot to Aymeric Laporte and Carlos Gurpegui due to repeated injuries,[4] and only appeared once in the league during the season, 37 minutes in a 2–1 win at Real Valladolid.[5] On 31 July 2014, he terminated his contract with the Lions[6] and signed a two-year deal with fellow league side SD Eibar hours later.[7]
Later years
On 21 July 2017, Cypriot First Division club AC Omonia announced the signing of Ekiza from Ukraine's FC Zirka Kropyvnytskyi.[8] Two years later, following a spell in the same country and league with Enosis Neon Paralimni FC, the 31-year-old announced his retirement from football.[4]
Club statistics
- As of 7 October 2018[9]
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Europe | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Basconia | |||||||||
| 2006–07 | 18 | 0 | – | – | 18 | 0 | |||
| 2007–08 | 23 | 0 | – | – | 23 | 0 | |||
| Total | 41 | 0 | – | – | 41 | 0 | |||
| Bilbao Athletic | |||||||||
| 2008–09 | 14 | 1 | – | – | 14 | 1 | |||
| 2009–10 | 8 | 0 | – | – | 8 | 0 | |||
| 2010–11 | 14 | 0 | – | – | 14 | 0 | |||
| Total | 36 | 1 | – | – | 36 | 1 | |||
| Athletic Bilbao | |||||||||
| 2010–11 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 21 | 0 | ||
| 2011–12 | 21 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 31 | 0 | |
| 2012–13 | 24 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 28 | 0 | |
| 2013–14 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 2 | 0 | ||
| Total | 67 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 82 | 0 | |
| Eibar | |||||||||
| 2014–15 | 11 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | 13 | 0 | ||
| 2015–16 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | – | 7 | 1 | ||
| Total | 15 | 0 | 5 | 1 | – | 20 | 1 | ||
| Zirka | |||||||||
| 2016–17 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 0 | – | 11 | 1 | ||
| Omonia | |||||||||
| 2017–18 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | – | 6 | 1 | ||
| Enosis Neon | |||||||||
| 2018–19 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 1 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 175 | 3 | 10 | 1 | 11 | 0 | 197 | 4 | |
Honours
Athletic Bilbao
- Copa del Rey runner-up: 2011–12[10]
- UEFA Europa League runner-up: 2011–12[11]
References
- San Cristóbal, Ainara (15 March 2013). "El candado de Ekiza" [Ekiza's lock]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 February 2014.
- "Martinez leaves it late for Bilbao". ESPN Soccernet. 8 January 2011. Retrieved 29 June 2011.
- "Ekiza y Muniain, satisfechos de estar en el 'once' revelación de la UEFA" [Ekiza and Muniain, pleased to be in UEFA's newcomers 'XI']. Marca (in Spanish). 2 June 2011. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
- Ugalde, Iñaki (19 September 2019). ""He dejado el fútbol profesional"" [“I've left professional football”]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 January 2020.
- "Ekiza: "No contemplo en absoluto salir en el mercado de invierno"" [Ekiza: "I'm not considering leaving in the winter market at all"]. Marca (in Spanish). 21 November 2013. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
- "Rescisión del contrato de Borja Ekiza" [Borja Ekiza's contract termination] (in Spanish). Athletic Bilbao. 31 July 2014. Archived from the original on 7 November 2013. Retrieved 31 July 2014.
- "Borja Ekiza nuevo fichaje del Eibar" [Borja Ekiza new signing of Eibar] (in Spanish). SD Eibar. 31 July 2014. Archived from the original on 4 August 2014. Retrieved 31 July 2014.
- "Ποδοσφαιριστής της ΟΜΟΝΟΙΑΣ ο Borja Ekiza" [Borja Ekiza a footballer of OMONIA] (in Greek). AC Omonia. 21 July 2017. Retrieved 29 July 2017.
- Borja Ekiza at Soccerway
- Lowe, Sid (25 May 2012). "Barcelona end Guardiola era with Copa del Rey win over Athletic Bilbao". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 October 2018.
- Henson, Mike (9 May 2012). "Atl Madrid 3–0 Athletic Bilbao". BBC Sport. Retrieved 9 October 2018.
External links
- Borja Ekiza at Athletic Bilbao
- Borja Ekiza at BDFutbol