Pablo Orbaiz

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Pablo Orbaiz
Pablo orbaiz.jpg
Orbaiz as an Athletic Bilbao player (2008)
Personal information
Full name Pablo Orbaiz Lesaka [1]
Date of birth (1979-02-06) 6 February 1979 (age 46) [1]
Place of birth Pamplona, Spain [1]
Height 1.79 m (5 ft 10 in) [1]
Position Defensive midfielder
Youth career
1985–1996 Osasuna [2]
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1996–1998 Osasuna B 27 (2)
1996–2000 Osasuna 69 (2)
2000–2012 Athletic Bilbao 263 (10)
2011–2012 → Olympiacos (loan) 24 (1)
2012–2013 Rubin Kazan 23 (0)
2013–2015 Valle de Egüés ? (3)
Total406+(18)
International career
1997 Spain U17 5 (0)
1996–1998 Spain U18 15 (0)
1998–1999 Spain U20 12 (0)
1999–2001 Spain U21 14 (0)
2002–2005 Spain 4 (0)
2005 Navarre 1 (0)
2005–2007 Basque Country 3 (0)
Medal record
Representing Flag of Spain.svg  Spain
Men's football
FIFA World Youth Championship
Winner 1999 Nigeria
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Pablo Orbaiz Lesaka (born 6 February 1979) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder.

Contents

After starting out at Osasuna, he went on to play 11 years in La Liga with Athletic Bilbao, [3] appearing in 318 competitive matches and scoring 13 goals. [4]

Club career

Osasuna and Athletic

Born in Pamplona, Orbaiz began his career at his hometown club CA Osasuna, [2] exclusively playing in the Segunda División with the team. He contributed 29 appearances and one goal in his final season, 1999–2000, as the Navarrese returned to La Liga after a six-year absence. [5]

In summer 2000, Orbaiz signed for neighbours Athletic Bilbao, where he was a very important midfield element from the start; in the 2004–05 campaign he played 35 league matches and scored three goals, adding eight appearances in the UEFA Cup. However, he also suffered serious knee injuries in 2002–03 and 2006–07. [6] [7]

In the 2009–10 season, Orbaiz continued to be first-choice when healthy. However, during one month (February–March 2010), he was sent off twice for dangerous challenges – both of which resulted in two-match bans – at Villarreal CF (2–1 loss) [8] and at home against Getafe CF (2–2, he also scored the opener in the latter game). [9] [10]

For the following campaign, Orbaiz was promoted to team captain after the departures of Joseba Etxeberria and Francisco Yeste. [11]

Later career

In late August 2011, after another season of regular use by manager Joaquín Caparrós – 26 games, 1,675 minutes – as Athletic once again qualified for the Europa League, the 32-year-old Orbaiz was loaned to Olympiacos F.C. in Greece, joining a host of compatriots at the Piraeus side including manager Ernesto Valverde. [12] [13] He won the domestic double [14] and was able to realise his ambition of playing in the UEFA Champions League, making four group-stage appearances. [15] [3]

Orbaiz was subsequently released by Bilbao, signing a one-year contract with FC Rubin Kazan and reuniting with countryman and former Olympiacos teammate Iván Marcano. [16] He retired in June 2015 at age 36, following a spell with amateurs CD Valle de Egüés. [17]

International career

Orbaiz made his debut with Spain on 21 August 2002 in a testimonial match for Ferenc Puskás against Hungary, [18] representing the nation on a further three occasions. [19] Previously, he helped the under-20s to win the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship. [20] [21]

Honours

Athletic Bilbao

Olympiacos

Spain U20

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Pablo Orbaiz at WorldFootball.net
  2. 1 2 Ciordia, Fernando (9 April 2009). "A Orbaiz e Iraizoz sí les gusta el Reyno" [Orbaiz and Iraizoz sure do like Reyno]. Diario de Navarra (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 August 2019.
  3. 1 2 Hernández, Marta (1 September 2011). "Orbaiz: "Jugar la Champions es un sueño para mí"" [Orbaiz: "To play in the Champions League is a dream for me"]. Deia (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 23 July 2012. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
  4. ↑ Basic, Robert (6 March 2016). "Orbaiz: «Para trabajar en el Athletic hay que estar preparado»" [Orbaiz: "To work at Athletic one has to be ready"]. El Correo (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 April 2025.
  5. ↑ Sanz, Alberto (4 June 2020). "Lotina, Cruchaga, Orbaiz, Trzeciak, Mateo y Alfredo reviven el ascenso del año 2000" [Lotina, Cruchaga, Orbaiz, Trzeciak, Mateo and Alfredo relive promotion of the year 2000] (in Spanish). Cadena COPE . Retrieved 29 April 2025.
  6. ↑ Acedo, Francisco (9 January 2003). "Orbaiz out for season". Sky Sports . Retrieved 11 December 2012.
  7. ↑ Acedo, Francisco (19 October 2006). "Orbaiz blow for Bilbao". Sky Sports. Retrieved 11 December 2012.
  8. ↑ "Drama as Villarreal defeat Bilbao". ESPN Soccernet. 13 February 2010. Archived from the original on 23 July 2012. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
  9. ↑ "Leon strikes late". ESPN Soccernet. 20 March 2010. Archived from the original on 16 July 2012. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
  10. ↑ "Dos partidos a Orbaiz y uno a Miguel Torres" [Two games for Orbaiz and one for Miguel Torres]. Diario AS (in Spanish). 23 March 2010. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
  11. ↑ "Athletic Club has a new captain". The Offside. 25 July 2010. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 11 December 2012.
  12. ↑ "Pablo Orbaiz loaned to Olympiacos". Athletic Bilbao. 30 August 2011. Archived from the original on 10 November 2011. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
  13. ↑ "Olympiacos injuries no excuse for Valverde". UEFA. 5 December 2011. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
  14. 1 2 3 "El Olympiacos le tiende la mano a Orbaiz para seguir" [Olympiacos hold out their hand to Orbaiz for him to continue] (in Spanish). El Desmarque. 15 June 2012. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
  15. ↑ "La Champions League lejos de los focos" [The Champions League away from the spotlight]. Marca (in Spanish). 19 September 2018. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
  16. ↑ "Rubin reel in midfielders Töre and Orbaiz". UEFA. 26 July 2012. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
  17. ↑ Ortiz de Lazcano, Javier (26 August 2018). "Pablo Orbaiz: «Jugar en Tercera es una de las cosas que más me ha llenado»" [Pablo Orbaiz: "Playing in Tercera is one of the things that filled me the most"]. El Correo (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 April 2025.
  18. ↑ Besa, Ramón (22 August 2002). "Poca luz para tanto estreno" [Too little light for so many premieres]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 November 2015.
  19. ↑ "Un grupo de jóvenes talentos que sería la base de la España campeona" [A group of young talents that could be the foundation of champions Spain]. El Correo (in Spanish). 23 April 2019. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
  20. 1 2 García, Miguel Ángel (17 April 2009). "Qué fue de los campeones del mundo sub20" [What happened to the under-20 world champions]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 3 May 2017.
  21. ↑ Díez, Óscar (1 May 2014). "Campeonato del Mundo sub'20 1999 (III): España se corona en Nigeria" [1999 Under'20 World Cup (III): Spain crowned in Nigeria] (in Spanish). Cuadernos de Fútbol. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
  22. ↑ Melero, Delfín (13 May 2009). "El Barça se corona por aplastamiento" [Barça crowned through crushing]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 April 2025.
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