![]() Orbaiz as an Athletic Bilbao player (2008) | |||||||||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
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Full name | Pablo Orbaiz Lesaka [1] | ||||||||||||||||
Date of birth | [1] | 6 February 1979||||||||||||||||
Place of birth | Pamplona, Spain [1] | ||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.79 m (5 ft 10 in) [1] | ||||||||||||||||
Position(s) | Defensive midfielder | ||||||||||||||||
Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
1985–1996 | Osasuna [2] | ||||||||||||||||
Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
Years | Team | Apps | (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) | ||||||||||||||
Total | 406+ | (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
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*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.
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]
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]
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]
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]
Athletic Bilbao
Olympiacos
Spain U20