Josu Sarriegi

Josu Sarriegi

Personal information
Full name	Josu Sarriegi Zumarraga
Date of birth	(1979-01-19) 19 January 1979
Place of birth	Lazkao, Spain
Height
Position(s)	Centre back
Youth career
1994–1997	Lazkao
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1997–1998	Lazkao
1998–1999	Beasain	28	(0)
1999–2004	Alavés B	100	(3)
2000–2006	Alavés	85	(4)
2002–2003	→ Eibar (loan)	28	(1)
2006–2007	Athletic Bilbao	36	(0)
2007–2012	Panathinaikos	99	(3)
Total		376	(11)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Sarriegi and the second or maternal family name is Zumarraga.

Josu Sarriegi Zumarraga (born 19 January 1979) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a central defender.

In his country he played professionally with Alavés, Eibar and Athletic Bilbao, appearing in 71 La Liga games over the course of four seasons. He added 78 matches in Segunda División (five goals in total).

From 2007 until his retirement, Sarriegi represented Greece's Panathinaikos.

Club career

Sarriegi was born in Lazkao, Gipuzkoa. After having first appeared professionally with modest and amateur Basque clubs, he signed for Deportivo Alavés in 1999, making his first-team debut on 18 February 2001 in a 1–0 away win against CA Osasuna.

After a loan with neighbours SD Eibar in the second division, Sarriegi played 28 games in the 2004–05 season as Alavés returned to La Liga after two years of absence. In the following campaign he was first-choice, but his team was relegated again.

Having missed only two league matches with another Basque side, Athletic Bilbao, in 2006–07, Sarriegi joined Greece's Panathinaikos FC in August 2007. On 26 November of the following year he scored the winning goal for the Athens club as it defeated Inter Milan 1–0 at the San Siro, in a UEFA Champions League group stage match.

On 9 July 2010, after appearing regularly during three years, 31-year-old Sarriegi extended his contract for a further two seasons. The following year, after the departures of Djibril Cissé and Gilberto Silva, he was voted by his teammates as the new captain.

External links

• Stats at Liga de Fútbol Profesional (Spanish)
• Josu Sarriegi profile at BDFutbol
• Athletic Bilbao profile
• Josu Sarriegi at Soccerway

• Sarriegi se marcha al Panathinaikos (Sarriegi goes to Panathinaikos); Marca, 10 August 2007
• Inter progress despite Panathinaikos loss; UEFA.com, 26 November 2008
• Ανανέωσε ο Σαριέγκι; Gazzetta, 9 July 2010 (Greek)