Pablo Orbaiz: ‘When I joined Athletic Club I was attracted to the Club’s philosophy’

Pablo Orbaiz is a model sportsman both on and off field. He is only 26 years old but has spent the last six years at Athletic Club and in the locker room is considered to be one of the “heavyweights”. He is a righteous and polite man and a little shy as you can tell when he speaks. Every time he is interviewed, he thinks carefully before answering each question in detail and he does not like to improvise. Nevertheless, he seems to transform once he steps onto the field, his apparent shyness disappears and his leadership qualities appear. In the 1999 Under-20’s World Cup played in Nigeria, Pablo Orbaiz was the captain of the championship winning team. Dani Aranzubia and Fran Yeste were also part of that team.

The player from Irun is committed to changing the current situation that Athletic Club finds itself in. So much so, that whenever he is questioned about something unrelated to this he responds “I don’t want to think about it right now”. That’s Orbaiz. A complete professional whose game has given hope to the Red-White supporters.

This is your seventh season with the Red-Whites after having left Osasuna when you were 21. What did you hope to find in Bilbao?
As I had always played for my club, I did not know what to expect. I imagined that I would share the locker room with good players, and play for a team that had much more impact than Osasuna.

Did your family say anything to you when you told them that you had changed teams?
I don’t remember, I suppose that all of them were aware of all the steps that I had taken so there was no need to tell them that I was leaving.

What attracted you to Athletic Club?
Many things: good players, good fans and their unique philosophy of course. I suppose that Athletic has always been a very special team.

Has your conception of Athletic Club changed in any way since your arrival?
It has not changed a bit and is still the same. With all our limitations and virtues we are here to stay during the good times and the bad.

An important setback to your career took place when you suffered an injury at the Sardinero (4 January 2003). Did this have a before and after effect in your career?
Maybe it did but these are things occur in sports. These things make you try harder and appreciate much more what you have already got.

What do you think about in times like these?
In my case, I was relaxed because I knew I had no control over the situation and you have to accept the cards you are dealt.

You had to face six months of rehabilitation which I imagine was very hard for you… How did you feel at the time?
You want to get over it as soon as possible. You always want what you haven’t got. When you are on crutches and you can’t walk, the first thing you want is to get rid of the crutches and, when you have done this what you want to do is run and when you can run what you want to do is kick a ball. You always end up wanting more. You need to take things a step at a time.

You have had four Red-White coaches: Rojo, Heynckes, Valverde and Mendilibar. What is your opinion of them?
All the coaches that I have had have taught me a lot of things and I only have nice things to say about them. I suppose that each coach has his own approach and what you have to try is to improve with each of them. I have a lot to thank them for because they are people you can learn a lot from. I have a lot of experience and this helps you improve. You do not repeat the things that did not go so well and try to improve on the things that did go well.

What would you say is the happiest or the most memorable thing that you have experienced at Athletic?
The Lieja victory I suppose.

And the saddest?
The situation we are in at the moment.

In the past your services were called upon regularly by the Spanish National team, but this is not the case in recent times. How do you react to this?
It’s natural. I accept the fact that I was chosen to play for the national team then in the same way that I accept that I have not been chosen now and it does not matter. Right now I am worried about other things, and besides being chosen to play for the national team is just a reward for playing well at a given point in time.

On the condition that Spain makes it to the next round. Would you like to play in the World Cup?
To be honest, I haven’t even thought about it. Right now, we have enough on our plate and I’m trying to concentrate on the task at hand.

To sum up the interview. What have you got planned for the future?
I’m not even going to think about that because my only objective is for the team to get back on the right track and, that’s all I want to think about right now.