Nerea Uriagereka: Athletic is the Greatest

Question: Why are you leaving?
Uri: Well, it was a meditated decision. Not a decision made out of the blue. I had been thinking it over and over again and in the end I think it’s for the best. I’m 24 years old and now is the time to concentrate on my job. Up until now I have dedicated my time exclusively to football. While I studied, and even afterwards, I have given it my all and this is what I am precisely going to do now, however, this time at work. It’s also true that during the last two years I haven’t played as much and also if you consider that I can’t make a living from football, all of this has made me opt for concentrating on my job and has made me think a bit more about the future.

Q: Does this mean you won’t be playing anymore…
U: Definitely not for the time being. Football is something that comes and just as it comes it goes. I have no intention of playing this year. Who knows if next year I’ll be able to play? Perhaps I won’t be able to live without playing and take it up again, but at the moment I’m clearly going to hang up my boots.

Q: Now that you have decided to give it up, what do you remember about your beginnings?
U: Ohh, those were the days. I have played football all my life. I have three brothers and I remember always playing with them. Later at the Ikastola (Basque School) they wouldn’t let me play with the boys. The girls had to play basketball. But one day one of my brothers told me that in Sondika there was an all-girl football team and off we went. I was 12 and you couldn’t sign up until you were 14, so we took part in both football and basketball training sessions, but I had to resign myself to playing basketball until I was of age. Times were different then. We had to get changed under the stand because there were no locker rooms, the pitch was of sand and technically speaking we didn’t train like we do now. Those starting now are privileged, but I’m happy for them. What we shouldn’t forget is where we come from. Sometimes in the locker room we talk about the things that used to happen and it seems that all of this occurred a long time ago, but it’s not like that at all. Our conditions are precarious and back then we had to make the decision to go to Leioa seeing that the future in Sondika was uncertain.

Q: You then join Leioa, but only stay a year. After that you join Eibar and at the end the season you are promoted. How did you live through all of this?
U: Well after spending a year in Leioa, I went to study in Gasteiz and then training got difficult and I was given the opportunity to play for Eibar, which made life for me a lot easier. I had joined Eibar and the truth is I didn’t know anything about Athletic’s interest in joining the Superliga competition in the event of Eibar being promoted. My team-mates I suppose lived through it all differently, but I only knew at the last moment. Iñigo called me, and told me there was a possibility of me joining Athletic, and well you can imagine. I’ve been an Athletic fan all my life. From the heart. All my family are red-whites one hundred per cent through and through and here I was being given the chance to wear the red-white jersey. I was delighted; it was something I had only dreamt about.

Q: ¿How was that summer, the days prior to the first training session, the presentation…?
U: To tell you the truth, I think we were a bit embarrassed. Mixed perhaps with some fear, because we were going to join Athletic, a club with over a hundred years of history, a men’s club and we weren’t sure how the Club’s social mass would react. For us to step onto the field on the day of the presentation, full of cameras, journalists, heaps of people…, I don’t know, I think it was obvious where we were, what we had to say or do, and five years on we still remember those moments and this encourages us to have a good time.

Q: ¿Do you like to keep mementos, newspaper clippings, photos, those types of things?
U: Not me, but my mum keeps everything. And now that I have been tidying up my home, seeing old newspapers, plasticized news articles, photos, images, it’s very exciting. They’re nice mementos that I’m sure I’ll appreciate even more as time goes by. It doesn’t look like it, but we have been through a lot and it’s nice to be able to remember those times. I’d like to take advantage and thank my mum for having kept everything so well.

Q: What does wearing the Athletic jersey during the first match in history mean to you?
U: Well despite the fact that is was the first match not much. Maybe in 25 years time I’ll see things differently and I’ll probably look at that team’s line up and say: “I was there”, but the most important thing is to have played. I think women are different to men in this aspect and I think it’s a virtue of ours that has helped us advance so quickly in many fields of life. I can tell you that I have kept that jersey and that I’m very proud of being able to defend it, in that match and in all the matches I have played.

Q: You have scored a goal with the red-whites; it was against Torrejón in the first season. What do you remember?
U: Yes, I remember. Besides it was my only goal, so it’s worth remembering. It was a nice goal and from time to time some people still remind me of it.
The truth is that I have always been quite a defensive back. I have always paid more attention to doing my job well behind than advancing on the wing. That’s why when I scored that goal for a moment I couldn’t believe it.
Although over the last few years it’s true to say that I have tended to advance on the wing, the truth is that your training tells you to hold your ground first of all, I think this was very important, especially in the first League title, seeing that in my opinion there was a better team than us technically speaking and with discipline and commitment we were able to impose our will.

Q: The 30th of March, 2003, match against Puebla at San Mamés. How did you get through it?
U: A couple of days before playing we went to train at San Mamés, to get a feel for the football field before the match. That feeling is now unforgettable. Later, we thought that quite a few people would turn up, but not as many as had actually shown up. We were warming up and we could see a steady stream of people entering the stands. There was a certain degree of hesitance to open San Mamés, and all that this implies, but from the pitch we could only see people entering and most of them were wearing something red and white.
When we were ready to step onto the field in the tunnel leading to the locker rooms, we could hear a noise, it was such a big feeling, that we all looked at each other speechless. Stepping onto the field was the best. A shiver went down our spines to see something so immense like San Mamés with more than 30,000 people there to watch a female football match. At the start of the match, you don’t notice anything. Only the game, but it’s clear that you run for yourself, and for all those people who were there on that day.

Q: And two weeks later, at San Mamés once again and you won the Superliga…
U: Yes. We played against Hispalis; we won the match and were proclaimed champions. In less than a year, I had joined Athletic, played at San Mamés and won the Superliga. I couldn’t ask for anything more, but this achievement was not a coincidence. Behind this story there are years of hard work and sacrifice, training…. We are the Superliga team who trains the most, four times a week, including Saturdays. And in the end all the effort is rewarded. But if someone should be mentioned it’s Iñigo. I know it’s his job, but seeing him work from the inside, working seriously, meticulously, with such professionalism, you realize that we are lucky to have the best coach and expert in Women’s football.

Q: Having qualified for the European Competition and after having achieved two victories, you were defeated by Frankfurt at San Mamés…
U: Yes it was a hard blow, but it was good for us. The team didn’t tackle the match badly. But some of us had seen the Germans play in a previous match and once we had them in front of us you could tell they were superior by far. Even so the team never gave up at any moment and even the injured players held firm on the grass until the very end.
The positive thing about the loss was that it brought the team back down to earth. The team knew that the Germans were superior in technique and physique and it’s now our job and our objective to reach their level as soon as possible.

Q: A new season, you’re still playing, and miss only one match. Do you know why?
U: Sent off?
Q: Yes. You’re the first Athletic player to be sent off in League history.
U: Don’t tell me! Really? The only time I’ve been sent off. What’s worse it was so unfair. I left the field in tears. It was against Levante in Valencia. In four minutes I was given two consecutive yellow cards and the second one was an outrage. I didn’t even touch her. The referee (Andújar Ajenjo) thought I had and I couldn’t hold back the tears. The team withstood the pressure until the end and were able to take home one point.

Q: Champions once more. But this time it was different, wasn’t it?
U: Really different. We were already the champions before walking out on the field at San Mamés on the last match day of the League. We stepped onto the field against Torrejón feeling very relaxed. There was a party atmosphere but it’s obvious we didn’t do things well. To end up losing on a field like San Mamés is not appetizing to anyone and even though our overall objective had been achieved, our relaxed attitude turned us into a mediocre team and that’s how the match ended up. Iñigo didn’t like it al all, though he forgot all about it later and we enjoyed our second Superliga just as much or even more than the first.

Q: Athletic takes part in the European competition again, having reached the second stage and almost the third.
U: Only just. I remember the match against the Swedes. We saw them during the warm up and they gave us the impression that they weren’t too worried. The looked relaxed. The match had started and by the 20th minute Eba and Amaia had scored a goal each. But the opponent’s physique, something I have already spoken about, won the day. If the match had been a bit shorter, we would have gone to the next round, we were so close.

Q: The third Superliga and champions for the third time in a row, but this time away from home, in Barcelona.
U: Yes. Well, I’d like to thank the people from my supporters’ club for accompanying us and I’d also like to take advantage to thank all those people who have gone out of their way to support us over the years. We appreciate it a lot and talking about that match against Barça, I remember arriving at Miniestadi and we could see a load of Athletic supporters who had travelled all the way to Barcelona to cheer us on and seeing them made the fear of playing away from home go away. That title with all those people was marvellous, on the plane, at the airport. It was great.

Q: What changed this time was the celebration: official acts, Basque Autonomous Government, Town Hall, the lorry…
U: Yes. There was a certain degree of prudence regarding the number of people in the streets. There were doubts about the route, but the truth is that everything turned out great. Being on the balcony at Town Hall and seeing all those people with flags, jerseys and thinking there were there for us, I was touched. Especially all those young girls wearing the Athletic jersey reminded me of the time when I was a schoolgirl and played football. We have advanced a lot, but there’s still room for improvement and now we even have jerseys for girls. A small gesture, but one which has been difficult to achieve and I’m very proud of the small part I have played in all of this.

Q: And then came the summer. A difficult one.
U: Well yes. We went from celebration to disbelief on hearing that Iñigo would no longer be with us. We asked for a series of measures to be taken in order to advance and the answer to everything was no. Nobody understood anything. Things were going great and a decision was taken to put an end to it all. We didn’t know the reasons why, nobody would explain anything to us and the case was that from then on nothing worked. The coaching standard had gone down a lot and that’s understandable, because Iñigo without a doubt is the coach who knows the most about female football, and things went wrong right from the start. Even the atmosphere had changed. There were many things. Even so, there came a time when the team came together and said that they had to do their best this season and at least qualify for the Copa. And that’s just what we did, but it was tough since our fitness level and coaching standards were a far cry from other seasons.

Q: For you personally it wasn’t a good season.
U: That’s right. I started to think about not playing. Nobody would explain anything to me and I only played 10 matches. That’s how things worked that year. Perhaps this was when I started thinking on other things a little. In the end football players are selfish. We always want to play. But there are times that you don’t play but you have a coach who tries to help you improve. This was not the case and well, it’s a year almost best forgotten.

Q: New season. Iñigo returns. Everything is back to normal, but you don’t play all you would like to.
U: Well yes. Iñigo’s return is positive in all aspects. Athletic benefits and the results are there for all to see. Personally I made it into the team less and less. In many of the 14 matches I was on the bench and played for only a few minutes. And in the end and as I said before, you spend all week training hard, sacrificing yourself and Sunday comes and you don’t play. I have suffered a lot. It’s been rough. From the outside, on the bench it’s horrible. And without a doubt this has helped me to think things over and make a decision. You suffer on field but off field also, for me, it’s terrible.

Q: Anyhow, champions anew, but this time suffering right to the end…
U: Yes this time it was really tough. We had to win at San Mamés. It was up to us and we weren’t able to score. A strange match, we’d reach the goal area, but our shots went astray. Besides there were many dubious calls, like an uncalled penalty in our favour, a goal that was annulled, dubious off sides…, however the match continued and still no goal. On the bench, we weren’t allowed to have radios, telephones or any other device that could tell us how Espanyol were going. The public more or less told us that things were going well. Espanyol were losing, but things weren’t going our way either. In the end, we couldn’t win the match but we could win the Superliga. Espanyol lost and it was party time at San Mamés.

Q: A special title?
U: Very special for me and for the team as well. We wanted to show that the first three seasons were no fluke. And thanks to all those who took part, we were able to achieve it.

Q: The draw in the match against Espanyol at Sant Adriá was very important, wasn’t it?
U: Absolutely. What’s more I remember this match well. It was one of my last complete matches. It was a bad match, few moves, but luck was on our side. The last ten minutes were spent in our goal area, defending the one point, putting up with the insults from the stands, the tiredness, but in the end that one point meant the title was ours and the matches you can’t win, you shouldn’t lose either.

Q: The cursed Copa…
U: Yes. Maybe we are long distance runners and once we get to the Copa, after having won the League maybe we’re a little flat. It’s not normal for the four-time League champions to have been beaten in the first round five seasons running, but anyway I think the League trophy is the most important. For sure, we’d have liked to reach the Copa final, with all that this implies the trip by the fans in particular, but it was not to be, though I’m sure we’ll be able to be in one soon.

Q: You share the same Supporters’ Club with none other than Carlos Gurpegi. What an ace!
U: Of course. He’s a great person. We have coincided in events, presentations; it’s a pleasure to be with him. He’s going through what he’s going through and I hope he’ll be able to play as soon as possible. When the supporters told me if I would mind sharing the supporters’ club with him, I was honoured. I’m very grateful to all those people who have gone out of their way to do things at my supporters’ club in Mungia. Heartfelt thanks.

Q: What’s the first thing you remember about Athletic?
U: That’s easy. Julen Guerrero. I was 9 when he made his debut with Athletic. I was starting to play as well and perhaps that’s why I remember. I’m a big Julen Guerrero fan. Those UEFA matches, Champions…

Q: So if I were to ask you about a player…
U: Julen Guerrero, without hesitating. In the same position as mine I liked Cafú, but if you were to ask me about an Athletic player, definitely Julen.

Q: Winding up, what would like to ask the next Athletic President when it comes to women’s football?
U: Well above all participation and pluck. A lot of things can be done, on many levels so as not to depend solely on the institutions. We’re an asset to the club, and the Club should take advantage of this and there are many good things to be done which can be done.

Q: Do you think the Athletic Female team are prepared for poor results?
U: I think so. There’s a base, some inferior categories exist. Last year was very important for me. We were having a rough time and I noticed that everyone was willing to help and offer their support and this helped me a lot. That’s why I think that Athletic have gotten behind us and we have responded and now is the time to look ahead and to consolidate, with even more determination, the female football teams of Athletic and of Biscay. Athletic is the greatest and will never let you down.

Thank you very much Uri.