undefined

Celebrating Ainhoa’s and Nekane’s debut anniversary 

Celebrating Ainhoa’s and Nekane’s debut anniversary 

The goalkeeper made her debut 15 years ago today and the forward played her first game when she was about to turn 16, 13 years ago, both appearances in European competition 

Ainhoa Tirapu and Nekane Díez, two legendary lionesses, share the same anniversary date of their debut, although their first contests as red-and-white footballers took place in different seasons. It has been 15 years since the Navarre player made her first appearance as a red-and-white goalkeeper, 13 in the case of the left-footed forward form Barakaldo. Both women are among Athletic Club’s top 5 footballers to have played the highest number of matches to date. Ainhoa, who has just retired from the pitch, is fourth on the list with 358 appearances, while Nekane -right behind her former teammate in fifth position- could get to surpass her this season, as she has played a total of 332 fixtures so far.

Debuts made in European competitions

The red-and-white side managed to qualify for the UEFA Women´s Champion League during the club’s first years of existence, when the competition had a different format. After arriving at Lezama in the summer of 2005, Txabo Aragües gave Ainhoa Tirapu, former Lagunak player, the chance to play her first match as a lioness. It was in Holland, atSportcomplex Saestum in the town of Zeist, against Glasgow City. The Scottish side opened the scoring and Ainhoa conceded her first goal, but the lionesses put themselves together quickly and got to complete an emphatic 6-2 win (Erika Vázquez recorded a hat-trick and Gurutze, Tzibi Juaristi e Itziar scored a goal each). This is how the footballer from Barañain started making saves as a red-and-white keeper. She could not have imagined then she would be defending our goal for a decade and a half.

Nekane also made her debut in the Champions League, but in 2007, 13 years ago. The capital of Slovenia, Ljubljana, hosted the game where Athletic prevailed 0-4 over Krka. The forward became the youngest footballer to play in the female red-and-white first team. The match was played a few days before her 16th birthday, so she made her debut at the age of 15 years 11 months and 27 days, under the management of Iñigo Juaristi. No one else has ever made a debut at such an early age. The icing on the cake was that the left-footed footballer was able to score a goal in that very first game.