Ismael Urzaiz: The Target Man from Tudela

Ismael Urzaiz, born on October 7, 1971, spent 11 years terrorising opposition defenders while playing in the red and white stripes of Athletic Club. Broad, muscular and 6ft 4in tall, the no.20’s physical attributes, together with his incredible leap and powerful header, made him the perfect target man.

But Urzaiz, sometimes known as ‘el tanque’, was more than just a battering ram up top. His movements in the box were clever, he had a good first touch and was a supreme finisher, regularly scoring goals with both feet.

Born in Tudela, Navarre. Urzaiz joined Real Madrid’s academy as a teenager after being spotted in his hometown by one of their scouts. From 1989 to 1993 he was with Castilla, their B-team, but never made a full LaLiga debut with the senior side.

After loan spells at Albacete and Celta Vigo, he Real Madrid left for Rayo Vallecano in 1993. He then had one-year stints at Salamanca (94-95) and RCD Espanyol (95-96) before joining Athletic in the summer of 1996.

“I’m very excited. I’ll try to do everything I possibly can to help the team,” Urzaiz said upon signing for the Lions. “It’s a prestigious club and they’ve got a great squad with some very talented players.”

The centre-forward spent the next decade and a bit leading the line at San Mamés. He scored 129 goals in 429 appearances (, putting him in 12th place on the Club’s all-time goalscorer leaderboard. What’s more, on five occasions he finished a season as Athletic’s top scorer: 98-99, 00-01, 01-02, 02-03 and 04-05.

In terms of players from Navarre, only current captain Iker Muniain has turned out for the Lions more often, and no other player from the province has scored more goals for Athletic than Urzaiz.

Five standout moments as a player (in date order):

1. First goal, vs Racing Santander (El Sardinero) 

LaLiga Matchday 5, 28-09-1996

Urzaiz opened his Athletic account with an equaliser in a 1-2 win over Racing Santander at El Sardinero. The striker jumped on a rebound after Racing defender blocked José Marí’s powerful shot on the line.

2. First hat-trick, vs Real Oviedo (San Mamés)

LaLiga Matchday 26, 16-02-1997

Athletic twice came from behind to defeat Real Oviedo 3-2 at The Cathedral. Urzaiz was the driving force behind the win, bagging the first of his two hat-tricks for the Lions – the second came in  3-3 draw with Atlético Madrid at the Calderon in 2002-03.

“The goals weren’t just beautiful, they were important,” Urzaiz said after the match. “And that’s what I like to do – combine beauty with effectiveness.”

Athletic went on to finish sixth in LaLiga that season, with Ismael scoring 16 goals from 38 matches in his first campaign as a Lion.

3. vs Barcelona (Camp Nou)

LaLiga Matchday 14, 24-11-2001

Urzaiz’s opening strike set Athletic on the way to their a 1-2 win against FC Barcelona at the Camp Nou. It was a first league win at the Camp Nou in seven years, and it was the last time Athletic picked up all three points at the Catalan stadium.

The goal was the fruit of the classic Fran Yeste-Urzaiz combination. Yeste whipped in an inswinger from a free-kick on the right and Urzaiz barged his way in between two defenders before heading home.

Rivaldo equalised for the Blaugrana in the second half, and Athletic went down to 10 men with 15 minutes left, but Santiago Ezquerro sealed the win in the 80th minute.

4. vs Real Madrid (San Mamés)

LaLiga Matchday 5, 25-09-2004

Urzaiz sent Athletic on their way to a famous 2-1 victory against Los Galacticos at The Cathedral in 2004-05.

It was an exquisitely-taken goal. Asier del Horno sent in a cross from the left flank, Urzaiz found some space, trapped the ball with his right foot and nudged it onto his left before smashing a shot past Iker Casillas.

In February of the same season, the Lions beat Real Madrid 0-2 at the Santiago Bernabeu. It was the first time since 1976-77 that Athletic had taken all six points against Los Blancos – a feat which has not been repeated since.

5. Volley vs Recreativo Huelva (San Mamés)

LaLiga Matchday 14, 10/12/2006

A perfect example of Urzaiz’s ability to pull off the sublime. This is perhaps the striker’s most aesthetically-pleasing goal for the Lions.

Javi Martínez crossed the ball towards the back post, Urzaiz lost his marker and in an attempt to stop it going wide, he turned his body, leapt in the air and hit the ball towards goal with the outside of his boot. The keeper could do nothing to stop it.

“It’s tenths of a second,” he said. “I lost sight of the ball, I jumped and it was an acrobatic finish. It was beautiful, spectacular.”

Thirteen minutes later he scored a second, more typical Urzaiz goal: a big header inside the box. Recreativo’s manager that day was none other than our current gaffer, Marcelino García Toral.

The 06-07 campaign would be the then 35-year-old’s last at Athletic, he finished the season with eight LaLiga goals in 33 appearances. His most important goal of the season was his final one, in the Matchday 36 fixture against RCD Mallorca.

Athletic beat the Balearic islanders 1-0 thanks to Urzaiz’s strike, allowing the Lions to move four points clear of the drop zone with just two matches to go.

Post-Athletic career

At the end of the 2006-07 season, the target man announced that he would not be renewing his contract at Athletic. He had not gone public about it earlier as he wished to focus on Athletic’s relegation battle, meaning he was not given the traditional San Mamés send-off all Athletic greats receive at the end of their time in Bilbao.

“On the one hand, I feel a bit sad, but on the other hand, I can be happy with having spent so many years here, where I’ve been able to find a family,” he said at the time. “That’s something which isn’t easy to do in the world of football.

Urzaiz’s dream of a move to the Premier League was not to be, so instead he joined Dutch giants AFC Ajax. However, he retired just one season later, injuries and the form of Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Luis Suárez limiting him to just seven appearances.

Since retiring he has dabbled in coaching, working as assistant manager to former Athletic player Endika when they led CD Getxo to the Tercera División in 2011-12. Apart from that Urzaiz has also been a LaLiga player ambassador since 2015.

At the beginning of the 2008-09 season, Ismael said goodbye to The Cathedral properly. Just before the opening match against Almería, the striker took a ceremonial kick-off to a standing ovation.