Arene Altonaga

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Altonaga and the second or maternal family name is Etxebarria.
Arene
Personal information
Full name Arene Altonaga Etxebarria
Date of birth (1993-02-25) 25 February 1993 (age 31)
Place of birth Sondika, Spain
Height 1.59 m (5 ft 3 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Eibar
Number 7
Youth career
Lauro Ikastola
2007–2008 Pauldarrak
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2008–2014 Athletic B 89 (9)
2009–2015 Athletic Bilbao 13 (0)
2015–2017 Oiartzun 46 (5)
2017–2018 Zaragoza 25 (0)
2018– Eibar 127+ (1+)
International career‡
2010 Spain U17 2 (0)
2011 Spain U19 2 (0)
2022– Basque Country 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 28 October 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 21:08, 16 December 2023 (UTC)~

Arene Altonaga Etxebarria (born 25 February 1993) is a Spanish footballer who plays for Eibar as a midfielder.[1][2]

She began her senior career at Athletic Bilbao and made her Primera División debut one week after her 16th birthday in 2009; however, her progress was stalled by injury and appearances at that level were infrequent – she played mainly for the B team before leaving the club in 2015. She then spent two seasons with Oiartzun[3][4] and one with Zaragoza[5] (suffering relegation from the top tier with both clubs in successive years)[6] prior to joining Eibar in 2018.[7]

Arene played a minor role in the Eibar squad which gained promotion to the Primera in the 2019–20 season, having suffered a serious injury (rupturing the anterior cruciate ligament of her right knee) at the end of the previous campaign in a Copa Euskal Herria match against her former club Athletic.[8] She had experienced a similar injury as a teenager.[4] At the end of that season an agreement was reached to extend her contract until 2022.[9] Following the departure of Sheila Elorza in 2023, Arene was named as Eibar captain for the club's upcoming campaign back in the top division.[10]

Arene has been selected for the unofficial Basque Country women's national football team which plays only occasionally, making her first appearance in December 2022 against Chile.[11]

  1. ^ Arene Altonaga, SD Eibar (in Spanish). Retrieved 20 October 2021
  2. ^ "Arene quiere que el derbi ante el Athletic sirva para mostrar que «aquí está el Eibar»" [Arene wants the derby against Athletic to show that "here is Eibar"] (in Spanish). El Diario Vasco. 24 September 2021. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  3. ^ "El debut del Oiartzun se salda con sabor agridulce" [Oiartzun's debut ends with a bittersweet taste] (in Spanish). Naiz. 7 September 2015. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
  4. ^ a b "Arene Altonaga, Oiartzun taldeko futbolaria" [Arene Altonaga, footballer of the Oiartzun team] (in Basque). Aikor. 22 April 2016. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
  5. ^ Arene, Txapeldunak (in Spanish). Retrieved 20 October 2021
  6. ^ "El Oiartzun acompaña al Tacuense a Segunda división" [Oiartzun accompanies Tacuense to Second division] (in Spanish). Marca. 21 May 2018. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
  7. ^ "Arene Altonaga: "El equipo está fuerte"" [Arene Altonaga: "The team is strong"] (in Spanish). El Desmarque. 16 October 2018. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  8. ^ "Arene sufre una rotura de ligamento cruzado y menisco interno" [Arene suffers a torn cruciate ligament and internal meniscus] (in Spanish). SD Eibar. 31 May 2021. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  9. ^ "Arene Altonaga sera armera hasta 2022" [Arene Altonaga will be a gunsmith until 2022] (in Spanish). Reinas del Balón. 3 July 2020. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
  10. ^ "Arene Altonaga: "Lan ona egiten ari gara denboraldi hasieratik eta izan nahi dugun Eibar bilakatzen"" [Arene Altonaga: "We have been doing a good job since the beginning of the season and becoming the Eibar we want to be"] (in Basque). SD Eibar. 31 January 2024. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
  11. ^ "La Euskal Selekzioa logra una contundente victoria ante Chile (3-0)" [The Basque Selection achieves a resounding victory against Chile (3-0)]. EITB (in Spanish). 21 December 2022.