Ainhoa Tirapu

Ainhoa Tirapu de Goñi (born 4 September 1984) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a goalkeeper. She spent most of her club career at Athletic Bilbao, and was a member of the Spain national squad for almost a decade.

Ainhoa Tirapu
Personal information
Full name Ainhoa Tirapu de Goñi[1]
Date of birth (1984-09-04) 4 September 1984[1]
Place of birth Pamplona, Spain[2]
Height 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)[1]
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
Lagunak
2005 Puebla
2005–2020 Athletic Bilbao 322 (0)
National team‡
2007–2015 Spain 46 (0)
2006– Basque Country 6 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 12:00, 4 September 2016 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 21:46, 18 June 2015 (UTC)
In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Tirapu and the second or maternal family name is de Goñi.

Club career

Tirapu began her career at SD Lagunak and played in the 2005 Copa de la Reina for CF Puebla. She then signed for Athletic Bilbao, who had just won their third Superliga Femenina in a row, as a replacement for the retiring Eli Capa.[3] In August 2005 she played her first match for Athletic in the 2005–06 UEFA Women's Cup's qualifying stage, a 6–2 victory over Scottish champions Glasgow City.[4]

From 2006 to 2020,Ainhoa was Athletic's first choice goalkeeper. She won two Primera División titles with Athletic in 2006–07 and 2015–16.

International career

In 2002 Tirapu was part of the Spanish national under-19 squad which competed in the UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship finals in Sweden.[5]

Tirapu made her senior Spain women's national football team debut in the second game of the UEFA Women's Euro 2009 qualifying series; a 2–2 draw against the Czech Republic in Plzeň on 27 October 2007.[6] She remained as Spain's first choice goalkeeper for the rest of the stage, which ended in a 4–0 play-off defeat to the Netherlands. She also retained the position during the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification campaign.

In June 2013 national team coach Ignacio Quereda selected Tirapu in the Spain squad for UEFA Women's Euro 2013 in Sweden.[7] She was a mainstay of the team which negotiated the group stage before being beaten 3–1 by Norway in the quarter final. She was part of Spain's squad at the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup.[1]

She also represented the Basque Country women's national football team.[8]

Personal life

Tirapu has a degree in chemistry and a master's degree in environmental contagion and toxicology from the University of the Basque Country.[9] While playing in the youth ranks of SD Lagunak she was given the nickname "Sensi" by teammates Marta Moreno and Erika Vázquez, due to her perceived sensitivity to being hurt by the ball. The nickname remained with Tirapu throughout her career.[10]

The ex-footballer brothers Fernando Tirapu and Mariano Tirapu are distant relatives of Ainhoa.[11][12]

Honours

Club
Athletic Bilbao

References
  1. "List of Players - 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup" (PDF). Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  2. "Profile". Athletic Bilbao. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  3. Martínez, Nekane (8 December 2005). "Entrevistas - Ainhoa Tirapu". aupaAthletic.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 July 2013.
  4. Celebrating Ainhoa’s and Nekane’s debut anniversary, Athletic Bilbao, 9 August 2020
  5. Martín, Dúnia (18 June 2013). "Sweden return excites Spain's Ainhoa". Uefa.com. UEFA. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
  6. Martín, Dúnia (18 June 2013). "Esperamos disfrutar pero sobre todo competir". Uefa.com (in Spanish). UEFA. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
  7. "Spain stick with tried and trusted". Uefa.com. UEFA. 29 June 2013. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
  8. "Garaipena eta festa Anoetan" (in Basque). Real Sociedad. 25 June 2012. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
  9. "Almudena Cacho entrevista en 'MQP' a Ainhoa Tirapu" (in Spanish). EITB. 16 March 2012. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
  10. "Entrevista a: AINHOA TIRAPU DE GOÑI guardameta del Athletic Club y de la Selección Española" (in Spanish). DMA. 20 November 2012. Archived from the original on 28 July 2013. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
  11. "Ainhoa: I've always been a part of Athletic". athletic-club.net. Athletic Bilbao. 13 February 2008. Archived from the original on 24 July 2013. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
  12. "Ainhoa Tirapu: "Despedirme de San Mamés fue algo increíble"". Diario AS (in Spanish). 17 July 2013. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
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