‘All those silly things – do them’: Guruzeta’s path from rehabilitation to success with Athletic
The debut appearance the Athletic striker competed in the UK, an young representing the reserve team against German opponents at Adams Park in September 2015, he scored. During his subsequent match he took the field in England, against the Black Cats two months later, he converted. The third time, against Pep Guardiola’s team not long later, well, he scored again. As he revisited to the city to face United at the sports complex in 2017, he scored again. It was a superb volley, also. “In fact,” he states, “it’s a top-class goal in my career.” Thus the club did their duty: they substituted him.
“I got well angry,” the attacker reveals, then chuckling. “There must be a video somewhere. We traveled to face United and I was pretty good. They didn’t let me play the final 45 minutes: I was without a signed agreement, goals were flowing, there were lots of rumours, it’s typical. No confirmation on the Magpies’ pursuit, but I remember reading about the Red Devils, standard transfer gossip. I have no idea how true it was, but even if they had called, I’d have chosen to stay at the club. It’s a privilege.”
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At the training ground, the Basque Country, the early training is ready to commence; post-session, the brief trip to the airport and a further journey to England, this time to face Newcastle in the UCL on the upcoming match. Uttering the name makes Guruzeta smile. This is proving a tough year for Athletic, due in part to the requirements of being here. Defeated late on in the weekend clash, they have secured just a single victory of their recent league fixtures and fallen to the Gunners and Borussia Dortmund in European competition. However, look at the overall situation, the major occasions he’s experienced and those that lie ahead, and a sense of thankful reflection about him.
In the three years since he had come back to Athletic, the striker has been a semi-final participant, denied at the last hurdle the showpiece event by the English giants, and has boarded a decades-old barge along the Nervión river flanked by a million fans after winning the Copa del Rey, the first title in a long wait. Currently he stands as the top goal-getter in the Champions League, where they are distinctive and debuting in a decade. “I couldn’t have pictured this,” he admits.
He considered it hard enough just to earn a spot and his assessment was correct. The son of the one-time rival player Xabi Guruzeta and a dedicated fan at the team he now opposes, Guruzeta is a product of Antiguoko, the local academy that nurtured Mikel Arteta, the legendary midfielder and the Bournemouth manager. He signed for Athletic at his teens but after his first-team bow in that summer, he experienced a torn cruciate, being released, a drop in category and a call back before he could finally secure an opportunity, returning at 26 to experience the peak of his career.
“Joining the setup doubting you’ll make the top level but every phase you advance through you’re persisting and you can notice the proximity. You make it and … you have to leave.” He played six, nine, five, one, four and 20 minutes in six games between his debut and February 2019. “And then I go back down to the filial [Bilbao Athletic, the Under-23s]. A few matches at that level and my knee gave way.
“A severe disappointment but I look back on it as a beneficial experience because it made me change the way I saw things. Healing from a serious ailment is difficult, but it helps. You adopt practices new to you. It’s not that you don’t look after yourself, but I did the sessions and then go home, like when you’re a kid. At Lezama, all resources are available, so take full advantage. Training, prehab. Get in the gym. If your hips aren’t balanced, work on that. With decent ankle function, make it a 12 or a 14. All those ‘silly things’: do them.
“Among professionals you’re going to crash into players who have experienced contact 200,000 times. Highly robust. Reviewing old images: I had slender legs. So what happens, happens. Look at pictures of me now and it’s totally different. The setback taught me. Practice concludes, but there’s more to do. Teammates are set, really ready; you have to be too.”
Game time is essential. He left emotionally in the pandemic season, at 23 years old, moving to a lower level. At Sabadell in the 20-21 campaign, he scored three times in 40 games. With Amorebieta in the latter part of the season, the goals started to flow. “Players go through it: loans, terminated contracts. If you turn it round, dedication, confidence, and should the time come they need someone in your position, recall is possible. Readiness is vital. When they decided to call again, a fantasy realized. To then win the Copa del Rey, play in Europe, and make the UCL … pfff.”
Little surprise he states savor the moment. Especially after the previous season which, at times, was focused on persistence. Previously the main threat with a high tally, last season he got seven in {15 games more|additional matches|