Andoni Iraola

Andoni Iraola is a Spanish-born professional football manager and a former player who played as a right-back. 

He spent twelve seasons at Athletic Bilbao. He is the current manager of Rayo Vallecano. 

Iraola was born in the working-class town of Usurbil to his parents, who worked in a marble business company.

A successful 16-year playing career

Iraola spent a successful 16-years playing career out of which he dedicated his 15 years to Spanish Football club Basconia and Athletic Bilbao. 

He played one season with New York City. In his 12 seasons with Athletic Bilbao, he always played more than 30 league matches. 

He contributed to the club to win Copa del Rey runner-up title in 2008-09, 2011-12, and 2014-15 seasons, Supercopa de Espana runner-up in 2009, and UEFA Europa League runner-up in 2011-12 season. 

Iraola started 35 out of 40 matches during his New York City career, where he played a vital role in contributing the team to a second-place finish in the eastern conference regular season and was awarded the Third Rail’s Unsung Hero of 2016.

His coaching journey so far

Iraola’s coaching journey began with Cypriot club AEK on the 18th of June, 2018, at the age of 36. 

He had a good start where he was able to lead the team to a Cypriot title at the beginning of the campaign. 

However, it was until December that things went well, but then after, there were a series of injuries that led the team to struggle. 

They had a bad run and were unable to win a single match which became the reason for his dismissal. 

Following his dismissal, he was appointed the head coach of Mirandes. 

He had a successful season with the club. Under his management, the club was able to reach the Spanish Cup semi-finals for the second time in their 92 year history. 

He remained with the club until his contract expired. He took over Rayo Vallecano in August 2020.

He led the club to win the play-offs promotion in July 2021. He extended his contract until 2022 following their La Liga return in 2021/22. 

As a coach, Iraola’s biggest challenge was dealing with players individually. 

According to Iraola, it is essential to know the players well to bring the best out of them, have certain information, and know whom you can deliver things to and whom you cannot.

He is married and has a beautiful family

Iraola is happily married to his wife and shares a beautiful family with her. 

The couple’s share two children, a daughter, and a son. Their youngest son is nearly 18 months old.

As parents, they try to be an example to them, trying to teach them good and usually trying to hide the bad.

His hobbies

Andoni considers resting to be one of his hobbies. Besides that, he loves photography and reading books. 

He is a fan of the Japanese writer Haruki Murakami and his works. 

He loves the way he talks about the real world in Japan, expressing more imaginary and original things where a lot of themes are discussed.

Net Worth

As of now, Iraola has an estimated net worth of :

Age and Height

1. Iraola was born on the 22nd of June, 1982. He is currently 39 years old.
2. He stands 1.81 m tall.

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