New York, July 18 (IANS) Spain coach Luis de la Fuente says the only thing that makes him nervous about the 2026 FIFA World Cup final against Argentina is that his team will have to fly in a helicopter.The comment says a lot about the calm radiated by the 65-year-old, who spent most of his playing career at Athletic Bilbao and most of his coaching career with youth teams, with five seasons in the Athletic Bilbao youth system and joining the Spanish Football Federation in 2013, with just 11 games…
Latest Athletic Bilbao News & Updates
Madrid, July 9 (IANS) Left-back Fran Garcia has joined Betis from Real Madrid in a deal reportedly worth around four million euros. Garcia has agreed a four-year contract with the Seville-based club until the end of June 2030, with Betis acquiring 50 percent of the 26-year-old’s economic rights.García joined Real Madrid from Rayo Vallecano in the summer of 2023 after previously progressing through the club’s youth system.He made 109 appearances for Real Madrid over the past three years, proving…
Madrid, June 5 (IANS) The Spain national team flew to the United States on Friday to continue with its preparations for the FIFA World Cup 2026 finals, with a few questions still to be answered.Spain flies from Santiago de Compostela (northern Spain) to Nashville after Thursday’s 1-1 draw against Iraq, and from Nashville, the team travels to Baylor School in Chattanooga, which will be its base for the tournament.It is hard to draw many conclusions from Thursday’s game in which the Spanish were f…
Madrid, June 1 (IANS) Villarreal on Monday confirmed former Rayo Vallecano coach Inigo Perez as their new first-team coach, with the 38-year-old signing a three-year contract until the end of June 2029.Perez, who retired from playing in 2022, replaces Marcelino Garcia Toral, who left the club at the end of last season despite leading Villarreal to a third-place finish in La Liga behind FC Barcelona and Real Madrid, securing Champions League qualification for the second consecutive season.He arri…
Madrid, June 1 (IANS) The cities of Bilbao and San Sebastian in Spain’s Basque region have formally joined forces in a single bid to host matches at the 2030 FIFA World Cup, which will be staged in Spain, Portugal, and Morocco.The local authorities of both cities and the Basque regional government said on Monday that “the institutions of both host cities have been working seriously and rigorously for four years to become hosts of the 2030 World Cup and will continue along the same path in the su…
Madrid, May 24 (IANS) The last round of matches in La Liga ended with a nail-biting end to the season which saw Mallorca and Girona join Oviedo in relegation to the second division, while Celta and Getafe assured their places in Europe for next season.The last round kicked off with five teams in danger of the drop, but Elche would be safe if it could avoid defeat to Girona.Alvaro Rodriguez’s 39th minute goal put Elche ahead, and although Arnau Martinez levelled early in the second half, Girona w…
Madrid, May 18 (IANS) The struggle to qualify for European football next season and avoid relegation remains wide-open after the penultimate round of matches in La Liga on Sunday.Vinicius Jr scored in the 15th minute as Real Madrid won 1-0 away to Sevilla, who was safe from relegation with results elsewhere in its favor.In the race to qualify for Europe, Celta Vigo remains sixth after a 1-1 draw away to Athletic Bilbao. Williot Swedberg scored an early goal for Celta, while Inaki Williams levele…
Madrid, May 17 (IANS) Racing Santander ended a 14-year wait to return to La Liga with a 4-1 win at home to Real Valladolid on Saturday.Racing’s top scorer Andres Martin scored twice, and Asier Villalibre and Suleiman Camera also hit the target.Racing leads the Spanish second-division standings by seven points, securing one of the two automatic promotion places with two rounds remaining.Racing also leads the scoring with 85 goals in 40 games, while having also conceding 59, reported Xinhua.”I’m v…
Madrid, May 8 (IANS) Spain has secured an extra UEFA Champions League place for next season after Rayo Vallecano reached the UEFA Conference League final with a 1-0 victory over Strasbourg on Thursday night.The Madrid-based side completed a 2-0 aggregate semifinal win to book a place in the first European final in the club’s history. More importantly for Spanish football, the result guaranteed Spain second place in this season’s UEFA coefficient rankings, surpassing Germany in the list.Spain…
Madrid, May 5 (IANS) Athletic Bilbao on Tuesday confirmed Edin Terzic as the club’s replacement for Ernesto Valverde as first-team coach from the end of the season. The 43-year-old Germany-born coach has agreed a two-year contract until the end of June 2028 and returns to coaching after a two-season break following his departure from Borussia Dortmund.Terzic has experience working in Borussia Dortmund’s youth system and also served as assistant to Slaven Bilic at Turkish side Besiktas and at Wes…