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AITOR 'TXIKI' BEGUIRISTAIN MÚJICA
Date of Birth: 12 August, 1964
Nationality: Spain (international from 1988 until 1994)
Period at Deportivo: 1995 - 1997
Transfer: (1995, FC Barcelona)
Clubs: Urawa Reds (1997-2000), Deportivo (1995-1997), FC Barcelona (1988-1995), Real Sociedad (1982-1988)
Sold: Free Transfer (1997, to Urawa Reds)
Height: 170 cm
Weight: 70 kg
Position: Attacking Midfielder (left)
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 The time of BEGUIRISTAIN at Deportivo is very much comparable to the period Julio Salinas played at La Coruña. Both men were signed from FC Barcelona, had past the thirty barrier and had started their careers at a Basque club. And both attacking players had an impressive career, as well as in Spain as for the Spanish national team.
Olabbería-born Beguiristain was just eighteen years old when he made his debut for Real Sociedad. It concerned a home match in November, 1982 against Atlético de Madrid and the player experienced eighty-three minutes of the 1-0 win. He would play a total of sixteen matches during the 1982/1983 campaign, some of them in the starting eleven, but didn’t find the net.
Basque football was strong at the start of the eighties, with Real Sociedad finishing first in 1982 and 1983, while rivals Bilbao also won two titles in a row (1983, 1984). Beguiristain played for the blue and whites from San Sebastián in the years 1982-1988, and never did his team finish lower than eighth place. For five seasons after his first season Beguiristain was an important man in the team.
In his six seasons at the club he played 187 Liga matches for them and as attacking midfielder scored 23 in these. On 22 March, 1987 he earned his side a point against FC Barcelona, as he scored a goal after eighth minutes. Real Sociedad would win the Copa del Rey that season, under coach John Toshack, and one of his colleagues being López-Rekarte. All these men would spent some time at Deportivo.
In 1988, Beguiristain turned 24 that summer, his team finished second in the Liga and Cruyff’s Barcelona wanted to have him. In February of that year he had made his Spanish debut, during a 1-2 loss in a friendly against the Czechs. Beguiristain was present at the Euro 1988 tournament in Germany, but only played in the loss against Italy (0-1). He wasn’t picked for the 1990 World Cup, while Spain missed out on the Euro 1992 tournament. But at the age of twenty-nine he would play another tournament, as he was part of the Spanish team beating Switzerland 3-0 at the World Cup 1994. He produced one goal that day, and scored six in twenty-two appearances.
During most of this time he was a player of Barcelona, as in 1988 a deal was agreed upon (for 350 million pesetas; about €2,2 million). Beguiristain made his debut for the Catalans on 3 September, 1988 in the derby against Espanyol (2-0). It was Beguiristain himself who opened the score that campaign, finding the net with the score still 0-0 and twenty-nine minutes remaining. With López-Rekarte as colleague, he was also signed by Barcelona, Beguiristain started his successful period at the club.
In 1989 the Catalans finished second in the Primera División and in 1990 they ended third. The place of Beguiristain was an undisputed one, as he played seventy-five Liga matches and scored twenty-two goals; just one less than in six seasons at Real Sociedad. In his first season (1988/1989) the European Cup Winners’ Cup was conquered, and in his second (1989/1990) the Copa del Rey. But the best times still had to come.
The years 1990-1994 have been the best ones in the history of FC Barcelona, and Beguiristain was present. Johan Cruyff once labelled him “the most intelligent player of his squad”, and always trusted upon his qualities. The Catalan team won four Ligas in a row (1991, 1992, 1993, 1994), but three of them were won after their rivals failed on the final day. Including these was the title loss of Deportivo in 1994.
Beguiristain added three Spanish Supercopas to his impressive palmares, and in 1992 won his most important prize: the European Cup. The European Supercup also was won by his club, where ‘Txiki’ reigned at the left wing. If his first two seasons at Barcelona already had been successful, from 1990 until 1994 he played 124 Liga matches for them and scored and scored thirty-five goals in these. His best campaign was the 1992/1993 one when he found the net of fifteen occasions.
He produced a hat-trick in 1991 at Valladolid, while Julio Salinas hit two others in a 1-5 win for Barcelona. In November, 1991 he produced one goal in Riazor against Deportivo, at a time when the Galicians still had to learn a lot (0-4). And he hit his second hat-trick in 1993 at home against Zaragoza (4-1). But that season, 1993/1994, the status of Beguiristain was slowly diminishing. He rarely played out the full ninety minutes that campaign as Stoichkov, Laudrup and Goicoechea also could play at his position. Meanwhile, Barcelona were trashed 4-0 against AC Milan in the Champions League final.
 This culminated in a disappointing season 1994/1995, not only for Beguiristain but for the club also. Barcelona finished fourth that campaign, and didn’t finish as champions for the first time since 1990. Beguiristain was taken off in almost all of the twenty-four matches he played, and produced just six goals. As he would become thirty-one that summer, it was time for both club and player to move on.
Deportivo coach Toshack always had been an admirer of Beguiristain, as both men shared the dressing room at Real Sociedad. It was on his personal demand that the Basque winger signed a two-year contract at Deportivo for the Copa del Rey winners of that season. Beguiristain arrived just in time to win another Spanish Supercopa, this time with Deportivo against Real Madrid. He produced one of the two goals during the 1-2 away victory (the first match in Riazor had finished 3-0).
Beguiristain reached playing thirty-three Liga matches in the season 1995/1996 at Deportivo, and scored goals against Oviedo and Racing de Santander. Besides, he was on the score sheet of the 8-0 UEFA Cup win against Apoel Nicosia in September, 1995. But like during his final months in Barcelona, the player clearly experienced a down going career and could not count anymore upon one of his main weapons: speed. Nevertheless, he did pretty well although it’s logical that the Deportivo supporters might have expected something more spectacular from him.
But the signing of left-footed Rivaldo in the summer of 1996 was more or less the end of Beguiristain at the club. He started his first match that campaign in November, 1996 and immediately produced a vital goal at Zaragoza (1-2). But he would suffer an injury later that month, and only returned to the pitches in May, 1997 to experience a disappointing end to the season with the club. He finished the season in style though, as his goal against Extremadura on the final day of the season earned Deportivo the third place in the table (1-0).
At the age of almost thirty-three, and Rivaldo playing at his position, there was no reason to extend his contract until after 1997. He accepted an offer of Japanese club Urawa Reds, and in 2000 finished his career in the Far East at the age of thirty-five. Currently Beguiristain is member of the FC Barcelona board.
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