The Basque striker Aritz Aduriz has said goodbye to his 20-year career. Doctors, he said, had told him he needed a rip replacement "to go about my everyday life as normally as possible."
He is 39. His career as a striker stretches back almost two decades. Far longer than he had ever thought possible last summer he decided this would be his final season. "IT feels like closing a circle, retiring at the same place where I started out," he said. " I've been very fortunate."
A derby between the two biggest clubs in The Basque Country would be the perfect way to leave. But two weeks later, the game was postponed, indefinitely. " Football is people", he said. " It is the fans. We are nothing without the people. A game without anyone there is a different sport".
Back in August, Barcelona came to Bilbao for the first game of the Spanish season. For 87 minutes, Aduriz sat and watched from the bench. A minute later, Aduriz paused, the wily veteran proving to the young defender that sometimes stillness is as effective as speed. Stopping his run bought the space he needed. He contorted his body, propelled himself into the air and swung his right foot.
Nine months later, Aduriz still insists he cannot adequately describe the feeling. What he remembers, from that moment, is the celebration. "It was very emotional, to see them jumping around," he said. He blew a kiss into the sky (to his family). When he returned to the changing room, his teammates stood to sing his name.
The bond between Athletic's players and its fans is an uncommon one. The club is an exception in the hyper-globalized marketplace of the world soccer in only recruiting players born or raised in The Basque Country.
Athletic was his one true love. "success is important", he said. "But it is as important that people remember you".
