Xabi Prieto

Lore & Background

Born in San Sebastián, Gipuzkoa, Prieto was a graduate of the youth system at his hometown club Real Sociedad, having joined from school aged 16 and spent time on loan with local amateurs CD Hernani. He made his senior debut in 2002 with the reserves, helping them to achieve promotion to Segunda División B in his first season. After starting the next campaign with the B side, Prieto made his first-team debut on 8 October 2003, playing the full 90 minutes in a 2–1 away win against Real Oviedo in the Copa del Rey. His La Liga bow took place 18 days later, coming off the bench in the 1–0 home victory over Navarrese neighbours CA Osasuna; he would go on to collect a further eight substitute appearances – seven of them late in the game – during that season. However, on 23 May of the following year, with the league's outcome already decided, he profited from his second start to score twice at Real Madrid in a 4–1 win, one of the goals coming from the penalty spot. Subsequently, Prieto was definitely promoted to the first squad and, in 2005–06, participated in all 38 games and netted nine times, six of them being penalties. He was also ever-present the following campaign, but the Basques dropped down to Segunda División. Prieto played 35 matches in 2009–10, totalling exactly 3,000 minutes and contributing seven goals as Real Sociedad returned to the top flight after three years. In the first fixture of the following season, at home against Villarreal CF, he scored the only goal after a backheel pass from newly-signed Joseba Llorente. On 6 January 2013, Prieto netted the first hat-trick of his professional career, albeit in a 4–3 loss at Real Madrid: he scored once through a penalty and twice after one-on-one situations against Iker Casillas. He added a brace on 22 February 2015 in another seven-goal thriller, but now in a 4–3 home defeat of Sevilla FC; in the interim, he made seven appearances for the Txuriurdin in the 2013–14 edition of the UEFA Champions League. On 25 August 2017, Prieto played his 500th game for the Real Sociedad first team (only the fifth player to reach that milestone after Juan Antonio Larrañaga, Alberto Górriz, Jesús María Zamora and Luis Arconada) a few days prior to his 34th birthday, and marked the occasion with a goal in a 3–0 victory against Villarreal at the Anoeta Stadium.

Reader's Guide

Prieto was selected for the Spain under-21 team on several occasions, but never received a cap for the full side. He did feature in several friendlies with the unofficial Basque Country regional XI, and as of 2017 was the team's most-capped player with 14 appearances. He married Amaya Magaña in 2011. Honours: Real Sociedad – Segunda División: 2009–10.

Did You Know?

• Prieto is one of only five players to reach 500 appearances for Real Sociedad's first team.
• He never received a cap for the full Spain national team, but as of 2017 was the Basque Country regional XI's most-capped player with 14 appearances.