Ander Capa Rodríguez (born 8 February 1992) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a right-back or a winger.

Ander Capa
Capa with Eibar in 2017
Personal information
Full name Ander Capa Rodríguez[1]
Date of birth (1992-02-08) 8 February 1992 (age 32)[2]
Place of birth Portugalete, Spain[2]
Height 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)[1]
Position(s) Right-back, winger
Youth career
2001–2002 Danok Bat
2002–2005 Athletic Bilbao
2005–2011 Danok Bat
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011–2012 Eibar B 34 (2)
2012–2018 Eibar 190 (12)
2018–2023 Athletic Bilbao 96 (5)
2023–2024 Levante 21 (0)
International career
2014–2020 Basque Country 5 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 11:49, 12 April 2024 (UTC)

He played mainly with Eibar during his career, representing the club in three levels of Spanish football including La Liga. Over seven seasons, he played 214 competitive matches and scored 15 goals.[3] He joined Athletic Bilbao in 2018, winning the 2021 Supercopa de España.

Club career

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Eibar

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Capa was born in Portugalete, Biscay, Basque Country. He played youth football with local Danok Bat CF before signing for SD Eibar, making his senior debut in the 2011–12 season with the reserves in the Tercera División.[4]

In July 2012, Capa was promoted to the first team after appearing once with the main squad in 2011–12.[5] In the following campaign, he played 24 matches and scored five goals (adding six games and two goals in the playoffs) as the Armeros returned to Segunda División after a four-year absence.[6]

Capa played his first professional match on 18 August 2013, starting in a 2–1 away win against Real Jaén.[7] He scored his first goal on 28 September, but in a 3–2 loss at Sporting de Gijón.[8] He appeared in a further 30 games while netting once[9] during the season, being promoted to La Liga for the first time ever.[10]

Capa made his debut in the top flight on 24 August 2014, starting in a 1–0 home victory over Real Sociedad.[11] He scored his first goal in the competition on 8 December, his side's last in a 5–2 home rout of UD Almería.[12]

During the 2015 pre-season, Capa was converted from a winger into a right-back by new manager José Luis Mendilibar.[13] On 19 November of that year, with the club still in the top tier and him as an undisputed starter, he renewed his contract until 2018.[14]

Athletic Bilbao

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On 1 September 2017, Capa agreed to join former youth club Athletic Bilbao[15] for four years, with the deal being made effective in July 2018.[16] Dani García made the same move; within weeks they were joined by another former teammate Yuri Berchiche, and before the end of the calendar year by the coach from their Eibar promotion seasons, Gaizka Garitano.[17] He scored his first goal for Athletic on 10 November 2019, netting the 2–1 winner in the final minutes of the home fixture against Levante UD through a volley from outside the box; he also provided the assist for the equaliser by Iker Muniain in the same game.[18]

Having previously been a regular starter, Capa made only one competitive appearance in the 2021–22 campaign under head coach Marcelino García Toral, and that consisted of just a few minutes as a late substitute. Subsequently, he was highly critical of the manager,[19] and with no agreement reached on a new contract – even after negotiations resumed when Jon Uriarte was elected as the new president and Ernesto Valverde was brought as the new coach – he appeared set to leave the club.[20] However, eventually a new deal was reached in July 2022, with the player staying at San Mamés for at least one more season and potentially a second if targets were met.[21][22]

Levante

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On 15 August 2023, Capa signed a one-year contract with Levante UD in the second division.[23]

Career statistics

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As of match played 13 March 2024[24][25][26]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Eibar 2011–12 Segunda División B 1 0 0 0 1 0
2012–13 24 5 6 0 6[a] 2 36 7
2013–14 Segunda División 31 2 2 1 33 3
2014–15 La Liga 34 3 2 0 36 3
2015–16 36 2 1 0 37 2
2016–17 31 0 6 0 37 0
2017–18 33 0 1 0 34 0
Total 190 12 18 1 6 2 214 15
Athletic Bilbao 2018–19 La Liga 25 0 3 0 28 0
2019–20 35 3 7[b] 0 42 3
2020–21 28 2 4 0 2[c] 0 34 2
2021–22 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
2022–23 7 0 0 0 0 0 7 0
Total 96 5 14 0 2 0 112 5
Levante 2023–24 Segunda División 21 0 0 0 21 0
Career total 307 17 32 1 8 2 347 20
  1. ^ Appearances in Segunda División B play-offs
  2. ^ Includes appearance in 2020 Copa del Rey final (played in 2021)
  3. ^ Appearance in Supercopa de España

Honours

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Eibar

Athletic Bilbao

References

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  1. ^ a b Ander Capa at FBref.com  
  2. ^ a b "Ander Capa". Eurosport. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  3. ^ "Victoria para cerrar la temporada en Ipurua" [Win to close the season at Ipurua] (in Spanish). MSN. 13 May 2018. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  4. ^ Boudet, François Miguel (26 January 2018). "Éibar: Ander Capa, gros plan sur la comète" [Eibar: Ander Capa, big plan under the comet] (in French). Furia Liga. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
  5. ^ "Cinco jugadores del Eibar B harán la pretemporada con el primer equipo, entrenados por Garitano" [Five players from Eibar B will make the pre-season with the first team, trained by Garitano]. El Diario Vasco (in Spanish). 3 July 2012. Retrieved 11 September 2013.
  6. ^ "El Eibar regresa a Segunda" [Eibar return to Segunda]. El Correo (in Spanish). 30 June 2013. Retrieved 28 October 2013.
  7. ^ "El Jaén muere en la orilla" [Jaén die on the shore]. Marca (in Spanish). 18 August 2013. Retrieved 11 September 2013.
  8. ^ "Con Scepovic todo es más fácil" [With Scepovic everything is easier]. Marca (in Spanish). 28 September 2013. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
  9. ^ "Victoria a domicilio del Eibar ante el Real Madrid Castilla (0–1)" [Away win for Eibar against Real Madrid Castilla (0–1)] (in Spanish). EITB. 19 April 2014. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  10. ^ a b Ramos, Gabi (8 June 2014). "¡Campeones de Segunda!" [Segunda champions!] (in Spanish). Cadena SER. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  11. ^ "Lara seals dream start for Eibar". ESPN FC. 24 August 2014. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
  12. ^ "Eibar 5–2 Almeria". ESPN FC. 8 December 2014. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  13. ^ Aiete, Iñaki (13 August 2015). "El cambio de rol de Ander Capa" [Ander Capa's change of role]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 20 November 2015.
  14. ^ "Capa: En el Eibar he crecido como persona y como futbolista" [Capa: I have grown as a person and a footballer at Eibar] (in Spanish). SD Eibar. 19 November 2015. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
  15. ^ "Capa, con Bustinza, Sabin y Aurtenetxe en el Infantil del 92" [Capa, with Bustinza, Sabin and Aurtenetxe in the 'Infantil' of 92] (in Spanish). El Desmarque. 26 May 2018. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
  16. ^ "Ander Capa signs with Athletic Club". Athletic Bilbao. 1 September 2017. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
  17. ^ Cotorro, Ander (13 December 2018). "Los tres hombres de Garitano" [The three men of Garitano]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 April 2024.
  18. ^ "2–1. Ander Capa leads the comeback of Athletic". EN24. 10 November 2019. Archived from the original on 11 November 2019. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  19. ^ "Ander Capa: "Marcelino me ha despreciado"" [Ander Capa: "Marcelino did not consider me at all"]. Sport (in Spanish). 31 May 2022. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  20. ^ Río, Endika (2 July 2022). "Capa no renueva y dice agur al Athletic" [Capa does not renew and says agur to Athletic]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 August 2022.
  21. ^ Mejías, Noelia (12 July 2022). "Oficial: Ander Capa seguirá en el Athletic" [Official: Ander Capa will continue at Athletic] (in Spanish). El Desmarque. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
  22. ^ "Ander Capa finalmente renueva dos años más con el Athletic" [Ander Capa finally renews two more years with Athletic]. Sport (in Spanish). 12 July 2022. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
  23. ^ "Ander Capa se convierte en jugador del Levante UD" [Ander Capa becomes a player of Levante UD] (in Spanish). Levante UD. 15 August 2023. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  24. ^ Ander Capa at BDFutbol
  25. ^ Ander Capa at Soccerway  
  26. ^ Ander Capa at ESPN FC
  27. ^ Carnerero, Fernando (17 January 2021). "La Supercopa de Williams" [Williams' Supercup]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  28. ^ Lowe, Sid (3 April 2021). "Real Sociedad beat Athletic to claim Copa del Rey and Basque glory". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
  29. ^ Lowe, Sid (17 April 2021). "Messi stars as Barcelona thrash Athletic Bilbao to lift Copa del Rey". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
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