- Daniel Ruiz
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Dani Personal information Full name Daniel Ruiz-Bazán Justa Date of birth 28 June 1951 Place of birth Sopuerta, Spain Height 1.69 m (5 ft 6 1⁄2 in) Playing position Striker Youth career 1968–1969 Sodupe 1969–1970 Getxo 1970–1971 Villosa Senior career* Years Team Apps† (Gls)† 1971–1972 Bilbao Athletic 33 (8) 1972–1974 → Barakaldo (loan) 65 (9) 1974–1986 Athletic Bilbao 302 (147) Total 400 (164) National team 1977 Spain U21 1 (3) 1976 Spain amateur 1 (1) 1981 Spain B 2 (1) 1977–1981 Spain 25 (10) * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).This name uses Spanish naming customs; the first or paternal family name is Ruiz-Bazán and the second or maternal family name is Justa.Daniel Ruiz-Bazán Justa (born 28 June 1951), aka Dani, is a retired Spanish footballer who played as a striker.
During his career he played almost exclusively for Athletic Bilbao, scoring nearly 200 official goals (exactly 199) in more than one decade with the first team.
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Club career
Born in Sopuerta, Biscay, Dani played his youth football in various clubs in the Basque Country, arriving in Athletic Bilbao in 1971, aged 20, and playing one full season with the reserve side, in the third division.
After two seasons loaned at neighbouring Barakaldo CF, in level two, he returned to his alma mater, scoring in double digits for nine of the following ten years. Dani's first La Liga match occurred on 29 September 1974, in a 0–3 loss at Valencia CF. In the 1976–77 season, as the Lions reached the final of the UEFA Cup and won the Copa del Rey, also finishing third in the league, he netted a total of 29 goals in 46 official games; in the latter competition, during his 12-year stint with the club, he reached the 20-goal mark twice.
Dani helped Athletic to back-to-back league titles in his later years (1983–84), although he was only a fringe player in the latter - 10 games, three goals - due to the emergence of another youth product of the club, Manuel Sarabia. He would be further pushed down the pecking order after the first-team promotion of Julio Salinas, and eventually retired in June 1986 at the age of 35, having scored 147 league goals in 302 matches.
International career
Dani played 25 matches and scored 10 goals for Spain, during four years and two days. His debut came on 21 September 1977, in a 2–1 friendly win in Switzerland.
Dani represented his country in both the 1978 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 1980, respectively scoring against Austria and England (1–2 defeats and group stage exit in both cases).
International goals
# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition 1. 25 January 1978 Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid, Spain Italy
2–0 2–1 Friendly 2. 29 March 1978 El Molinón, Gijón, Spain Norway
3–0 3–0 Friendly 3. 26 April 1978 Los Cármenes, Granada, Spain Mexico
2–0 2–0 Friendly 4. 3 June 1978 José Almafitani, Buenos Aires, Argentina Austria
1–1 2–1 1978 FIFA World Cup 5. 4 April 1979 Stadionul Central, Craiova, Romania Romania
1–1 2–2 Euro 1980 qualifying 6. 4 April 1979 Stadionul Central, Craiova, Romania Romania
2–2 2–2 Euro 1980 qualifying 7. 26 September 1979 Balaídos, Vigo, Spain Portugal
1–0 1–1 Friendly 8. 23 January 1980 Balaídos, Vigo, Spain Netherlands
1–0 1–0 Friendly 9. 18 June 1980 San Paolo, Naples, Italy England
1–1 1–2 UEFA Euro 1980 10. 12 November 1980 Sarrià, Barcelona, Spain Poland
1–1 1–2 Friendly Honours
- Athletic Bilbao
- Spanish League: 1982–83, 1983–84
- Spanish Cup: 1983–84
- Spanish Supercup: 1984
- UEFA Cup: Runner-up 1976–77
External links
- Athletic Bilbao profile
- BDFutbol profile
- National team data (Spanish)
- Daniel Ruiz at National-Football-Teams.com
- International appearances; at RSSSF
- Daniel Ruiz – FIFA competition record
Spain Squad Categories:- 1951 births
- Living people
- People from Biscay
- Spanish footballers
- Basque footballers
- Association football forwards
- La Liga footballers
- Bilbao Athletic footballers
- Barakaldo CF footballers
- Athletic Bilbao footballers
- Spain under-21 international footballers
- Spain amateur international footballers
- Spain B international footballers
- Spain international footballers
- 1978 FIFA World Cup players
- UEFA Euro 1980 players
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