Aitor Karanka's appointment as Boro's head coach in November was seen as a massive coup. The Spaniard won the game's top honours with Real Madrid and has impeccable coaching credentials. But what else do we know about the 40-year-old? To discover more about his background and what makes him tick, the Gazette’s Boro writer Philip Tallentire conducted an in-depth interview with Karanka and, over the next four days, we're bringing you his story.
Aitor Karanka was a mascot for Alaves but his dream of playing for his beloved boyhood idols didn’t come true.
The Boro boss was born and raised in the Basque capital Vitoria-Gasteiz on September 18, 1973.
His father Fernando was a coach with Alaves so it was natural that young Aitor would fanatically follow his local team.
“Yes, of course, I supported them,” he said. “My father was a coach there, he was working for the club at that time and I went to the stadium for all of the games.
“Football was my passion and it was all around me – at home, in the car – in those days. I went with my father to training and when I was five or six years old I was the mascot for the team.
“Alaves were in the second division then but all of my idols were there at that time.”
Like a lot of talented young footballers, Karanka was initially an offensive player, demonstrating his skills down the wing.
His skills eventually landed him a place in the Alaves youth set-up but word spread of his ability and he was signed by Basque giants Athletic Bilbao as a teenager.
“I was a left-winger but in time I wasn’t good enough to play there and I eventually dropped back to be a defender,” he recalled.
“I went to Alaves when I was 12 years old and when I was 15 I went to Bilbao. It was one of my dreams that never came true, to play for the Alaves first team. I played football for 15 years but never for Alaves.”
:: Mention the name Andoni Goikoetxea and players of a certain generation will shudder.
But the infamous “Butcher of Bilbao” also happened to be Aitor Karanka’s idol.
Despite his nickname, Goikoetxea was a technically accomplished player who excelled as an uncompromising defender for Athletic Bilbao and Spain.
His notoriety stemmed largely from the injury he inflicted on Barcelona’s Diego Maradona during a Spanish league fixture in 1983.
He earned a 16-match ban for the “challenge” and, according to legend, kept the boot he was wearing when he tackled the world class Argentinian in a glass case at his home.
Goikoetxea later coached Spain Under-21s, enabling Karanka to play for his hero.
“When I was a kid, Goikoetxea was one of my idols,” he said. “He was a central-defender for Bilbao and the national team.
“He had quality as well and was a very important player.
“Later, he was my coach in the Under-21 national team.”
:: Aitor Karanka always believed he would become a professional footballer but never imagined he’d play for Real Madrid and win the Champions League.
Growing up in a football -mad family, it was always likely that the young Karanka would enjoy a career in the game.
And, thanks to the innocence of youth, he was confident that he’d play at a decent level.
But he was realistic in his ambitions.
“Yes, I thought I would be a football player because when you are young you don’t think how difficult it will be,” he said, looking back.
“When I was 15 I was in the team, at 16 I was in the next team, at 17 I was in the next team, it was easy – not easy – but when you are young your feelings are that it is easy.
“At that time I was playing with good players and of course I believed I could play in the first division.
“But, no, I never imagined that I could play for Real Madrid and win the Champions League but it happened.”
Athletic Bilbao spotted Karanka as a talented teenager and he admits it was a huge honour to join the Basque club
“Athletic is the main team to go to when you are young because it is the team that works with an academy,” he said.
“I know the people who go there are from the Basque country and for this it is easier to play in the first division and I was proud to go there when I was 15 years old.”
:: An empty bottle of Newcastle Brown Ale is one of the many mementoes collected over a long and successful career by Aitor Karanka.
The Boro boss fondly remembers his visit to the North-east for a UEFA Cup tie almost 20 years ago.
Athletic Bilbao qualified for Europe after finishing fifth in their 1993/94 Spanish top flight campaign.
They made hard work of a first round tie with Cypriot club Anorthosis Famagusta, losing the first-leg tie 3-0 but bouncing back in the return to win 3-0 in the Estadio San Mames to progress 3-2 on aggregate.
Bilbao were paired with Newcastle United in the second round and, with Kevin Keegan’s free-scoring “entertainers” flying high in the Premiership, the English outfit were expected to edge the tie.
That belief was given extra credence when the Mags raced into a 3-0 lead inside an hour of the first-leg at St James’ Park.
But Bilbao hit back to score two late “away” goals which proved crucial in the second-leg when the Spanish side won 1-0 to level the tie at 3-3 and qualify for the third round at Newcastle’s expense.
“I remember that game because it was the first big moment of my career,” said Karanka, who was 21 at the time.
“It was amazing, the atmosphere in Bilbao is similar to Newcastle because the stadium in Bilbao was very similar to an English stadium.
“When you played in England 20 years ago you could feel the atmosphere.
“I remember the game at St James’ Park because we were losing 3-0 in 70-75 minutes and we scored two goals in the last 10 minutes.
“Then we won the game 1-0 in Bilbao and this was fantastic because the people there enjoyed it massively, it was a big party for us because Newcastle at that time were a good team with Kevin Keegan the manager.
“It was a nice memory. I remember having a bottle of Newcastle Brown Ale. In fact I still have the empty bottle at home as a souvenir.”
