Footballer, Born 1951 Dani

Dani

Dani in 1978
Personal information
Full name	Daniel Ruiz-Bazán Justa
Date of birth	(1951-06-28) 28 June 1951 (age 72)
Place of birth	Sopuerta, Spain
Height	1.69 m (5 ft 7 in)
Position(s)	Striker
Youth career
1968–1969	Sodupe
1969–1970	Getxo
1970–1971	Villosa
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1971–1972	Bilbao Athletic	33	(8)
1972–1986	Athletic Bilbao	302	(147)
1972–1974	→ Barakaldo (loan)	65	(9)
Total		400	(164)
International career
1977	Spain U21	1	(3)
1976	Spain amateur	1	(1)
1981	Spain B	2	(1)
1977–1981	Spain	25	(10)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

During his career, he played almost exclusively for Athletic Bilbao, scoring 199 competitive goals in more than one decade with the first team.

Born in Sopuerta, Biscay, Dani played youth football with various clubs in the Basque Country. He signed for Athletic Bilbao in 1971 at the age of 20, spending one season with the reserve side in the Tercera División.

After two years on loan at neighbouring Barakaldo CF of Segunda División, Dani returned to his alma mater, scoring in double digits in nine of the following ten years. His first La Liga match occurred on 29 September 1974 in a 3–0 away loss against Valencia CF and, in the 1976–77 season, as the Lions reached the final of the UEFA Cup and the Copa del Rey, also finishing third in the league, he totalled 29 goals in 46 official games; in the latter competition, over a 12-year stint at the San Mamés Stadium, he reached the 20-goal mark twice.

Dani helped Athletic to back-to-back titles in his later years (1983–84), although he was only a fringe player in the latter campaign – ten matches, 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 from 302 appearances.

Dani's total of 11 goals in European competition stood as a club record for 25 years, until passed by Fernando Llorente in 2012. He was a penalty kick specialist.

Dani earned 25 caps for Spain in four years, scoring ten goals. His debut came on 21 September 1977 in a 2–1 friendly win in Switzerland.

Dani represented his country at both the 1978 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 1980, respectively scoring against Austria and England (2–1 defeats and group-stage exit in both cases).

International goals

Scores and results list Spain's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Dani goal.

List of international goals scored by Dani

No.	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 Amalfitani, Buenos Aires, Argentina	Austria	1–1	1–2	1978 FIFA World Cup
5	4 April 1979	Stadionul Central, Craiova, Romania	Romania	1–1	2–2	Euro 1980 qualifying
6				2–2
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

Athletic Bilbao

• La Liga: 1982–83, 1983–84
• Copa del Rey: 1983–84
• Supercopa de España: 1984
• UEFA Cup runner-up: 1976–77