Gaizka Toquero

Gaizka Toquero Pinedo (born 9 August 1984) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played mainly as a right winger.

He spent most of his career with Athletic Bilbao, appearing in 207 competitive matches during seven La Liga seasons and scoring 24 Athletic's second goal in their 3–3 draw away to HJK Helsinki in August 2012 is a matter of dispute. Some sources, including his profile on the club's website (Athletic Bilbao), contemporary match reports (SportsMole, RTVE) and later career summaries in the media (El Desmarque El Mundo, Deia ) give the goal to Toquero, which would be his 25th in total, but other statistical resources, including the UEFA match report, (UEFA, BDFutbol, Soccerway) count it as an own goal by HJK's Rami Hakanpää. Footage of the incident from a single angle (12:20) is inconclusive (additionally, the screen display shows 'own goal', but the stadium tannoy announcer can be heard crediting it to Toquero). goals, and becoming a fan favourite for his endeavour.

Early years
Toquero was born in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava. After a brief youth spell at Real Sociedad, and some years with both reserve teams of Deportivo Alavés where he had also featured in his formative years, he started playing professionally for SD Lemona in the 2006–07 season, later joining Basque neighbours Sestao River Club (both clubs were in the third division).

While playing for Sestao, Athletic Bilbao showed interest in acquiring Toquero, who eventually signed him in 2008. After not being part of Joaquín Caparrós' plans in pre-season, he was loaned to neighbouring SD Eibar greatly due to new manager Carlos Pouso, who had coached the player before.

Athletic Bilbao
After 15 matches in 2008–09's second level, Toquero was recalled by Athletic on 4 January 2009, making his La Liga debut six days later by appearing as a second-half substitute in a 1–1 home draw against RCD Espanyol. He scored his first goal for the team on 4 March in a 3–0 home win in the Copa del Rey over Sevilla FC (4–2 on aggregate) which qualified Athletic for the final: there, he opened the scoring, albeit in a 4–1 loss to FC Barcelona.

Blessed with few technical skills but a tremendous hard-worker – which earned him the affectionate nickname of Lehendakari – in 2009–10 Toquero blossomed into a first division player. He started most of the campaign as an attacking complement to Fernando Llorente, and also found the net on several occasions, notably a double against Real Valladolid on 7 March 2010 in a 2–0 home success.

Toquero once again was a regular starter for Athletic during 2010–11, opening his official goal account on 30 January 2011 by netting twice in a 2–0 win at Atlético Madrid. At the end of the following season, he came off the bench in both the UEFA Europa League and the Spanish Cup finals, both of which ended in 3–0 defeats; in October 2012 he renewed his contract, due to expire in June 2013, for three more years.

Toquero made one substitute appearance in the 2014–15 edition of the UEFA Champions League, in a 2–1 group stage away loss against FC BATE Borisov. His last game for the club (less than 50 minutes of action during the campaign) was in the dying moments of a 1–0 league win over Real Madrid, on 7 May 2015.

Alavés
On 10 July 2015, Toquero cut ties with Athletic and returned to Alavés four days later after agreeing to a two-year deal. He was an ever-present figure in his first season, scoring nine goals in 39 starts as the team returned to the top tier after a ten-year wait; he added 23 with one goal during the second, and played a part in their run to the domestic cup final, although he was an unused substitute in the showpiece match.

As his contract at Mendizorrotza Stadium was finally not renewed, Toquero decided to train with hometown minnows CD Aurrerá de Vitoria in the close season while considering his options for the future.

Zaragoza
On 4 August 2017, Toquero signed a one-year deal with second division club Real Zaragoza. On 29 May 2019, after nearly a year without playing an official match due to complications from a knee injury, the 34-year-old announced his retirement.

International career
Toquero did not represent Spain at any level. He played seven matches for the Basque Country representative side, and scored twice in a 6–1 win over Bolivia at the Anoeta Stadium on 29 December 2012.

Honours
Athletic Bilbao
 * Copa del Rey runner-up: 2008–09, 2011–12
 * Supercopa de España runner-up: 2009
 * UEFA Europa League runner-up: 2011–12

Alavés
 * Segunda División: 2015–16
 * Copa del Rey runner-up: 2016–17