Aitor Ariño Bengoechea (born 5 October 1992) is a Welsh-born Spanish handball player for FC Barcelona and the Spanish national team.[1] He was part of the Spanish team that won the 2013 World Championship, as well as the 2018 and 2020 European Championships.[2][3][4]
| Aitor Ariño | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Personal information | |||
| Full name | Aitor Ariño Bengoechea | ||
| Born |
5 October 1992 Penarth, Wales | ||
| Nationality |
Welsh Spanish | ||
| Height | 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||
| Playing position | Left wing | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | FC Barcelona | ||
| Number | 13 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Years | Team | ||
2004–2010 | FC Barcelona | ||
| Senior clubs | |||
| Years | Team | ||
2010–2012 | FC Barcelona B | ||
2012–2025 | FC Barcelona | ||
2025– | Füchse Berlin | ||
| National team 1 | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2013– | Spain | 89 | (156) |
|
1 National team caps and goals correct as of 20 January 2025 | |||
Career
editAitor Ariño started playing handball at 7. In 2004 he was signed to the FC Barcelona U14 team. He made his senior debut on February 6th, 2014 under coach Xavier Pascual Fuertes in a league match against BM Cangas. In the following season he played mostly for the B-team in the 2nd tier, where he won the league twice in 2011-12 and 2012-13. He made his international debut in the 2012-13 EHF Champions League. From 2013 onwards he was a regular part of the Barcelona first team, where he has since once both the Spanish Championship, Copa del Rey, EHF Champions League and Copa ASOBAL. In December 2022 he was injured and missed the rest of the 2022-23 season.[5] By January 2025 he has played 315 games for Barcelona, scoring 883 goals.[6]
He agreed to join German Bundesliga team Füchse Berlin from the beginning of the 2025-26 season, on a contract until 2028.[7]
National team
editAitor Ariño made his debut for the Spanish national team on January 6th, 2013 against Brazil.
For the 2013 World Championship he was included in the Spanish team to replace the injured Cristian Ugalde. It came as a bit of a surprise that he won chosen by Valero Rivera instead of Spanish all time top scorer Juanín García[3] and the decision was criticized at the time.[8] Spain would go on to win the tournament.[9] At the 2018 European Championship he won his second gold medal with the Spanish team.[2] He was however not originally part of the squad, and only entered the tournament after the first round to replace Ángel Fernández Pérez.[10]
At the 2019 World Championship he finished 7th with the Spanish team. A year later he once again became European Champion, when Spain defended their title at the 2020 European Championship.[4]
At the 2021 World Championship he finished third with the Spanish team, and at the 2022 European Championship he reached the final, where Spain lost to Sweden. He played all nine games, scoring 3 goals.[11]
Private life
editHis father, Sergi Ariño, is also a handball player, who played for FC Barcelona between 1986 and 1988.[12]
Honours
editClub
edit- EHF Champions League
- Liga ASOBAL:
- Winner: 13 times; 2013-2025
- Copa del Rey:
- Winner: 13 times; 2014-2025
- Copa ASOBAL:
- Winner: 13 times; 2014-2025
- Spanish Supercup:
- Winner: 9 times; 2013-2021
- Iberian Supercup:
- Winner:: 2022, 2023, 2024
- Catalan Supercup
- Winner:: 11 times: 2014-2024
- IHF Super Globe
- Winner: 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019
National team
editReferences
edit- ↑ EHF profile Archived from the original on January 12, 2020
- 1 2 "2018 European Championship roster" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 January 2018. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
- 1 2 "Nächster Ausfall bei Spanien" (in German). handball-world.com. 5 January 2013. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
- 1 2 "Handball-EM kompakt: Spanien verteidigt den Titel - alle Ergebnisse und Torschützen des Turniers im Stenogramm" (in German). handball-world.news. 26 January 2020. Archived from the original on 15 January 2020. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
- ↑ "Aitor Ariño estará seis meses de baja al recaer de sus problemas de rodilla" (in Spanish). mibalonmano.com. 2 December 2022. Retrieved 22 February 2025.
- ↑ asobal.es, Player statistics from Asobal, retrieved 20 January 2025
- ↑ "Füchse verpflichten Aitor Ariño aus Barcelona" (in German). Füchse Berlin. 20 January 2025. Retrieved 20 January 2025.
- ↑ "Spaniens Nationaltrainer nach Nachnominierung in der Kritik" (in German). handball-world.com. 9 January 2013. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
- ↑ "Statistics Spain". handballspain2013.com. Archived from the original on 21 June 2013. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
- ↑ "Cambio: sale Ángel Fernández, entra Aitor Ariño". rfebm.com (in Spanish). 15 January 2018.
- ↑ "Men's EHF Euro 2022: Spain". eurohandball.com. European Handball Federation. Archived from the original on 27 January 2022. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
- ↑ "13. Ariño". FC Barcelona. Retrieved 22 February 2025.
External links
edit- Aitor Ariño at the European Handball Federation
- Aitor Ariño at InterSportStats
