Daniel Ruiz-Bazán

Daniel Ruiz-Bazán Justa (born 28 June 1951), commonly known as Dani, is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a striker.

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

Club career 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. He was a penalty kick specialist.

International career 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. 1983–84 Copa del Rey: 1983–84 Supercopa de España: 1984 UEFA Cup runner-up: 1976–77