Ibai Gómez will be the coach of the Dominican Republic at the Paris Olympic Games

Less than a year ago, Ibai Gómez (Bilbao, 34 years old) hung up his boots.

He played his last game in the regional Division of Honor of Bizkaia, with the red shirt of Santutxu, against Dínamo San Juan;

He scored a goal and was honored by his childhood club, in which his father, Mitxelo, a Biscayan soccer classic, is the president.

He had left Deportivo months before, his last step in professional football, and returned to the field simply to help the popular neighborhood team.

In the penultimate game of the season, in the Mallona field, to which every May 2 the members of the El Sitio society go up in procession, because in one of the corners there are the remains of the Los Liberales pantheon, Ibai said goodbye to his job, but not to the club, since he continued with his task of coaching the youth team.

And he was still on that mission, along with his former Athletic teammate Fernando Amorebieta, when he received a call from the Dominican Football Federation, which wanted to hire him to lead the national team of that country in no less than the Paris Olympic Games, an appointment in which the Caribbean country has a guaranteed place.

The signing of Ibai Gómez, which has been brewing in recent months and was finalized last Thursday with the official announcement of the Caribbean federation, was conceived after a trip to Madrid by the Bilbao team, during the Christmas break, to play several games. friendly.

His way of working caught the attention of the collaborators in Spain of the Dominican federation, so they maintained the first contact right there, which was expanded in the following weeks in several meetings, already with the federation officials, through videoconference.

The technician explained his work plans and his way of carrying them out, which convinced the leaders that he was the ideal person to occupy the position.

They offered him the direction of the Under 23 team, which is the one that will travel to the Olympic Games, and a contract that extended beyond the Paris event, although, finally, Ibai decided that, for the moment, the commitment will only last until the end of the Dominican tour in the tournament.

The Olympic competition, in which Spain will also play, will be made up of 16 teams, of which 12 have already qualified. The Dominican Republic occupies one of the two places awarded to Concacaf.

The other was obtained by the United States.

In addition to France, the organizing country, Ukraine and Israel will be in Europe.

Egypt, Mali and Morocco make up the African participation;

New Zealand will be the representative of Oceania.

Argentina and Paraguay will play for Conmebol and the three Asian places remain to be awarded, as well as another in a tie between an African team and an Asian team.

In a message on his social networks, Ibai Gómez assures that, “this project was unimaginable a few months ago,” but he points out: “It is a challenge that anyone would like to take on, and I think we are prepared for it,” and concludes: “We are going to enjoy, I think we are going to do something great.”

In addition to Fernando Amorebieta as second coach, Ibai will have a trusted team for his Dominican adventure made up of Iñigo Larriqueta as second technical assistant, Omar Fernández as physical trainer, Endika Montiel, nutritionist, and Gonzalo Rubio, who will be the tactical analyst.

Ibai Gómez played, as a professional, 193 games with the Athletic shirt, in two stages, in which he scored 18 goals, and in between he played for Deportivo Alavés.

During his red and white militancy he always kept in mind his role as a coach, which he developed in the Santutxu youth teams, from which he now jumps to a national team.

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