About Aitor Karanka
Aitor Karanka de la Hoz (Basque and Spanish pronunciation: [ajˈtoɾ kaˈɾaŋka]; born 18 September 1973) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a central defender, currently a manager. Save for a brief spell in the United States at age 32, he played solely in Spain for Athletic Bilbao and Real Madrid, appearing in 275 La Liga matches over 13 seasons and winning six honours with the latter club. He earned one cap for Spain, in 1995. Karanka started working as a coach in the late 2000s, beginning as assistant manager at Real Madrid during José Mourinho's tenure from 2010 to 2013. He was appointed at EFL Championship club Middlesbrough in 2013, guiding them to promotion to the Premier League in 2016 before being dismissed the following year. He was subsequently in charge of Nottingham Forest and Birmingham City in the Championship, before brief top-flight spells at Granada in Spain and Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Israeli Premier League. Having first worked in a development role with the Royal Spanish Football Federation, Karanka became the head coach of the Spanish under-16s national team in August 2008. Karanka met his former club Middlesbrough for the first time on 7 April, where Forest were defeated 2–0. During their time at Madrid, the club won the 2010–11 Copa del Rey, the 2011–12 La Liga and the 2012 Supercopa de España.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.