Carlos Martínez Díez (born 9 April 1986) is a Spanish former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

. He spent most of his career with

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad ( ; ''Royal Society'') in English, and Erreala or Reala in Basque language, Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Donostia / San Sebastián, ...

, appearing in 209 competitive matches and scoring three goals.

Club career

Real Sociedad

Born in Lodosa,

Navarre Navarre ( ; ; ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre, is a landlocked foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Autonomous Community, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and New Aquitaine in France. ...

, Martínez joined

from local

CD Izarra Club Deportivo Izarra is a Spanish football team, based in Estella-Lizarra, in the autonomous community of Navarre. Founded in 1924 it plays in , holding home matches at '' Estadio Merkatondoa'', with a capacity of 3,500 seats. History In the 1 ...

, aged 13. He made his senior debut with the former's B team, going on to spend two full seasons in the

Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: second division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish ...

. In the 2007–08 campaign, with the main squad in

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

after 40 years, Martínez started competing as a professional. He played his first league match on 26 August 2007 in a 0–2 home loss against

CD Castellón Club Deportivo Castellón, S.A.D. is a professional List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Castellón de la Plana, in the Valencian Community. Founded on 20 July 1922, it currently plays in , holding home games at ''Nou E ...

, and scored his first goal on 25 November of that year to help the hosts beat

Málaga CF Málaga Club de Fútbol (, ''Málaga Football Club''), or simply Málaga, is a club based in Málaga, Andalusia, Spain, who compete in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, Spanish league system, following the ...

3–0. Martínez contributed 23 games – 22 starts – in 2009–10 as the ''Txuriurdin'' returned to

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

after three years, as champions. He made his debut in the competition on 29 August 2010 by featuring the full 90 minutes in a 1–0 home victory over

Villarreal CF Villarreal Club de Fútbol, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D., usually abbreviated to Villarreal CF, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Villarreal, in the Province of Castellón, Castellón province of easte ...

; in the following seasons, he battled for first-choice status with fellow youth graduate Dani Estrada. In May 2018, after he made only a single

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

appearance since December 2016 due to injuries and the form of the emerging Álvaro Odriozola in his position, the club announced that Martínez would be departing from the club on the expiry of his contract at the end of the campaign, at the same time as long-time teammate Xabi Prieto.

Oviedo and Burgos

On 6 July 2018, Martínez signed a one-year deal with

Real Oviedo Real Oviedo ( Asturian: Real Uviéu) is a Spanish professional football club based in Oviedo, Asturias. Founded on 26 March 1926, the club plays in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system. The club plays at ...

in the second division. On 9 August 2019, he moved down one tier and joined

Burgos CF Burgos Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Burgos, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. The original Burgos CF (1936), Burgos CF was dissolved in 1983 after becoming Insolven ...

; the following 15 January, he terminated his contract by mutual consent. Martínez announced his retirement on 30 July 2020, at the age of 34.

Honours

Real Sociedad *

: 2009–10

References

External links

Real Sociedad official profile
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Martinez, Carlos 1986 births Living people People from Ribera del Alto Ebro Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Navarre Men's association football fullbacks La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players CD Izarra footballers Real Sociedad B footballers Real Sociedad footballers Real Oviedo players Burgos CF footballers Basque Country men's international footballers 21st-century Spanish sportsmen