Mariano Sanz Novillo (born 11 November 1989) is a Spanish

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 plays for

Benidorm Benidorm ( , , ) is a municipality in the province of Alicante, Valencian Community, on the Mediterranean coast of Spain. Known as the “New York City, New York of the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean”, Benidorm has been a tourist destinatio ...

as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

Club career

Born in

Province of Alicante Alicante (, , ; ; ; officially: / ) is a province located in eastern Spain, in the southern part of the Valencian Community. It is the second most populated Valencian province, containing the second and third biggest cities in the Valencian Co ...

Valencian Community The Valencian Community is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. It is the fourth most populous Spanish Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community after Andalusia, Catalonia and the Community of Madrid wit ...

, Sanz was a youth product of local club

Benidorm CF Benidorm Club de Fútbol was a Spanish football team based in Benidorm, in the autonomous community of Valencia. Founded in 1964 and dissolved in 2011 it held home matches at ''Estadio Municipal Guillermo Amor'', which had a capacity of 6,000. ...

, making his senior debut in the 2006–07 season 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 July 2010 he signed with

CA Osasuna Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional football club based in Pamplona, Navarre. It was founded on 24 October 1920 and plays in La Liga, the top division of Spanish football. The team's ...

, being assigned to the reserves in the same level. On 17 July 2012, Sanz joined another

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...

Racing de Santander B Rayo Cantabria, formerly known as Real Racing Club de Santander "B" is the reserve team of Racing de Santander, a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Santander, Cantabria, Santander, in the autonomous community of Cant ...

still in the third division. In July 2013 he was promoted to the main squad, recently relegated to that league, and appeared in 33 matches in all competitions during the campaign and scored four goals (the most notable in a 2–0 win over

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 ...

club

UD Almería Unión Deportiva Almería, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish professional football club based in Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded on 26 July 1989 and known as ''Almería Club de Fútbol'' until 2001 ...

in the

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 ...

on 14 January 2014), as the

Cantabria Cantabria (, ; ) is an autonomous community and Provinces of Spain, province in northern Spain with Santander, Cantabria, Santander as its capital city. It is called a , a Nationalities and regions of Spain, historic community, in its current ...

ns returned to

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 ...

at the first attempt. Sanz played his first match as a professional on 30 August 2014, coming on as a substitute for

Borja Granero Borja Granero Niñerola (born 30 June 1990) is a Spanish footballer who plays mainly as a central defender but also as a defensive midfielder. Club career Born in Valencia, Granero finished his development at local giants Valencia CF. He made h ...

in the 55th minute of the home fixture against

CD Mirandés Club Deportivo Mirandés is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Miranda de Ebro, Province of Burgos, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded on 3 May 1927, the club competes in the Segunda División ...

and netting six minutes later, but in an eventual 1–2 loss. The following 17 January he scored his third goal in the second tier, being also

sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...

late into the 1–0 defeat of

Albacete Balompié Albacete Balompié is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Albacete, in the autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha. Founded on 5 July 1939, it currently plays in Segunda División, the second tier of Spanish foo ...

also at the

Campos de Sport de El Sardinero Campos de Sport de El Sardinero ("El Sardinero Sport Fields"), or simply El Sardinero, is a multi-purpose stadium in Santander, Spain. It is currently used mostly for football matches, serving as the home ground of the former La Liga side Racing ...

; the season ended in immediate relegation. Sanz competed in the lower leagues until his retirement, with

Hércules CF Hércules de Alicante Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team in Alicante, in the Valencian Community. Founded on 25 October 1922, it currently plays in Primera Federación and plays its home games ...

CD Alcoyano Club Deportivo Alcoyano, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Alcoy, in the autonomous community of the Valencian Community. Founded in 1928, it plays in , holding home games in '' Estadio El Collao'', with a capacity of 4,850 seats. Hi ...

and

CF La Nucía Club de Fútbol La Nucía is a Spanish football team based in La Nucía, in the autonomous community of Valencia. Founded in 1995, it plays in , holding home games at '' Estadio Camilo Cano'', which has a capacity of 3,000 spectators. Team colo ...

. He helped the latter side to reach division three for the first time ever in 2018–19, but was later sidelined for more than one year with a serious knee injury.Mariano Sanz regresa a la plantilla de La Nucía (Mariano Sanz returns to La Nucía squad)
La Vanguardia, 21 January 2021 (in Spanish)

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sanz, Mariano 1989 births Living people People from Benidorm Spanish men's footballers Footballers from the Province of Alicante Men's association football forwards Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Primera Federación players Segunda Federación players Tercera Federación players Benidorm CF footballers CA Osasuna B players Rayo Cantabria players Racing de Santander players Hércules CF players CD Alcoyano footballers CF La Nucía players 21st-century Spanish sportsmen