Martín Núñez (born February 2, 1987, in

Montevideo Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2023 census, the city proper has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

) is a Uruguayan

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 ...

Career

Youth and college

Núñez moved with his family to the United States when he was nine years old, settling in Miami, Florida. He attended Miami Sunset Senior High School, with whom he won the Florida State 6A championship in both 2004 and 2005, was named a first team All State in 2005, and was recognized as the Miami Herald Florida Player of the Year class 6A, the Florida State Final Four MVP and the Miami Herald Player of the Year as he led the team with thirty-four goals. Núñez played

college soccer College soccer, called college football in some countries, is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. While it is most widespread in the United States, it is also prominent in Japan, South Kore ...

Georgia Perimeter College Perimeter College at Georgia State University is a college of Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia. Georgia Perimeter College was originally a public community college founded by an Atlanta area county board of education before merging w ...

where he was a 2006 second team National Junior College All American, leading the nation with thirty goals. He left school after his freshman year to pursue a professional career.

Professional

Núñez was drafted in the second round (22nd overall) of the 2007 USL College Player Draft by

Miami FC Miami FC is an American professional association football, soccer team based in Miami, Florida that competes in the USL Championship, the second tier of the American soccer pyramid. The club began play in the North American Soccer League (201 ...

, but he chose not to sign with the team. In 2008, he was offered a contract with the

New York Red Bulls The New York Red Bulls are an American professional association football, soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conferenc ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

, but again he chose to not sign with them; instead, he signed with the

Carolina RailHawks North Carolina FC is an American professional soccer team in Cary, North Carolina, a suburb of Raleigh, and member of the USL Championship. Founded in 2006, the team previously was named the Carolina Railhawks. On December 6, 2016, the RailH ...

of the

USL First Division The USL First Division (USL-1) was a professional men's soccer league in the second tier of the United States league system. It was organized by the United Soccer League as its premier league for men from 1996 to 2010, above the USL Second ...

on March 15, 2008. He immediately cemented a spot in the RailHawks' midfield, playing twenty-eight games and scoring five goals. His efforts were rewarded when he was named one of three finalists for the Rookie of the Year award, an award ultimately won by

Osvaldo Alonso Osvaldo Alonso Moreno (born November 11, 1985) is a Cuban former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. He defected from Cuba in 2007 and became a U.S. citizen in 2012. During his decade-long career with Seattle Sounders ...

. In January 2009, Núñez traveled to

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

to join the

Puerto Rico Islanders The Puerto Rico Islanders were a professional association football team based in Bayamón, Puerto Rico. They played in several different leagues from 2004 to 2012, when they suspended operations. In their last two seasons they played in the Nort ...

of the USL-1 at their training camp on trial, signing with the club on February 18. He went on to play 14 games for the Islanders in 2009, helping them to the final of the

2009 CFU Club Championship The 2009 CFU Club Championship was the 11th edition of the CFU Club Championship, the annual international club football competition in the Caribbean region, held amongst clubs whose football associations are affiliated with the Caribbean Football ...

, before being released at the end of the season. He signed for

of the

USSF Division 2 Professional League The USSF Division 2 Professional League (D2 Pro League) was a temporary professional soccer league created by the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) for the 2010 season. The twelve-team league was formed as a compromise between the feuding U ...

in 2010 and re-signed with the club, now called

Fort Lauderdale Strikers Fort Lauderdale Strikers may refer to: *Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1977–1983), member of North American Soccer League from 1977 to 1983 *Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1988–1994) The Fort Lauderdale Strikers were an American soccer team establishe ...

and playing in the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League (NASL) was the top-level major professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984. It is considered the first soccer league to be successful on a national scale in the ...

, on February 8, 2011. On March 6, 2012, Nuñez was traded to

Minnesota Stars FC Minnesota ( ) is a state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the south, and Nor ...

by the Strikers in exchange for Jack Stewart. Nuñez was let go by

after the 2012 season and went on trial with

FC Edmonton FC Edmonton was a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club was founded in 2010 and competed in the North American Soccer League (2011–2017), North American Soccer League (NASL) from 2011 t ...

. Edmonton declined to sign him. In August 2013, Nuñez again signed with

. He remained with the club through the end of 2014. Nuñez signed with

Tampa Bay Rowdies The Tampa Bay Rowdies are an American professional soccer team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The club was founded in 2008 and first took the pitch in 2010. Since 2017, the Rowdies have been members of the USL Championship in the second tie ...

in December 2014. He was released in November 2015.

Honors

Puerto Rico Islanders

CFU Club Championship The Caribbean Club Championship, also known as the CFU Club Championship or CFU Club Champions' Cup, was an annual international football competition held amongst association football clubs that are members of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU). ...

Runner-up (1):

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

References

External links

Tampa Bay Rowdies bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nunez, Martin 1987 births Living people Uruguayan men's footballers North Carolina FC players Puerto Rico Islanders players Fort Lauderdale Strikers (2006–2016) players Fort Lauderdale Strikers players Minnesota United FC (2010–2016) players Tampa Bay Rowdies players Footballers from Montevideo Uruguayan expatriate men's footballers Uruguayan emigrants to the United States USL First Division players USSF Division 2 Professional League players North American Soccer League (2011–2017) players Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Puerto Rico Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Expatriate men's footballers in Puerto Rico Men's association football midfielders