Nicolás "Nico" Paz Martínez (born 8 September 2004) is a 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 le ...

currently playing as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for Spanish club

Real Madrid Castilla Real Madrid Castilla Club de Fútbol is a Spanish football team that plays in Primera Federación – Group 1 for the 2022–23 season. It is Real Madrid's reserve team. They play their home games at the Alfredo Di Stéfano Stadium with a cap ...

. Born in Spain, he is a youth international for Argentina.

Club career

Early life

A youth product of CD San Juan and

Tenerife Tenerife (; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands. It is home to 43% of the total population of the archipelago. With a land area of and a population of 978,100 inhabitants as of Janu ...

, Paz joined the Real Madrid's '' La Fábrica'' in 2016. Initially starting his career as a central defender, Paz moved further up the pitch as he developed. After playing as a centre forward, he switched to the wing, where he plays for the under-19 side. He is also comfortable operating as a central midfielder or playmaker. He made his debut for the Real Madrid's B-team in a 3–1 win over

Andorra , image_flag = Flag of Andorra.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Andorra.svg , symbol_type = Coat of arms , national_motto = la, Virtus Unita Fortior, label=none (Latin)"United virtue is stro ...

in January 2022, coming on as an 82nd-minute substitute for Iván Morante.

International career

Born in

Santa Cruz de Tenerife Santa Cruz de Tenerife, commonly abbreviated as Santa Cruz (), is a city, the capital of the island of Tenerife, Province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, and capital of the Canary Islands. Santa Cruz has a population of 206,593 (2013) within its admi ...

, Canary Islands, Paz is eligible to represent both Spain and Argentina at international level. He was called up to the senior Argentina national team in March 2022. He also was called up to the Argentina under-20 side for the

2022 Maurice Revello Tournament The 2022 Maurice Revello Tournament (officially french: 48ème Festival International "Espoirs" – Tournoi Maurice Revello), was the 48th edition of the Maurice Revello Tournament, an annual, international, age-restricted football tournament, wh ...

in France. Paz was named in Argentina's preliminary 48-man squad for the

2022 World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022; it is the first Wo ...

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

Personal life

Nico is the son of former Argentine international footballer

Pablo Paz Pablo Ariel Paz Gallo (born 27 January 1973) is an Argentine retired footballer who played as a central defender. In a career that spanned 15 years he played more in Spain than in his homeland, notably with Tenerife for which he appeared in 127 ...

Career statistics

Club

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paz, Nico 2004 births Living people Footballers from Santa Cruz de Tenerife Argentine men's footballers Argentina men's youth international footballers Spanish men's footballers Spanish people of Argentine descent Men's association football midfielders Men's association football forwards Primera Federación players CD Tenerife players Real Madrid CF players Real Madrid Castilla footballers