Gonzalo Nicolás Martínez, commonly known as Pity Martínez (born 13 June 1993), is an Argentine 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 plays as an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for

Argentine Primera División The Primera División (; ), known officially as Liga Profesional de Fútbol, or Torneo Betano for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Argentina and the highest level of the Argentine football league system. Organ ...

club River Plate.

Club career

Huracán

Martínez, who trained in the

Huracán Huracán (; ; , "one legged"), often referred to as ''U Kʼux Kaj'', the "Heart of Sky", is a Kʼicheʼ Maya god of wind, storm, fire and one of the creator deities who participated in all three attempts at creating humanity. He also caused th ...

youth system, debuted with Huracán's first team in the 2011–12 season. While at the club, he won his first

Copa Argentina The Copa Argentina (English: ''Argentine Cup''), officially known as the "Copa Argentina AXION energy" due to sponsorship reasons, is an official football cup competition organized by the Argentine Football Association (AFA). The first editions ...

in 2014.

River Plate

Martínez joined River Plate in January 2015. Martínez made his club debut on 16 February 2015 against

Club Atlético Sarmiento Club Atlético Sarmiento is an Argentine sports club based in Junín, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. The club currently competes in Primera División, the top division of the Argentine football league system. Founded in 1911 and affiliated ...

in a 4–1 away win. On 25 April 2015, his former team

beat River Plate for the

Supercopa Argentina The Supercopa Argentina (English: Argentine Super Cup) is an official national association football cup of Argentina organized by the Argentine Football Association (AFA). The annual football match was played for the first time in 2012, being con ...

title. In the Copa Libertadores, Martínez played in the quarter-final first leg match against

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine professional sports club based in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is best known for its men's professional Association football, football team which, since its promotion in 1913 ...

, a match River Plate would go on to win. Martínez won two more Copas Argentinas in a row, in

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

and

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

. Martínez added two

Recopa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Recopa Sudamericana (), also known as Recopa Sudamericana or CONMEBOL Recopa, and simply as Recopa (, ; "Winners' Cup"), is an annual international club Association football, football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1988. It ...

s, in

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

and

. Martínez also won two Copas Libertadores, in

and

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

, as well as one Suruga Bank Championship in 2015, in which he scored in River's 3–0 win over

Gamba Osaka is a Japanese professional association football, football club based in Suita, Osaka Prefecture. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. The club's home stadium is Panasonic Stadium Suita. They form a ...

. He was instrumental in obtaining his first

title against Boca in

. On 9 December 2018, Martínez scored his side's third goal to seal a 3–1 win, 5–3 aggregate victory, over Boca Juniors in the second leg of the

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as Copa Libertadores de América (), is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in South American club football. The tournam ...

held at

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

's Bernabéu Stadium. Following the victory, he announced that he would be joining

MLS Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional 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 sanctioned by the United ...

side

Atlanta United Atlanta United FC is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Atlanta. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. Domestically, the club has won o ...

after the

FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup (FIFA CWC) is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (FIFA), the sport's global sports governing body, governing body. The compe ...

, as the club had met his $17 million release clause.

Atlanta United

On 24 January 2019, Martínez's transfer to

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 ...

side

was confirmed. On 12 May 2019, Martínez scored his first goal for Atlanta United during a 1–0 victory against Orlando City. He scored the game winner in the

U.S. Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States. It is the country's oldest ongoing national soccer competition. The competition was first held duri ...

final victory over

Minnesota United Minnesota United Football Club, often shortened to MNUFC, is an American professional soccer club based in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Th ...

on 27 August.

Al-Nassr

On 7 September 2020, Martínez joined

Saudi Professional League The Saudi Pro League (SPL), also known as the Roshn Saudi League (RSL) for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Saudi Arabia and the highest level of the Saudi football league system. The SPL is regarded as th ...

side

Al-Nassr Al-Nassr Football Club () is a professional football club based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The club competes in the Saudi Pro League, the top tier of the Saudi football league system. Al-Nassr is one of only three clubs to have participated ...

for a reported transfer fee of $18 million.

Return to River Plate

On August 24, 2023, River Plate announced that it had re-signed Martinez.

International career

On 8 September 2018, Martínez made his Argentina national team debut in a 3–0 victory over

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

. He started the match, scored from the penalty spot after a handball by Elías Vásquez midway through the first half, and was replaced by

Franco Vázquez Franco Damián Vázquez (; born 22 February 1989) is an Argentine professional Association football, footballer who plays as an Midfielder#Attacking midfielder, attacking midfielder for club US Cremonese, Cremonese. Beginning his career with Ar ...

in the 56th minute.

Personal life

His nickname, ''Pity'', refers to the

wren Wrens are a family, Troglodytidae, of small brown passerine birds. The family includes 96 species and is divided into 19 genera. All species are restricted to the New World except for the Eurasian wren that is widely distributed in the Old Worl ...

("pititorra"), from his native homeland of Guaymallén, in Mendoza, Argentina. He was given the nickname at the age of five, and does not respond to his given name, Gonzalo.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Argentina's goal tally first.''

Honours

Huracán *

: 2013–14 River Plate * Copa Argentina: 2015–16, 2016–17 *

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

Suruga Bank Championship The J.League Cup / Copa Sudamericana Championship was an annual intercontinental football match held in Japan, contested by the reigning champions of the J.League Cup and the Copa Sudamericana. The tournament was previously officially called the ...

Trofeo de Campeones de la Liga Profesional The Trofeo de Campeones de la Liga Profesional is an official List of Argentine football national cups, national football cup of Argentina organized by the Argentine Football Association (AFA) and contested by the winners of Argentine Primera Divi ...

Atlanta United *

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

Campeones Cup The Campeones Cup is an annual North American association football match contested between the winners of the previous MLS Cup from Major League Soccer and the winners of the Campeón de Campeones from Liga MX. The competition was established by ...

Al-Nassr *

Saudi Super Cup The Saudi Super Cup () is the annual super cup tournament in Saudi Arabian football. Founded in 2013 as a two-team competition, the Super Cup has been contested by four teams since 2022: the winners and runners-up of the King's Cup and the Sa ...

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

Individual *

South American Footballer of the Year The Rey de América ("King of America"), often referred to as the South American Footballer of the Year, is an annual association football award presented to the best footballer in South America over the previous calendar year. The award was con ...

: 2018 *

Best Player:

Footballer of the Year of Argentina The Footballer of the Year of Argentina (in Spanish: ''Olimpia de Plata al Mejor Futbolista'', that literally translates to "Silver Olimpia to the Best Footballer) is a yearly award given by the Argentine Sports Journalists' Circle (''Círculo de ...

: 2018 *

MLS All-Star The Major League Soccer All-Star Game is an annual Association football, soccer game held by Major League Soccer featuring selected players from the league against an international club or selected players from another league. MLS initially ado ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martinez, Pity 1993 births Living people Footballers from Mendoza Province Argentine people of indigenous peoples descent Argentine expatriate men's footballers Argentine men's footballers Argentina men's international footballers Men's association football midfielders Argentine Primera División players Primera Nacional players Major League Soccer players Saudi Pro League players Club Atlético Huracán footballers Club Atlético River Plate footballers Copa Libertadores–winning players Atlanta United FC players Al-Nassr FC players Argentine expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Expatriate men's footballers in Saudi Arabia Designated Players (MLS) 21st-century Argentine sportsmen