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 le ...

who played as a

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. He spent most of his professional career with

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, S.A.D., more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad (; ''Royal Society''), La Real in Spanish, Erreala in Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Basque Country, founded on 7 Septem ...

, appearing in 209 competitive matches and scoring three goals.

Club career

Real Sociedad

Born in

Lodosa Lodosa is a small town of around 5,000 people located in the province and autonomous community of Navarre, northern Spain. Located along the river Ebro, in a largely agricultural area, the town of Lodosa is known for its piquillo peppers (''pim ...

Navarre Navarre (; es, Navarra ; eu, Nafarroa ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre ( es, Comunidad Foral de Navarra, links=no ; eu, Nafarroako Foru Komunitatea, links=no ), is a foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, ...

, 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 Segunda División RFEF – Group 2, holding home matches at ''Estadio Merkatondoa'', with a capacity o ...

, 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 ( en, 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 Foot ...

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

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...

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, 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 association football, football club based in Málaga, Andalusia, Spain, that competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, ...

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 simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

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, S.A.D. ( ca-valencia, Vila-real Club de Futbol, S.A.D.), usually abbreviated to Villarreal CF or simply Villarreal, is a professional football club based in Villarreal, in the Castellón province of eastern Spain, th ...

; in the following seasons, he battled for first-choice status with fellow youth graduate

Dani Estrada Daniel 'Dani' Estrada Agirrezabalaga (born 3 January 1987) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays mainly as a right midfielder. He spent the better part of his professional career with Real Sociedad, appearing in 153 competitive matche ...

. In May 2018, after he made only a single

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...

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 Xabier "Xabi" Prieto Argarate (born 29 August 1983) is a Spanish retired professional footballer who played mainly as a right midfielder. A player of good dribbling skills, he was also a penalty kick specialist. He spent his entire career with ...

Oviedo and Burgos

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

Real Oviedo Real Oviedo is a Spanish football club based in Oviedo, Asturias. Founded on 26 March 1926 as a result of the merger of two clubs who had maintained a large sporting rivalry for years in the city: ''Real Stadium Club Ovetense'' and ''Real Club De ...

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