José Antonio Caro Martínez (born 8 March 1993) is a Spanish 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 plays as a

central defender 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 ...

for

UD Melilla Unión Deportiva Melilla is a Spanish football team based in the autonomous city of Melilla. Founded in 1976, it currently plays in Segunda División RFEF – Group 5, holding home matches at '' Estadio Municipal Álvarez Claro'', with a 8,000 c ...

Club career

Born in

Estepa Estepa is a municipality in the extreme south-east of the province of Seville. It had a population of 12.631 in 2013. The town is located north of the Sierra del Becerro mountains. History Estepa possesses a very ancient past and has well-preserv ...

Province of Seville The Province of Seville ( es, Sevilla) is a province of southern Spain, in the western part of the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is bordered by the provinces of Málaga, Cádiz in the south, Huelva in the west, Badajoz in the north and C ...

, Caro played youth football for local

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () or just Betis, is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1907, it plays in La Liga. It holds home games at the Estadio Benito Vill ...

, and made his senior debut with

the B team The B Team is a global nonprofit initiative co-founded by Sir Richard Branson and Jochen Zeitz. It advocates for business practices that are more centered on humanity and the climate. History In 2013, a group of leaders came together following ...

in the 2011–12 season, playing one game 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 ...

. Caro appeared in his first competitive match with the

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a ...

ns' main squad on 3 November 2013, coming on as a substitute for

Damien Perquis Damien Albert René Perquis (born 10 April 1984) is a former professional footballer and current assistant coach of Gazélec Ajaccio's B-team. A defender, he represented France at youth level, before acquiring Polish citizenship and playing f ...

in the 55th minute of a 3–2

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 ...

away loss against

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, ...

. He was handed his first start four days later, featuring the entire 1–0 win at

Vitória S.C. Vitória Sport Clube, commonly known as Vitória de Guimarães, is a Portuguese professional football club based in Guimarães that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top-flight of football in Portugal. Vitória de Guimarães have finished thir ...

in the group stage of the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

. On 21 August 2015, Caro was loaned to

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 ...

club Elche CF in a

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

-long deal. On 1 July of the following year, he terminated his contract with Betis and signed a two-year deal with

Córdoba CF Córdoba Club de Fútbol (), (from the 2020–21 season onwards competing under the umbrella of Unión Futbolística Cordobesa, S.A.D.) is a Spanish football club based in Córdoba, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1951 as ...

hours later. He scored his first goal as a professional on 8 October 2016, closing a 1–1 away draw with

CD Numancia Club Deportivo Numancia de Soria, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club in Soria, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded on 9 April 1945, it plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 2, holding home games at ''Nuevo Estadio Los ...

. On 27 July 2018,

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

Caro signed a two-year contract with Albacete Balompié, still in the second division. He made 17 appearances in his debut campaign to help his side finish fourth, netting in the 3–0 home victory over Córdoba on 2 September. Caro moved abroad for the first time in September 2020, joining NK Osijek of the

Croatian First Football League The Hrvatska nogometna liga () ( en, Croatian football league), also known as HNL or for sponsorship reasons the SuperSport HNL, is the top Croatian professional football (soccer), football league competition, established in 1992. Previously, i ...

on a three-year deal. He returned to Spain and its third tier in the 2022 January

transfer window A transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club can transfer players from other playing staff into their playing staff. Such a transfer is completed by registering the player into the new club through FIFA. "Transfer win ...

, however, with UCAM Murcia CF.

References

External links

* *
Beticopedia profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Caro, Jose Antonio 1993 births Living people People from Sierra Sur (Seville) Spanish men's footballers Footballers from the Province of Seville Men's association football central defenders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Primera Federación players Betis Deportivo Balompié footballers Real Betis players Elche CF players Córdoba CF players Albacete Balompié players UCAM Murcia CF players Linares Deportivo footballers UD Melilla footballers Croatian Football League players NK Osijek players Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Croatia Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Croatia