Manuel Pablo García Díaz (born 25 January 1976), known as Manuel Pablo, is a Spanish retired 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 mainly 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 ...

, and is the assistant manager of

Deportivo Fabril Real Club Deportivo Fabril, previously known as ''Deportivo B'', is the reserve team of Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña, it is based in A Coruña, in the autonomous community of Galicia. It currently plays in Tercera División RFEF – Group 1 ...

. He played most of his professional career with Deportivo, appearing in nearly 450 official matches and notably winning the

1999–2000 La Liga The 1999–2000 La Liga season, the 69th since its establishment, began on 21 August 1999 and ended on 20 May 2000. Deportivo La Coruña won their first league title with 69 points, the lowest for a champion since three points for a win was intr ...

. With stamina as his main asset, he also represented

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

on 13 occasions.

Career

Born in

Arucas, Las Palmas Arucas is a municipality in the northern part of the island of Gran Canaria, province of Las Palmas, Canary Islands. Arucas is west of Las Palmas city. Its population is 36,852 (2013),Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...

, Manuel Pablo was only 22 when he joined

Deportivo de La Coruña Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña (), commonly known as Deportivo La Coruña (), Deportivo or simply Dépor, is a professional association football, football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia (Spain), Galicia, Spain. They currently p ...

from hometown's

UD Las Palmas Unión Deportiva Las Palmas, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Las Palmas, on the island of Gran Canaria in the autonomous community of Canary Islands. Founded on 22 August 1949, it plays in Segunda División, holding home games at the ...

in the summer of 1998, being signed together with Argentine

Turu Flores Turu may refer to: *Turu people, an ethnic and linguistic group in Tanzania who speak the bantu language Kinyaturu *Turu language or Nyaturu language, a Bantu language ;Given name and surname *Turu Flores or José Oscar Flores (born 1971), Argent ...

. He made his

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 ...

debut on 15 November 1998 in a 2–2 home draw against

Deportivo Alavés Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. (; ''Sporting Alavés''), usually abbreviated to Alavés, is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the ...

, but faced serious competition from Armando in his first season, appearing in just 14 league matches. Manuel Pablo played 74 games from 1999 to 2001, and was a vital part of ''Depors defense as the

Galicians Galicians ( gl, galegos, es, gallegos, link=no) are a Celtic-Romance ethnic group from Spain that is closely related to the Portuguese people and has its historic homeland is Galicia, in the north-west of the Iberian Peninsula. Two Romance l ...

were crowned national champions in 2000 for the first time in their history. His performances earned him a debut with the Spanish national team on 16 August 2000, in a 1–4 away friendly defeat to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. In his fourth season at

A Coruña A Coruña (; es, La Coruña ; historical English: Corunna or The Groyne) is a city and municipality of Galicia, Spain. A Coruña is the most populated city in Galicia and the second most populated municipality in the autonomous community and s ...

, disaster struck: on 30 September 2001, Manuel Pablo sustained an horrific

tibia The tibia (; ), also known as the shinbone or shankbone, is the larger, stronger, and anterior (frontal) of the two bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates (the other being the fibula, behind and to the outside of the tibia); it connects ...

injury during the Galician derby against

Celta de Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta de Vigo or simply Celta, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues ...

, in a televised match, after an unlucky tackle by

Everton Giovanella Everton Giovanella (born 13 September 1970) is a Brazilian retired footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. He was best known for tireless physical display, and played most of his professional career in Spain – one full decade – namel ...

. Eventually, he missed the rest of the campaign. One year later, Manuel Pablo returned, playing the full 90 minutes against CD Corralejo in a

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 ...

tie. On 6 October 2002 he was handed his league return by coach

Javier Irureta Javier Iruretagoyena Amiano (born 1 April 1948), Irureta for short, is a Spanish retired football attacking midfielder and manager. He had a distinguished playing career with Atlético Madrid and Athletic Bilbao, playing in 344 La Liga ga ...

, coming out as a late substitute in the 0–2 home loss to

Racing de Santander Real Racing Club de Santander, S.A.D. (), also known as Racing de Santander () or simply Racing, is a football club based in Santander, Cantabria, Spain, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system ...

. In 2003–04's closing stages Manuel Pablo proved he was fully recovered, as displayed in an excellent individual display on 7 April 2004 in a 4–0 second leg

quarterfinal A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

crushing of

A.C. Milan Associazione Calcio Milan (), commonly referred to as AC Milan or simply Milan, is a professional Association football, football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 ...

in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

. From the 2004–05 season onwards, he was the undisputed right-back at

Riazor Estadio Municipal de Riazor (), also known as Estadio ABANCA-RIAZOR for sponsorship reasons, is an all-seater stadium in A Coruña, Spain. The stadium is the home of Deportivo de La Coruña, and accommodates a total of 32,660 spectators, making ...

(although he faced stiff competition from

Álvaro Arbeloa Álvaro Arbeloa Coca (; born 17 January 1983) is a Spanish retired footballer, currently manager of Real Madrid Juvenil A. He predominantly played as a right-back, and occasionally on the left side. He started his professional career with R ...

in the 2006–07 campaign until the latter departed for

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

in January 2007). In the following two seasons, Manuel Pablo remained first-choice at his position, although he was challenged by younger Laure in 2008–09. In early May 2009, after lengthy negotiations, the 33-year-old renewed his ''Depor'' contract in a 2+1 deal. From 2009 to 2015, Manuel Pablo still managed to appear in a combined 126 league games, being relegated twice from the top flight and achieving as many promotions. On 16 June 2015, he extended his link for a further year. On 7 July 2016, after only five competitive appearances during the season, 40-year-old Manuel Pablo retired.Manuel Pablo cuelga las botas (Manuel Pablo hangs boots)

La Voz de Galicia ''La Voz de Galicia'' ( en, The Voice of Galicia) is a Spanish daily newspaper owned by the Corporación Voz de Galicia. ''La Voz'' is highest circulation newspaper in Galicia and the eighth-highest circulation general-interest daily newspaper ...

, 7 July 2016

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Deportivo *

: 1999–2000 *

: 2001–02 *

Supercopa de España The Supercopa de España or the ''Spanish Super Cup'' is a super cup tournament in Spanish football. Founded in 1982 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2019–20 by four teams: the winners and runners-up of ...

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

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 ...

: 2011–12 *

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from la, Inter, 'between' + german: toto, 'betting pool'),Most precisely, from (football pool); cf. often abbreviated and more known in the German-speaking world as UI Cup and originally called the International Foot ...

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

References

External links

Deportivo official profile
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Manuel Pablo 1976 births Living people People from Arucas, Las Palmas Footballers from the Province of Las Palmas Spanish men's footballers Men's association football defenders Spain men's international footballers Spain men's under-23 international footballers Spain men's under-21 international footballers La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players UD Las Palmas Atlético players UD Las Palmas players Deportivo de La Coruña players