Mario Gaspar Pérez Martínez (; born 24 November 1990) 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 for

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the E ...

club

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...

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 15 years of his career at

Villarreal Villarreal ( ca-valencia , Vila-real) is a city and municipality in the province of Castellón which is part of the Valencian Community in the east of Spain. The town is located at 42 m above sea level, 7 km to the south of the province's ...

, making 424 official appearances and winning the

2020–21 UEFA Europa League The 2020–21 UEFA Europa League was the 50th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 12th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. Villarreal defeated Manchester United i ...

. In July 2022, he signed with Watford. Mario Gaspar played his first match with

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 ...

in 2015, scoring in that game.

Club career

Villarreal

Born in

Novelda Novelda (, ; ) is a town located in the province of Alicante, Spain. , it has a total population of 27,135 inhabitants. Novelda has important quarries and mines of marble, limestone, silica, clay and gypsum. It is a major centre of the marble indu ...

Alicante Alicante ( ca-valencia, Alacant) is a city and municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city was 337,482 , the second-largest in t ...

Valencian Community The Valencian Community ( ca-valencia, Comunitat Valenciana, es, Comunidad Valenciana) is an autonomous community of Spain. It is the fourth most populous Spanish autonomous community after Andalusia, Catalonia and the Community of Madrid with ...

, Mario Gaspar finished his development at

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 ...

after arriving from

Albacete Balompié Albacete Balompié is a Spanish football team based in Albacete, in the autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha. Founded on 2 August 1940, it currently plays in Segunda División, the second tier of Spanish football, holding home matches ...

. On 15 March 2009, aged just 18, he made his first-team – and

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, in a game against

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), known simply as Atleti in the Spanish-speaking world and commonly referred to at international level as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish profess ...

: he replaced

Giuseppe Rossi Giuseppe Rossi (; born 1 February 1987) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward. Born in the United States, Rossi spent most of his career in Europe with Villarreal and Fiorentina, in addition to spells with other clubs in England, It ...

with roughly 25 minutes to play, with the score at 2–1, but the ''Yellow Submarine'' eventually lost 3–2 away. Mario Gaspar spent the entire 2009–10 season with the reserves. He started in all 31 games he appeared in, as they easily retained their newly-found

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 ...

status. Midway through the following campaign, Mario Gaspar was definitely promoted to the main squad following Ángel López's severe

knee In humans and other primates, the knee joins the thigh with the leg and consists of two joints: one between the femur and tibia (tibiofemoral joint), and one between the femur and patella (patellofemoral joint). It is the largest joint in the hu ...

injury, also making the starting XI. On 16 January 2011, in his first start, he played the full 90 minutes in a 4–2 home win over

CA Osasuna Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional football club in Pamplona, Navarre. Founded on 24 October 1920, the club currently plays in La Liga, holding home games at the 23,576-capacity El Sa ...

, finishing with 22 appearances. He scored his first competitive goal on 1 May 2012, opening the 3–2 victory at

Sporting de Gijón Real Sporting de Gijón, S.A.D. (), commonly known as Real Sporting, Sporting Gijón, or simply Sporting (although in an international context this can lead to confusion with Sporting Clube de Portugal) is a Spanish football club from Gijón, P ...

towards the end of a season which finished with relegation. In May 2014, with a year remaining on his contract, it was extended for a further four. Mario Gaspar scored his first goal in

European competition The European Competition is a student competition in which students of all ages submit creative, artistic, or written pieces of work on the activities of the European Union. Tendered by European Movement Germany, it is the oldest student competition ...

on 21 August 2014, concluding a 3–0 away defeat of

FC Astana Astana Football Club ( kk, Astana Futbol Kluby) is a professional football club based in Astana. They play in the Kazakhstan Premier League, the highest level of Kazakh football. The club's home ground is the 30,254-seat Astana Arena stadium. Th ...

in the first leg of their

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 ...

play-off The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

(7–0 aggregate). In January 2017, he signed a new deal to last until 2023. On 18 March 2018, Mario Gaspar played his 300th official match for Villarreal, in a 2–1 win at Atlético; only Cani,

Marcos Senna Marcos Antônio Senna da Silva (born 17 July 1976), known as Senna, is a retired professional footballer who played as a central midfielder. He was mainly known for his passing range and long-range shooting and was also a penalty specialist. H ...

and teammate

Bruno Soriano Bruno Soriano Llido (; born 12 June 1984) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. He spent his entire career with Villarreal since making his first appearance with the first team in 2006, and played 425 ...

had reached that figure before for the club. He filled in as

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

during the lengthy injuries of the last of those players, and on 21 April 2021 with a 2–1 away loss to

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 ...

he joined him at 400 matches. In 2021–22, still under manager

Unai Emery Unai Emery Etxegoien (born 3 November 1971) is a Spanish football manager and former player who is the head coach of Premier League club Aston Villa. After a career spent playing mostly in Spain's Segunda División, Emery transitioned into coa ...

, Mario Gaspar was kept out of the team by both

Serge Aurier Serge Alain Stéphane Aurier (; born 24 December 1992) is an Ivorian professional footballer who currently plays as a right back for Premier League club Nottingham Forest and captains the Ivory Coast national team. Aurier moved to France as a c ...

and

Juan Foyth Juan Marcos Foyth (born 12 January 1998) is an Argentine professional football player who plays as right-back or centre-back for Spanish club Villarreal and the Argentina national team. Having begun his professional career at his hometown club ...

Watford

On 29 July 2022, Mario Gaspar signed for

club

. He made his league debut on 8 August, a 77th-minute substitute for

Hassane Kamara Hassane Kamara (born 5 March 1994) is a professional footballer who plays as a left back or left wing-back for Serie A club Udinese. Born in France, he plays for the Ivory Coast national team. Club career Châteauroux Kamara is a youth expone ...

in the 1–1 draw at

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...

International career

Mario Gaspar earned 16

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

for Spain at youth level, including two for the under-21s. He received his first call up to the full side in October 2015, making his debut on the 12th by scoring the game's only goal in

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

– the last round, the nation had already secured the first position in its group – for the

UEFA Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe o ...

qualifiers. He repeated the feat the following match, scoring an

overhead kick In association football, a bicycle kick, also known as an overhead kick, scissors kick, is an acrobatic strike where a player kicks an airborne ball rearward in midair. It is achieved by throwing the body backward up into the air and, before ...

to open a 2–0 friendly win against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, with the strike being nominated for the

FIFA Puskás Award The FIFA Puskás Award is an award established on 20 October 2009 by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association ( FIFA), at the behest of then-president Sepp Blatter, to be awarded to the male or female judged to have scored the mo ...

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Spain's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Mario Gaspar goal.''

Honours

Villarreal *

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mario Gaspar 1990 births Living people People from Vinalopó Mitjà Sportspeople from the Province of Alicante Spanish footballers Footballers from the Valencian Community Association football defenders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Villarreal CF C players Villarreal CF B players Villarreal CF players English Football League players Watford F.C. players UEFA Europa League winning players Spain youth international footballers Spain under-21 international footballers Spain international footballers Spanish expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in England Spanish expatriate sportspeople in England