Tomás Martínez (born 7 June 1995) is an Argentine

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 ...

who plays as an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As #Cent ...

for Melgar.

Club career

River Plate

Born in

Béccar Beccar is a town located north of the Buenos Aires metropolitan area in the Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is part of the '' partido'' of San Isidro in Gran Buenos Aires. It is situated close to the historic town of San Isidro and it i ...

, Martínez joined River Plate's youth setup in 2001, after starting out at Atlético Béccar. In July 2011 he signed his first professional contract, with a

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists ...

10 million clause after being linked to Arsenal and

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Founded ...

. On 24 April 2013 Martínez made his first team debut, coming on as a second-half substitute for

Mauro Díaz Mauro Alberto Díaz (born 10 March 1991) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder. Early career Díaz made his first team debut for River Plate on 21 September 2008 in a 3–1 away loss to San Martín de Tu ...

in a 0–1

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), with the aim of qual ...

home loss against Estudiantes Buenos Aires. He made his Primera División debut on 23 June, starting in a 3–1 home win against San Martín San Juan. In 2014 Martínez made 4 appearances in the

Copa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Sudamericana, named as ''Copa Sudamericana'' (; pt, Copa Sul-Americana ), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 2002. It is the second-most prestigious club competition in South American ...

to help River win their first continental tournament in 17 years. However he only made 9 league appearances on the season. Because chances with the first team were limited, on 18 August 2015 Martínez 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 ...

side

CD Tenerife Club Deportivo Tenerife, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Tenerife, in the Canary Islands. Founded in 1912, the club plays in the Segunda División, holding home matches at the Estadio Heliodoro Rodríguez Lóp ...

, 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. In February 2016, River Plate cancelled the loan with CD Tenerife and sent Martínez on loan to Primera División club

Defensa y Justicia Club Social y Deportivo Defensa y Justicia, commonly known as Defensa y Justicia, is an Argentine football club from Florencio Varela, Buenos Aires, established in 1935.Unión de Santa Fe Club Atlético Unión (; mostly known as Unión de Santa Fe ) is a sports club from Santa Fe, the capital city of the Santa Fe Province, in Argentina. The club was founded on April 15, 1907 and plays in the Argentine Primera División. Althoug ...

and scored his first ever Primera División goal on 17 February against

Atlético de Rafaela Asociación Mutual Social y Deportiva Atlético de Rafaela, known simply as Atlético de Rafaela, is an Argentine sports club based in the city of Rafaela, in Santa Fe Province. The club is mostly known for its professional football team, that ...

. Martínez would find more success back in Argentina then he did in Spain, scoring 3 and picking up 2 assists for Defensa y Justicia.

SC Braga

On 2 July 2016, River Plate sold Martínez to

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal, ...

club

SC Braga Sporting Clube de Braga () (), commonly known as Sporting de Braga or just Braga, is a Portuguese sports club from the city of Braga. It is best known for the professional football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portugues ...

. He would make his Braga debut on 22 August against

Rio Ave Rio Ave Futebol Clube, commonly known as Rio Ave (), is a Football in Portugal, Portuguese professional Association football, football club based in Vila do Conde, that competes in the Primeira Liga. The club is named after the Ave River, which ...

. Martínez made his European debut on 29 August in a 2–0 defeat to

Shakhtar Donetsk Football Club Shakhtar Donetsk ( uk, Футбольний клуб «Шахтар» Донецьк , short nickname "miners") is a Ukrainian professional football club from the city of Donetsk. In 2014, due to the War in Donbass, the club was f ...

in a

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 ...

match. However, Martínez would struggled to find playing time, only making 2 more league appearances with the first team. He would spend the second half of the season with the club's second team, Braga B.

Houston Dynamo

Martínez signed with the

Houston Dynamo Houston Dynamo FC (formerly officially, but still commonly, called the Houston Dynamo) is an American professional soccer club based in Houston. The Dynamo compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Establi ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

on 17 July 2017 as a young designated player. He would make his Dynamo debut on 12 August, coming on as a sub against the

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional soccer team based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete as a member club of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). Originally as the San Jose Clash, the franchise ...

. He scored his first goal with the Dynamo against the

LA Galaxy LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began pl ...

on 27 September. In the 2018 MLS Cup Playoffs, Martínez played in every game for the Dynamo and picked up an assist as the Dynamo reached the Western Conference Finals. However he picked up a red card in the final game that forced him to miss the first game of the 2018 season. Although the Dynamo missed the playoffs in 2018, Martínez enjoyed the most productive season of his career. He finished the year as the Dynamo's team leader in assists with 13 Martínez got his first ever MLS regular season assist on 10 March against the

Vancouver Whitecaps Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Vancouver. They compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on Mar ...

. He picked up a goal and assist on 14 April against the Earthquakes and made his first ever MLS team of the weak as a result of his strong performance. Martínez played in 4 games and recorded an assist in the

US Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in men's Soccer in the United States, soccer in the United States of America. It is the oldest ongoing nati ...

as he helped the Dynamo win their first Open Cup in club history. On 28 October, he picked up 2 assists as the Dynamo came back from 2–0 down to defeat the Galaxy 3–2, eliminating the Galaxy from the playoffs. Martínez made his

CONCACAF Champions League The CONCACAF Champions League, known officially as the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons, is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONCACAF. The tournament is contested by clubs from North Ameri ...

19 February in a 1–0 win over C.D. Guastatoya. He picked up his first assist of the year on 9 March in a 2–1 over the Montreal Impact. Martínez scored his first goal of the season on 13 April, curling in a left footed shot to the side netting to give Houston a 2–1 win over San Jose. He would find the back of the net again on 27 April, this time hitting a half volley with his left foot into the left corner in a 2–0 Houston win against the

Columbus Crew The Columbus Crew, formerly known as Columbus Crew SC, is an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The Crew competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference and began play in 1996 as one ...

. On 11 June, Martínez picked up a goal an assist to help Houston get a 3–2 win over Austin Bold in a US Open Cup match. On June 18, he would find the back of the net in their next Open Cup match, however the Dynamo would lose 3–2 to

Minnesota United Minnesota United FC is an American professional soccer club based in Saint Paul, Minnesota that plays in the Western Conference of Major League Soccer. The club began play in 2017 as the league's 22nd club, and replaced the North American So ...

. Martínez enjoyed his most productive month of the season in July, scoring goals in Dynamo wins against

New York Red Bulls The New York Red Bulls are an American professional soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The club was established in October 1994 and be ...

and

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BMO ...

as well as picking up an assist in a 3–1 defeat to LAFC. He would in the season with 7 goals and 4 assists in 37 appearances across all competitions as the Dynamo finished 10th in the Western Conference, missing out on the playoffs for the second straight season. Prior to the 2020 season, the Dynamo hired

Tab Ramos Tabaré "Tab" Ramos Ricciardi (born September 21, 1966) is an American former soccer player and current head coach of Hartford Athletic in the USL Championship. Over his thirteen-year professional career, Ramos played as a midfielder in Spain, ...

as head coach, replacing Wilmer Cabrera, who had been in charge for the previous 3 seasons. Ramos primarily used lineups without a central attacking midfielder, reducing the opportunities for Martínez to play in his preferred position. Martínez ended the season having made only 11 appearances, 3 of them starts, with no goals or assists. Despite the change in coach and tactics, on field results didn't improve, with Houston missing the playoffs for the third consecutive year. His contract option was declined by Houston following their 2020 season.

Defensa y Justicia

On 30 January 2021, Martínez signed with

Defensa y Justicia Club Social y Deportivo Defensa y Justicia, commonly known as Defensa y Justicia, is an Argentine football club from Florencio Varela, Buenos Aires, established in 1935.Argentine Primera División The Primera División (; en, "First Division"), known officialy as Liga Profesional de Fútbol, or Torneo Binance for sponsorship reasons, is a professional football league in Argentina, organised by the Argentine Football Association (AFA). Th ...

Aldosivi

On 5 January 2022, Martínez moved to fellow league club Aldosivi.

Personal

Martínez received his U.S. green card in January 2019, which qualifies him as a domestic player for MLS roster purposes.

Career Statistics

Honours

River Plate *

Argentina Primera Division Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

: 2014 Final *

: 2014 Houston Dynamo *

: 2018 Argentina U20 *

South American Youth Football Championship The South American Youth Football Championship, also known as U-20 South American Championship and es, Torneo Juventudes de América, "Campeonato Sudamericano Sub 20" or pt, Juventude da América (English: "America's Youth") is a South American f ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Martinez, Tomas 1995 births Living people Sportspeople from Buenos Aires Province Argentine footballers Argentine expatriate footballers Association football midfielders 2015 South American Youth Football Championship players Argentina under-20 international footballers Designated Players (MLS) Club Atlético River Plate footballers Defensa y Justicia footballers CD Tenerife players S.C. Braga players Houston Dynamo FC players Aldosivi footballers FBC Melgar footballers Argentine Primera División players Segunda División players Primeira Liga players Major League Soccer players Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Spain Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Argentine expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in Portugal Expatriate soccer players in the United States