Gilberto Martínez Vidal (born October 1, 1979) is a Costa Rican 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 ...

who played as a defender.

Club career

Deportivo Saprissa

Born in the Pacific Coast town of in Golfito, Costa Rica, Martínez made his professional debut for

Deportivo Saprissa Deportivo Saprissa is a Costa Rican sports club, mostly known for its football team. The club is based in San Juan de Tibás, San José, and play their home games at the Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá. The team's signature colours are purple ...

on 19 January 2000 in a 4–0 win over Cartaginés. His performances in the domestic league and Nigeria's

Football World Youth Championship The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members’ men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 wh ...

soon earned him a place on the

Costa Rica national football team The Costa Rica national football team ( es, Selección de fútbol de Costa Rica) represents Costa Rica in men's international football. The national team is administered by the Costa Rican Football Federation (FEDEFUTBOL), the governing body f ...

. Martínez quickly established himself there as well, becoming one of the most wanted and loved from the fans. He started all three of the team's games in the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial football world championship for men's national teams organized by FIFA. It was held from 31 May to 30 June 2002 at sites in South Korea an ...

, and his performances were well regarded.

Brescia Calcio

Due to his World Cup performances, Brescia purchased him from

on September 15 of the same year. In his initial seasons with Brescia, Martínez established himself as a mainstay in the ''rondinelle'' defense line. However, an ankle injury he suffered during the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host th ...

limited him in the following seasons; he spent the whole 2006–07 season on loan to Roma, but failed to make an impact as he failed to recover from his injury. He returned to

Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo ...

at the start of the 2007–08 season without having made a single appearance for the Rome-based club. He ultimately made his playing comeback in the 2008–09 season, confirming himself once again as a key player for his club, then in

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had been ...

. In February 2011 he was loaned to Sampdoria. In January 2013, Martínez joined Lecce.

International career

He was part of Costa Rica's national team in the

1999 FIFA World Youth Championship The 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship took place in Nigeria between 3 and 24 April 1999. This was the 12th edition of the tournament. Qualification The following 24 teams qualified for the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship. :1.Teams that ...

held in

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

. Nicknamed ''Tuma'', Martínez made his debut for Costa Rica in a January 2001 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Guatemala and earned a total of 61 caps, scoring no goals. He represented his country in 26 FIFA World Cup qualification matches and played at both the 2002 and

s. He also played at the

2001 UNCAF Nations Cup The 2001 UNCAF Nations Cup was played in Honduras. Participating teams Squads Venues First round Group 1 ---- ---- Group 2 ---- ---- Final round ---- ---- Champions *''Guatemala, Costa Rica and El Salvador quali ...

as well as at the 2002 and

2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the seventh edition of the Gold Cup, the association football championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean ( CONCACAF). For the first time since 1993, the tournament was held in more than one ...

s. He also played at the

2001 Copa América The 2001 Copa América was held in Colombia, from 11 to 29 July. It was organised by CONMEBOL, South America's football governing body. Colombia won the tournament for the 1st time without conceding a goal. Brazil were the defending champions wh ...

. His final international was a March 2011

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

against

Argentina 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 ...

Career statistics

https://int.soccerway.com/players/gilberto-martinez-vidal/4005/] *2021 Former DT Municipal Grecia Municipal Grecia , Costa Rica

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Martinez, Gilberto 1979 births Living people People from Puntarenas Province Association football defenders Costa Rican footballers Costa Rica international footballers Costa Rica under-20 international footballers Costa Rican expatriate sportspeople in Italy 2001 Copa América players 2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2002 FIFA World Cup players 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2006 FIFA World Cup players Deportivo Saprissa players Brescia Calcio players A.S. Roma players U.C. Sampdoria players U.S. Lecce players Costa Rican expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Italy Liga FPD players Serie A players Serie B players