Ángel Martínez Ortega (born 17 May 1991) is a Spanish 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 lea ...

who played as a

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

or a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

Club career

Born in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

, Martínez finished his development at

RCD Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as RCD Espanyol, is a Spanish professional sports club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The club competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spa ...

. He made his senior debut for their reserves on 30 August 2009, starting in a 0–0

Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: 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 ...

home draw against Sporting Mahonés CF. On 20 August 2010, Martínez was loaned to

Real Jaén Real Jaén Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Jaén, Spain, Jaén, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1929 it plays in , holding home matches at ''Nuevo Estadio de La Vict ...

of the same league for one season. On 12 July of the following year he signed for another

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...

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 , holding home games at Cidade Depo ...

in the

Tercera División Tercera División () was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Until 1977, it was the third tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segund ...

. Martínez returned to the third division on 1 August 2013, joining

CD Guijuelo Club Deportivo Guijuelo is a Spanish football team based in Guijuelo, Province of Salamanca, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded in 1974 it plays in , holding home games at the 1,500-seat '' Estadio Municipal de Guijuelo''. ...

. He continued to compete at that level the following years, representing Espanyol B and

CF Reus Deportiu Club de Futbol Reus Deportiu, S.A.D. was a Spanish football team based in Reus, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1909, it last competed in the Segunda Division (while its B team competed in the Tercera Division) before ...

. He achieved promotion to

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

with the latter side, appearing in 32 matches in the process. Martínez made his professional debut on 27 August 2016, starting in a 1–1 home draw with

CD Mirandés Club Deportivo Mirandés is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Miranda de Ebro, Province of Burgos, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded on 3 May 1927, the club competes in the Segunda División ...

. The following 13 June, he agreed to a two-year deal with

Real Zaragoza Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. (), commonly referred to as Zaragoza, is a football club based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, that currently competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, Spanish league system. Zarag ...

also from the second tier. On 4 July 2018, Martínez moved abroad for the first time in his career, signing a two-year contract with

Super League Greece The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repla ...

club Asteras Tripolis FC. He scored his first goal for them on 25 September in a 2–1 home win over

Apollon Smyrnis F.C. Apollon Smyrnis Football Club () is a professional association football, football club based in Athens, Greece, which competes in the Athens Football Clubs Association, Athens FCA first division. It is part of GS Apollon Smyrnis (Γυμναστι ...

in the

group phase A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic iden ...

of the

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup (), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Betsson Greek Cup for sponsorship reasons is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second-most important domestic men's footba ...

, adding another in the round of 16 against Athlitiki Enosi Larissa F.C. to help the hosts to win 5–3 and qualify 7–6 on aggregate. On 17 August 2020, Martínez agreed to a deal at

FC Viitorul Constanța Fotbal Club Viitorul Constanța (), commonly known as Viitorul Constanța or simply Viitorul, was a Romanian professional football club based in Ovidiu, Constanța County. They last played their home matches in blue and black kits at the Stadio ...

of the Romanian

Liga I Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1 and officially known as SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Romania and the highest level of the Romanian football league system. Contested by 1 ...

. On 28 December, he was released by mutual consent. Martínez continued playing abroad the following seasons, with

PAS Lamia 1964 Lamia Football Club () is a Greek professional Association football, football club based in Lamia (city), Lamia, Greece. It was founded in 1964. The club plays in the Super League Greece 2, Super League 2, the second tier of Greek football. It ...

(Greek top flight) and

DPMM FC Duli Pengiran Muda Mahkota Football Club (English language, English: His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of Brunei Football Club; Abbreviation, abbrev: DPMM or Brunei DPMM) is a professional association football, football club based in Bandar S ...

(

Singapore Premier League The Singapore Premier League, commonly abbreviated as the SPL, officially known as the AIA Singapore Premier League for sponsorship reasons, is a men's professional football league sanctioned by the Football Association of Singapore (FAS), wh ...

). He returned to Spain after six years away on 10 January 2024, signing for

Primera Federación The Primera Federación, officially the Primera Federación Versus e-Learning for sponsorship reasons (formerly known as Primera RFEF). is the third tier of the Spanish football league system beginning with the 2021–22 season. It is administe ...

side

Linares Deportivo Linares Deportivo () is a Spanish football team based in Linares, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 2009 as a replacement for dissolved CD Linares, it plays in Segunda Federación – Group 4. The team's stadium is '' Estadio ...

until 30 June. He made his debut ten days later, starting the 2–0 victory over

Mérida AD Asociación Deportiva Mérida, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Mérida, Spain, Mérida, in the autonomous community of Extremadura. Founded in 2013 it is a successor club of ...

. On 11 May 2024, the 33-year-old Martínez announced his retirement on social media due to an underlying heart condition.

International career

Martínez played for

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

in the

2008 UEFA European Under-17 Championship The final tournament of the 2008 UEFA European Under-17 Championship was the 26th UEFA European Under-17 Championship, UEFA's premier football tournament for players under the age of 17. The tournament was held in Turkey from 4 to 16 May 2008. Pla ...

, scoring in the 2–1 semi-final win against the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

and helping his country to win the tournament.

Career statistics

Honours

Spain U17 *

UEFA European Under-17 Championship The UEFA European Under-17 Championship, or simply the Euro Under-17, is an annual Association football, football competition contested by the men's under-17 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Spain national under-17 football team, ...

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Martinez, Angel 1991 births Living people 21st-century Spanish sportsmen Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Barcelona Men's association football fullbacks Men's association football central defenders Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Primera Federación players CF Damm players RCD Espanyol B footballers Real Jaén footballers Deportivo Fabril players CD Guijuelo footballers CF Reus Deportiu players Real Zaragoza players Linares Deportivo footballers Super League Greece players Asteras Tripolis F.C. players PAS Lamia 1964 players Liga I players FC Viitorul Constanța players Singapore Premier League players DPMM FC players Spain men's youth international footballers Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Romania Expatriate men's footballers in Brunei Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Greece Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Romania Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Brunei