Antonio "Chivas" Martínez (born 9 July 1977) is a Mexican 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 last played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

club

Chivas USA Chivas USA (pronounced ''CHEE-vahs'') was an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The club competed in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conf ...

. Nicknamed "Chivas" for his devotion to

Chivas de Guadalajara Club Deportivo Guadalajara S.A de C.V. (;), nicknamed ''"Chivas"'' () and simply known as Guadalajara or internationally as Chivas de Guadalajara, is a Mexican professional football club based in the Guadalajara metropolitan area, Jalisco. It c ...

, Martínez played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

Cal State Fullerton California State University, Fullerton (CSUF or Cal State Fullerton) is a public research university in Fullerton, California, United States. With a total enrollment of more than 41,000, it has the largest student body of the California State ...

and was drafted by the then-

Dallas Burn Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

in the second round of the

2000 MLS SuperDraft The 2000 Major League Soccer MLS SuperDraft, SuperDraft was held on February 6, 2000 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and consisted of six rounds. One of the most successful draft picks was goalkeeper Nick Rimando, a third round pick, who went on t ...

. Martínez played three and a half seasons for Dallas, leading the team in assists in 2002, setting a club record for assists in a game, with three. Martinez was traded to the

Los Angeles Galaxy The Los Angeles Galaxy are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The Gal ...

, scoring a goal in his debut game. Martinez spent the first half 2004 with Spain's

Salamanca Salamanca () is a Municipality of Spain, municipality and city in Spain, capital of the Province of Salamanca, province of the same name, located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is located in the Campo Charro comarca, in the ...

where he became the first Mexican to play for the club in its eighty-five year history.Salamanca 2003/04
Football Squads. Retrieved 10 February 2010. Joined

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

Necaxa Impulsora del Deportivo Necaxa S.A. de C.V. (); often simply known as Club Necaxa, is a Mexican professional Association football, football club based in Aguascalientes (city), Aguascalientes. It competes in Liga MX, the top division of Mexican ...

for the Torneo de Invierno 2004 season. Martínez came back to MLS in 2005, his rights were traded from Galaxy to Chivas USA, a team he seemed destined to play for. Martinez finished the year second in the team for scoring. He has scored 10 goals and 26 assists in five years of MLS league play. Martínez was released by Chivas prior to the 2006 season.

Statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martinez, Antonio 1977 births Living people American sportspeople of Mexican descent Mexican men's footballers Cal State Fullerton Titans men's soccer players FC Dallas players LA Galaxy players Chivas USA players People from Yahualica, Jalisco La Liga players UD Salamanca players Mexican emigrants to the United States Major League Soccer players Club Necaxa footballers MLS Pro-40 players A-League (1995–2004) players FC Dallas draft picks Men's association football midfielders