Ariel Pedro Martinez González (born 9 May 1986) is a Cuban

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 ...

Club career

Following his

defection In politics, a defector is a person who gives up allegiance to one state in exchange for allegiance to another, changing sides in a way which is considered illegitimate by the first state. More broadly, defection involves abandoning a person, ca ...

from

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in July 2015, Martínez signed with

United Soccer League The United Soccer League (USL) is an organizer of various professional and amateur soccer leagues in the United States league system. It currently organizes its Championship, League One, and League Two for men, its Super League and W Leag ...

club

Charleston Battery The Charleston Battery are an American professional association football, soccer club based in Charleston, South Carolina, and member of the USL Championship. Founded in 1993, the Battery are the oldest continuously operating professional socc ...

, but was not cleared to play until late in the season due to issues with the processing of his documentation and work permit. Martínez made his only appearance for Charleston in a playoff loss to Louisville City before leaving the club at the end of 2015. In March 2016, Martínez signed for

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League (NASL) was the top-level major professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984. It is considered the first soccer league to be successful on a national scale in the ...

side

Miami FC Miami FC is an American professional association football, soccer team based in Miami, Florida that competes in the USL Championship, the second tier of the American soccer pyramid. The club began play in the North American Soccer League (201 ...

ahead of its inaugural season. Martínez made the move to

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a men's professional association football, soccer league in the second tier of the United States soccer league system#Men's leagues, United States league system. It is organized by the United Soccer League (USL) a ...

side

FC Tulsa FC Tulsa is an American professional soccer team based in Tulsa, Oklahoma which competes in the USL Championship, the second tier of the American soccer pyramid. History The club was founded as Tulsa Roughnecks FC by Jeff and Dale Hubbard, br ...

on 18 December 2019. On 19 January 2021, Miami, now competing in the USL Championship, announced Martínez had re-signed with the team for the 2021 season. On 19 April, 2022,

Hartford Athletic Hartford Athletic is an American professional association football, soccer team based in Hartford, Connecticut. The club was founded in 2018 and started play in the USL Championship in 2019. It is the only pro soccer team in Connecticut (thoug ...

announced that they had signed Martínez for the remainder of the 2022 season, pending league and federation approval. Martínez signed with the

Tampa Bay Rowdies The Tampa Bay Rowdies are an American professional soccer team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The club was founded in 2008 and first took the pitch in 2010. Since 2017, the Rowdies have been members of the USL Championship in the second tie ...

on 19 January 2023. Martínez was released by the Rowdies at the end of the 2023 season. Martínez announced his retirement from the professional game on 15 January 2024.

International career

Martínez made his debut for

in a September 2006 Gold Cup qualification match against the

Turks and Caicos Islands The Turks and Caicos Islands (abbreviated TCI; and ) are a British Overseas Territory consisting of the larger Caicos Islands and smaller Turks Islands, two groups of tropical islands in the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean and no ...

. He was a squad member at the 2007 Gold Cup Finals. He has earned a total of 54 caps, scoring 11 goals, represented his country in 7

FIFA World Cup qualification The FIFA World Cup qualification is a set of competitive matches that a national association football team plays in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the men's FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments ar ...

matches and played at 3

CONCACAF Gold Cup The CONCACAF Gold Cup () is an association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for men's senior national teams from North America, Central America and the Caribbean. The tournament is held every two ...

final tournaments. On 17 July 2015, it was confirmed that Martinez had, alongside teammates

Keyler García Keyler Lázaro García Estrada (born 14 January 1990) is a Cuban international footballer. Club career Nicknamed ''el Chino'', Garcia played for hometown team Camagüey before leaving Cuba. International career He made his international debut f ...

Arael Argüelles Arael Argüelles Rodríguez (born 30 April 1987) is a Cuban football player. Club career He played for his provincial team Cienfuegos in Cuba. International career Argüelles represented Cuba's U-23 national team in the 2008 CONCACAF Men Pre-O ...

and

Darío Suárez Pedro Darío Suárez Castro (born 8 August 1992) is a Cuban footballer. Club career AFC Ann Arbor In 2016, Suárez joined AFC Ann Arbor in the National Premier Soccer League. In June 2017, he received a 6-month suspension for kicking the ball a ...

defected In politics, a defector is a person who gives up allegiance to one state in exchange for allegiance to another, changing sides in a way which is considered illegitimate by the first state. More broadly, defection involves abandoning a person, ca ...

to the

following Cuba's victory over

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

in the

Coaching career

In February 2024, Martínez returned to

as a member of

Antonio Nocerino Antonio Nocerino (; born 9 April 1985) is an Italian football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He is currently the head coach of USL Championship club Las Vegas Lights FC. During his playing career, Nocerino played predomi ...

's technical staff.

Statistics

Career

International goals

:''Scores and results list Cuba's goal tally first.''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martinez, Ariel 1986 births Living people Sportspeople from Sancti Spíritus Defecting Cuban footballers Men's association football forwards Cuban men's footballers Cuba men's international footballers 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup players FC Sancti Spíritus players FC Camagüey players Charleston Battery players FC Tulsa players Miami FC players Hartford Athletic players Tampa Bay Rowdies players North American Soccer League (2011–2017) players National Independent Soccer Association players Cuban expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Cuban expatriate sportspeople in the United States USL Championship players Naples United FC players