Juan Manuel Martínez (born October 25, 1985), nicknamed ''Burrito'' (in English, "Little Donkey"), is an Argentine

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

who plays for Almirante Brown. He also holds a Portuguese passport. Martínez is best known for his agility, pace on the ball and brilliant

dribbling In sports, dribbling is maneuvering a ball by one player while moving in a given direction, avoiding defenders' attempts to intercept the ball. A successful dribble will bring the ball past defenders legally and create opportunities to score. A ...

skills.

Club career

Martínez made his professional debut for Vélez Sársfield on October 1, 2003, in a 2–1 win over

Talleres de Córdoba Club Atlético Talleres (; (lit. Workshops Athletic Club) mostly known simply as Talleres (lit. Workshops) or Talleres de Córdoba ) (Córdoba Workshops) is an Argentine sports club from the city of Córdoba. The institution is mostly known f ...

, for the Clausura tournament. Later, he was part of the 2005 Clausura winning squad, playing 13 games and scoring 1 goal. The goal he scored was Vélez's first in that championship, in the fourth match day victory over

Lanús Lanús () is the capital of Lanús Partido, Buenos Aires Province in Argentina. It lies just south of the capital city Buenos Aires, in the Greater Buenos Aires metropolitan area. The city has a population of 212,152 (), and the Partido de Lan� ...

(2–1). After his first period at Vélez, Martínez was loaned to

Argentinos Juniors Asociación Atlética Argentinos Juniors is an Argentine sports club based in La Paternal, Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its football team, which currently plays in the Argentine Primera División, and was recognized as one of the ...

. With his new team, he played 10 games during the 2005 Apertura, suffering a

knee In humans and other primates, the knee joins the thigh with the leg and consists of two joints: one between the femur and tibia (tibiofemoral joint), and one between the femur and patella (patellofemoral joint). It is the largest joint in the hu ...

injury in the 11th fixture that left him out for almost the entire rest of the season. He returned for the last game of the 2006 Clausura, coming on as a substitute on a 1–0 victory over Colón. In 2007, after a half-a-year period back at Vélez, Martínez was loaned to

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

n club

Cúcuta Deportivo Cúcuta Deportivo Fútbol Club S. A. is a professional Colombian football club based in Cúcuta, which plays in the Categoria Primera B. The club was officially founded on 10 September 1924, and its first appearance in a professional league wa ...

. With the team, he was part of the

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as the Copa Libertadores de América ( pt, Copa Libertadores da América), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in S ...

semifinalist campaign. Subsequently, he spent the 2007–08 season on loan at

Al-Shabab Riyadh Al-Shabab Football Club ( ar, نادي الشباب), or The Youth Football Club, in English, is a Saudi Arabian professional football club based in Riyadh. It was founded in 1947, and was at first named ''Shabab Al Riyadh''. (), meaning Riyadh ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

. Martínez returned to Vélez Sársfield for the

2008–09 Argentine Primera División season The 2008-09 Primera División season was the 118th season of top-flight professional football in Argentina and the nineteenth season in which the Apertura and Clausura system is used. Boca Juniors won the Apertura championship for their 29th na ...

. Upon his return, he won the Argentine league for the second time, by being part of the 2009 Clausura squad. The forward played 9 games and scored 1 goal during the tournament (against Colón in a 4–2 away win, helping the team come back from a 0–2). He ended the tournament as a starter after replacing injured

Jonathan Cristaldo Jonatan Ezequiel Cristaldo (born 5 March 1989), nicknamed "Churry", is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a striker for Newell's Old Boys in the Argentine Primera División. Club career Cristaldo made his debut for Vélez Sárs ...

for the last two games, against

and Huracán, which defined the championship. The 2010 Apertura was Martínez' best season with Vélez. Up until that tournament, he had scored 6 goals in 91 league games for the club, and had never been a regular starter. However, in that Apertura he started in all 19 games, scoring 10 goals. He also achieved his first

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

in Argentina, in Vélez' 6–0 victory over Colón in the 10th fixture. Moreover, his last goal of the championship, in the 2–0 away victory over

Racing In sport, racing is a competition of speed, in which competitors try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some distance, but it can be any other task involving speed to reach a specific goa ...

, was defined by various sources as " Maradona styled". Martínez dribbled with the ball from behind the half-way line, passing 6 rival players in the process, to finally beat the opposing goalkeeper. His team finished the tournament as runner-up to

Estudiantes de La Plata Club Estudiantes de La Plata ( lit. "Students from La Plata"), simply referred to as Estudiantes de La Plata , is an Argentine professional sports club based in La Plata. The club's football team currently competes in the Primera División, wh ...

. Due to his performances throughout 2010, Martínez was selected by the Argentine Sports Journalists Circle as the best player of the Argentine league for that year, therefore sharing the

Footballer of the Year of Argentina The Footballer of the Year of Argentina (in Spanish: ''Olimpia de Plata al Mejor Futbolista'', that literally translates to "Silver Olimpia to the Best Footballer) is a yearly award given by the Argentine Sports Journalists' Circle (''Círculo de ...

award with

Lionel Messi Lionel Andrés Messi (; born 24 June 1987), also known as Leo Messi, is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Paris Saint-Germain and captains the Argentina national team. Widely regarded as one of the ...

(best Argentine playing abroad). In January 2011, the striker renewed his contract with Vélez until June 2013. In 2012, after

Corinthians The First Epistle to the Corinthians ( grc, Α΄ ᾽Επιστολὴ πρὸς Κορινθίους) is one of the Pauline epistles, part of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The epistle is attributed to Paul the Apostle and a co-aut ...

won the

2012 Copa Libertadores The 2012 Copa Libertadores de América (officially the 2012 Copa Santander Libertadores for sponsorship reasons) was the 53rd edition of the Copa Libertadores de América, South America's premier international club football tournament organized ...

they hired Juan Manuel Martínez, however he did not feature regularly for team. He entered for a few minutes in the match against

Chelsea F.C. Chelsea Football Club is an English professional football club based in Fulham, West London. Founded in 1905, they play their home games at Stamford Bridge. The club competes in the Premier League, the top division of English football ...

in the

2012 FIFA Club World Cup The 2012 FIFA Club World Cup (officially known as the FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2012 presented by Toyota for sponsorship reasons) was a football tournament that was played from 6 to 16 December 2012. It was the ninth edition of the FIFA Club World ...

. Martínez joined

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine sports club headquartered in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its professional football team which, since its promotion in 1913, has always played in the A ...

in January 2013. The beginning of the 2015 season saw Martínez injured for much of the time and fallen down the squad depth chart due to the loan signing of

Dani Osvaldo Pablo Daniel "Dani" Osvaldo (; born 12 January 1986) is a former professional footballer who played as a forward. Born and raised in Argentina, Osvaldo represented the Italy national team internationally. Osvaldo began his career at Huracán ...

and subsequent arrival of

Carlos Tevez Carlos Alberto Tevez (; born 5 February 1984) is an Argentine professional football manager and former player. A quick, tenacious, powerful, hard-working and dynamic forward in his prime, Tevez was capable of playing as a striker, as a winger ...

. By early July Martínez wanted to contribute to the squad but found it increasingly difficult to do so. With Tevez's return to Boca being the final straw, he approached the Boca front office and asked for his contract to be rescinded. Martínez trained with Vélez Sarsfield as he worked to sign with a new club during the summer of 2015. On 13 August 2015, Martínez joined

Real Salt Lake Real Salt Lake, often shortened to RSL, is an American professional soccer franchise based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The club competes as a member club of Major League Soccer (MLS) in the Western Conference. RSL began play in 20 ...

as a

Designated Player The Designated Player Rule, nicknamed the Beckham Rule, allows Major League Soccer franchises to sign up to three players that would be considered outside their salary cap (either by offering the player higher wages or by paying a transfer fee ...

. Martínez and Salt Lake agreed to mutually terminate his contract at the club on 7 December 2016. On 18 January 2019, Martínez joined

Club Almagro Club Almagro is an Argentine sports club from José Ingenieros, Buenos Aires, although its headquarters are in the Almagro district. The football team currently plays in the Primera Nacional, the second division of the Argentine football league ...

. After three years at Almagro, Martínez moved to fellow league club Almirante Brown in February 2022.

International career

In November 2010, Martínez was called to take part in the Argentina national team that will solely consist of Argentine League players. They will train twice a week and have friendly matches leading up to the

2011 Copa América The 2011 Campeonato Sudamericano Copa América, better known as the 2011 Copa América or the Copa América 2011 Argentina, was the 43rd edition of the Copa América, the main international football tournament for national teams in South Americ ...

. The striker received his first call-up by coach

Sergio Batista Sergio Daniel "Checho" Batista (; born 9 November 1962) is an Argentine football manager and former international player. As a footballer he played as a midfield for Argentinos Juniors, River Plate, Nueva Chicago, Tosu Futures and All Boys. H ...

on January 25, 2011, for a friendly match against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

. He was brought down in the penalty area during injury time to win a penalty for his side from which

Messi Lionel Andrés Messi (; born 24 June 1987), also known as Leo Messi, is an Argentine Professionalism in association football, professional footballer who plays as a forward (association football), forward for club Paris Saint-Germain F.C ...

scored the winner.

International appearances and goals

Career statistics

Honours

Club

;Vélez Sársfield *

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 ...

(3): 2005 Clausura, 2009 Clausura, 2011 Clausura ;Corinthians *

FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The competition was first contested in 200 ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

Individual

(1): 2010

References

External links

Profile
at Vélez Sársfield official website * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Martinez, Juan Manuel 1985 births Living people People from Viedma Footballers from Río Negro Province Argentine men's footballers Argentina men's international footballers Argentine expatriate men's footballers Men's association football wingers Men's association football forwards Argentine Primera División players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Major League Soccer players Saudi Pro League players Categoría Primera A players Club Atlético Vélez Sarsfield footballers Argentinos Juniors footballers Argentine people of Portuguese descent Cúcuta Deportivo footballers Al Shabab FC (Riyadh) players Sport Club Corinthians Paulista players Boca Juniors footballers Real Salt Lake players Club Agropecuario Argentino players Club Atlético Independiente footballers Club Almagro players Club Almirante Brown footballers Designated Players (MLS) Expatriate men's footballers in Colombia Expatriate men's footballers in Saudi Arabia Expatriate men's footballers in Brazil Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Colombia Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Brazil