Martín Mauricio Astudillo (born 11 October 1977) is an Argentine 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

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

, currently a

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

. He spent one decade in Spain with Alavés, appearing in 149 matches in

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

and 162 in the

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 ...

Club career

Born in Mendoza, Astudillo started his career in the

Primera Nacional Primera Nacional (usually called simply Nacional B, (English "National B Division"), and known as Primera B Nacional until the 2019–20 season) is the second division of the Argentine football league system. The competition is made up of 38 teams ...

with

Godoy Cruz Antonio Tomba Club Deportivo Godoy Cruz Antonio Tomba is an Argentine sports club from Godoy Cruz, Mendoza. The club is best known for its Association football, football team, which plays in the Argentine Primera División, Primera División, the top level of ...

Mendoza Province Mendoza (), officially the Province of Mendoza, is a province of Argentina, in the western central part of the country in the Cuyo region. It borders San Juan to the north, La Pampa and Neuquén to the south, San Luis to the east, and the r ...

. In 1997, he was signed by

Gimnasia y Esgrima de Jujuy Club Atlético Gimnasia y Esgrima de Jujuy , (usually known as Gimnasia de Jujuy or just GEJ) is an Argentine sports club based in San Salvador de Jujuy, Jujuy Province. The club was founded in 1931 and is best known for its football team, whic ...

of the Primera División, and two years later moved to

Deportivo Alavés Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. (; ''Sporting Alavés''), usually known as Alavés, is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Basque ...

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 ...

. First-choice from the start, Astudillo scored four league goals in his first season, and was instrumental in the

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

side's runner-up run in the

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

the next year. In the following campaign he only missed one match and netted on five occasions, helping his team finish seventh in

. Astudillo remained loyal to Alavés throughout the vast majority of his Spanish stint, playing in the top flight as well as the

as they were twice relegated from the former (in 2003–04, he collected a season-worst 19 yellow cards). However, in January 2008, he rejoined the top tier, signing on loan with

CA Osasuna Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional football club based in Pamplona, Navarre. It was founded on 24 October 1920 and plays in La Liga, the top division of Spanish football. The team's ...

who had lost another

central 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 ...

Javad Nekounam Javad Nekounam (; born 7 September 1980) is an Iranian Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who played as a midfielder. He holds the record for the most appearances for the Iran national football tea ...

, severely injured in preseason. During the season, Astudillo was instrumental in helping the

Navarre Navarre ( ; ; ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre, is a landlocked foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Autonomous Community, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and New Aquitaine in France. ...

se barely escape relegation as he scored the game's only goal 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 ...

on 13 April 2008. In August 2009, after Alavés suffered relegation to the

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 ...

, he bought out the remainder of his contract and returned to his country after ten years, joining

Rosario Central Club Atlético Rosario Central (), more commonly referred to as Rosario Central, or simply Central, is a sports club based in Rosario, Argentina, that plays in the Argentine Primera División. The club was officially founded on 24 December 1889, ...

; he made a best-ever 346 competitive appearances for his main club.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Astudillo, Martin 1977 births Living people Footballers from Mendoza, Argentina Argentine men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Argentine Primera División players Primera Nacional players Godoy Cruz Antonio Tomba footballers Gimnasia y Esgrima de Jujuy footballers Rosario Central footballers La Liga players Segunda División players Deportivo Alavés players CA Osasuna players Argentine expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Spain Argentine football managers Independiente Rivadavia managers Gimnasia y Esgrima de Jujuy managers