Osvaldo David Martínez Arce (born 8 April 1986) is a former Paraguayan 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

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 ...

. He is a naturalized Mexican citizen.

Career

Club Libertad

Osvaldo Martínez began his career with

Club Libertad Club Libertad is a Paraguayan professional football club based in Asunción that currently plays in the Paraguayan Primera División. The club plays its home games at Estadio Tigo La Huerta; which holds 10,100 people. Founded in 1905, Liber ...

in 2003, playing in over 150 matches and winning four league titles before transferring to Mexican club

Monterrey Monterrey (, , abbreviated as MtY) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern Mexican state of Nuevo León. It is the ninth-largest city and the second largest metropolitan area, after Greater Mexico City. Located at the foothills of th ...

Monterrey C.F.

Osvaldo made the move to

in 2008 for a fee of about £2 million. He made an immediate impact with his new club, scoring in the first minute of his first match in the league, a 4–0 victory over

Puebla Puebla, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Puebla, is one of the 31 states that, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its capital is Puebla City. Part of east-centr ...

. While at Monterrey, Martínez would play in over 100 matches, winning two

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football * ''League of Legends'', a 2009 multiplayer online battle a ...

titles, an

Interliga InterLiga was an association football competition and the qualification method between eight Mexican clubs to determine two clubs qualified for the Copa Libertadores, it was held from 2004 to 2010. History From 1998 to 2003, the Mexican clubs c ...

in 2010, and a

CONCACAF Champions League The CONCACAF Champions Cup, formerly known as CONCACAF Champions League (2008–2023), is an international association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for clubs from North America, Central America, ...

trophy in

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

Atlante

Osvaldo transferred again, this time to Atlante in July 2011. He made his league debut for the club on 30 July 2011 in a 3–0 loss to

Santos Laguna Club Santos Laguna S.A. de C.V., simply known as Santos Laguna or Santos, is a Mexican professional football club based in Torreón, Coahuila. The club competes in Liga MX, the top division of Mexican football. Founded in 1983 as Club Santos I ...

, coming on for Diego Ordaz in the 59th minute. He scored his first league goal for the club on 27 August 2011 in a 2–1 win against

Tecos F.C. Tecos Fútbol Club, simply known as Tecos, is a Mexican professional Association football, football club based in Zapopan, Jalisco, and associated with the Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara (UAG). It competes in Liga Premier de México, Liga ...

The goal, scored in the 52nd minute, came from the penalty spot. His first season with Atlante was the most prolific of his career, scoring 12 goals over 33 league matches.

Club America

In January 2013, it was announced that Martínez was sold to

Club América Club de Fútbol América S.A. de C.V., commonly known as Club América, is a professional association football, football club based in Mexico City. Nicknamed ''Las Águilas'' (The Eagles), it competes in Liga MX, the top tier of Mexican football ...

. In his first tournament América won the league title, defeating

Cruz Azul Club de Futbol Cruz Azul S.A. de C.V., commonly referred to as Cruz Azul, is a professional association football, football club based in Mexico City, Mexico. It competes in Liga MX, the top tier of Mexican football league system, Mexican footba ...

on penalties, with Martínez scoring the third goal for América. He would win another league title the following year, as well as another CONCACAF Champions League in

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

Santos Laguna

In January 2017, Martinez was included in part of a swap deal between America and

. He made his league debut for Santos Laguna on 7 January 2017 in a 0–0 draw with

Tigres UANL Club Tigres de la Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, abbreviated as Tigres UANL and simply known as Tigres or internationally as Tigres de México, is a Mexican professional Association football, football club based in the Monterrey metropo ...

, coming on for Djaniny in the 71st minute. His first league goal for the club came on 26 February 2017 in a 2–2 draw with

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 ...

. The goal, assisted by Djaniny, came in the 26th minute and was the first of the game.

International career

Martínez has been capped 32 times for the Paraguay national team, scoring one goal. He made his debut on 15 October 2008, in a FIFA World Cup 2010 qualifying match in

Asunción Asunción (, ) is the capital and the largest city of Paraguay. The city stands on the eastern bank of the Paraguay River, almost at the confluence of this river with the Pilcomayo River. The Paraguay River and the Bay of Asunción in the north ...

against

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

. In 2015 Martínez announced his retirement from the national team, yet he came out of international retirement and played with Paraguay in the 2018 World Cup Qualifiers in March 2016.

Personal life

Osvaldo is currently married to Giselle Martínez, with whom he has one child.

Career statistics

International goals

, - , 1. , , 12 October 2010 , ,

Westpac Stadium Wellington Regional Stadium (commercially known as Sky Stadium through naming rights) is a major sporting venue in Wellington, New Zealand. The stadium's bowl site size is . The stadium was built in 1999 by Fletcher Construction and is situa ...

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, , , , 0–2 , , 0–2 , , Friendly

Honours

Libertad * Primera División: Apertura 2006, Clausura 2007, Apertura 2008, Clausura 2008 Monterrey *

Mexican Primera División Liga MX, also known as Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Mexico and the highest level of the Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Liga Mayor (1943–1949) and also as Primera Divi ...

: Apertura 2009, Apertura 2010 *

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

InterLiga InterLiga was an association football competition and the qualification method between eight Mexican clubs to determine two clubs qualified for the Copa Libertadores, it was held from 2004 to 2010. History From 1998 to 2003, the Mexican clubs c ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

América *

Liga MX Liga MX, also known as Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Mexico and the highest level of the Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Liga Mayor (1943–1949) and also as Primera Divis ...

: Clausura 2013, Apertura 2014 *

: 2014–15, 2015–16 Santos Laguna *

: Clausura 2018

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Martinez, Osvaldo 1986 births Living people Footballers from Luque Paraguayan men's footballers Paraguay men's international footballers Paraguayan expatriate men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Club Libertad footballers C.F. Monterrey players Club América footballers Atlante F.C. footballers Santos Laguna footballers Atlas F.C. footballers Club Puebla players Paraguayan Primera División players Liga MX players 2011 Copa América players 2015 Copa América players Naturalized citizens of Mexico Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico Paraguayan expatriate sportspeople in Mexico CONCACAF Champions Cup–winning players 21st-century Paraguayan sportsmen