Tomás Martínez (born 7 June 1995) is an Argentine 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 plays as an

attacking 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. ...

for Melgar.

Club career

River Plate

Born in Béccar, Martínez joined River Plate's youth setup in 2001, after starting out at Atlético Béccar. In July 2011 he signed his first professional contract, with a

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...

10 million clause after being linked to

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

and

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...

. On 24 April 2013 Martínez made his first team debut, coming on as a second-half substitute for Mauro Díaz in a 0–1

Copa Argentina The Copa Argentina (English: ''Argentine Cup''), officially known as the "Copa Argentina AXION energy" due to sponsorship reasons, is an official football cup competition organized by the Argentine Football Association (AFA). The first editions ...

home loss against Estudiantes Buenos Aires. He made his Primera División debut on 23 June, starting in a 3–1 home win against San Martín San Juan. In 2014 Martínez made four appearances in the

Copa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Sudamericana, also known as Copa Sudamericana (; ), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL, the governing body of football in South America, since 2002. It is the second-most prestigious club com ...

to help River win their first continental tournament in 17 years. However he only made nine league appearances on the season. Because chances with the first team were limited, on 18 August 2015 Martínez was loaned to

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 ...

side

Tenerife Tenerife ( ; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands, an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. With a land area of and a population of 965,575 inhabitants as of A ...

, in a

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

-long deal. In February 2016, River Plate cancelled the loan with CD Tenerife and sent Martínez on loan to Primera División club

Defensa y Justicia Club Social y Deportivo Defensa y Justicia, commonly known as Defensa y Justicia, is an Argentine football club from Florencio Varela, Buenos Aires, established in 1935.

. He would make his debut for Defensa y Justicia on 7 February against

Unión de Santa Fe Club Atlético Unión (; mostly known as Unión de Santa Fe ) is a sports club from Santa Fe, Argentina, Santa Fe, the capital city of the Santa Fe Province, in Argentina. The club was founded on 15 April 1907. Unión is mostly known for its asso ...

and scored his first ever Primera División goal on 17 February against

Atlético de Rafaela Asociación Mutual Social y Deportiva Atlético de Rafaela, known simply as Atlético de Rafaela, is an Argentine sports club based in the city of Rafaela, in Santa Fe Province. The club is mostly known for its professional football team, that com ...

. Martínez would find more success back in Argentina then he did in Spain, scoring three goals and picking up two assists for Defensa y Justicia.

Braga

On 2 July 2016, River Plate sold Martínez to

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

club

Braga Braga (; ) is a cities of Portugal, city and a Municipalities of Portugal, municipality, capital of the northwestern Portugal, Portuguese Braga (district), district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality ...

. He would make his Braga debut on 22 August against

Rio Ave Rio Ave Futebol Clube, commonly known as Rio Ave (), is a Portuguese professional football club based in Vila do Conde, that competes in the Primeira Liga. The club is named after the Ave River, which flows through the town and into the Atlant ...

. Martínez made his European debut on 29 August in a 2–0 defeat to

Shakhtar Donetsk Football Club Shakhtar Donetsk () is a Ukrainian professional Association football, football club that was based in the city of Donetsk until 2014 when, due to the War in Donbas (2014–2022), War in Donbas, the club was forced to move to Lvi ...

in a

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

match. However, Martínez would struggled to find playing time, only making two more league appearances with the first team. He would spend the second half of the season with the club's second team, Braga B.

Houston Dynamo

Martínez signed with the

Houston Dynamo Houston Dynamo Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in Houston. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Established on December 15, 2005, the club was founded after their fo ...

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 ...

on 17 July 2017 as a young designated player. He would make his Dynamo debut on 12 August, coming on as a sub against the

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional association football, soccer club based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Origin ...

. He scored his first goal with the Dynamo against the

LA 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 ...

on 27 September. In the 2018 MLS Cup Playoffs, Martínez played in every game for the Dynamo and picked up an assist as the Dynamo reached the Western Conference Finals. However he picked up a red card in the final game that forced him to miss the first game of the 2018 season. Although the Dynamo missed the playoffs in 2018, Martínez enjoyed the most productive season of his career. He finished the year as the Dynamo's team leader in assists with 13 Martínez got his first ever MLS regular season assist on 10 March against the

Vancouver Whitecaps Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Vancouver. The Whitecaps compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on March 18, ...

. He picked up a goal and assist on 14 April against the Earthquakes and made his first ever MLS team of the weak as a result of his strong performance. Martínez played in four games and recorded an assist in the

US Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States. It is the country's oldest ongoing national soccer competition. The competition was first held duri ...

as he helped the Dynamo win their first Open Cup in club history. On 28 October, he picked up two assists as the Dynamo came back from 2–0 down to defeat the Galaxy 3–2, eliminating the Galaxy from the playoffs. Martínez made his

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, ...

19 February in a 1–0 win over C.D. Guastatoya. He picked up his first assist of the year on 9 March in a 2–1 over the Montreal Impact. Martínez scored his first goal of the season on 13 April, curling in a left footed shot to the side netting to give Houston a 2–1 win over San Jose. He would find the back of the net again on 27 April, this time hitting a half volley with his left foot into the left corner in a 2–0 Houston win against the

Columbus Crew The Columbus Crew are an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The team began play in 1996 as one of the 10 cha ...

. On 11 June, Martínez picked up a goal an assist to help Houston get a 3–2 win over

Austin Bold Austin Bold FC (ABFC) was an American professional soccer team located in Austin, Texas. Founded in 2017, the team made its debut in the USL Championship in 2019. In 2021, Austin Bold FC announced it would be moving to Fort Worth, Texas leaving ...

in a US Open Cup match. On 18 June, he would find the back of the net in their next Open Cup match, however the Dynamo would lose 3–2 to

Minnesota United Minnesota United Football Club, often shortened to MNUFC, is an American professional soccer club based in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Th ...

. Martínez enjoyed his most productive month of the season in July, scoring goals in Dynamo wins against

New York Red Bulls The New York Red Bulls are an American professional association football, soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conferenc ...

and

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matc ...

as well as picking up an assist in a 3–1 defeat to

LAFC Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC) is an American professional soccer club based in Los Angeles. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. It was established on October 30, 2014, and began play in the ...

. He would in the season with 7 goals and 4 assists in 37 appearances across all competitions as the Dynamo finished 10th in the Western Conference, missing out on the playoffs for the second straight season. Prior to the 2020 season, the Dynamo hired

Tab Ramos Tabaré "Tab" Ramos Ricciardi (born September 21, 1966) is an American former soccer player and coach. Over his thirteen-year professional career, Ramos played as a midfielder in Spain, Mexico, and the United States. The first player to sign wi ...

as head coach, replacing Wilmer Cabrera, who had been in charge for the previous three seasons. Ramos primarily used lineups without a

central attacking 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. ...

, reducing the opportunities for Martínez to play in his preferred position. Martínez ended the season having made only 11 appearances, 3 of them starts, with no goals or assists. Despite the change in coach and tactics, on field results did not improve, with Houston missing the playoffs for the third consecutive year. His contract option was declined by Houston following their 2020 season.

Defensa y Justicia

On 30 January 2021, Martínez signed with

Defensa y Justicia Club Social y Deportivo Defensa y Justicia, commonly known as Defensa y Justicia, is an Argentine football club from Florencio Varela, Buenos Aires, established in 1935.

of the

Argentine Primera División The Primera División (; ), known officially as Liga Profesional de Fútbol, or Torneo Betano for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Argentina and the highest level of the Argentine football league system. Organ ...

Aldosivi

On 5 January 2022, Martínez moved to fellow league club Aldosivi.

Personal

Martínez received his U.S. green card in January 2019, which qualifies him as a domestic player for MLS roster purposes.

Career statistics

Honours

River Plate *

Argentina Primera Division Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

: 2014 Final *

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

Houston Dynamo *

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

Argentina U20 *

South American Youth Football Championship The South American Youth Football Championship, also known as South American U-20 Championship (; ), branded as CONMEBOL Sub 20, is a South American football tournament organized by the CONMEBOL for South American national teams of men under age o ...

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 ...

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Martinez, Tomas 1995 births Living people Footballers from Buenos Aires Province Argentine men's footballers Argentine expatriate men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Argentina men's under-20 international footballers Designated Players (MLS) Club Atlético River Plate footballers Defensa y Justicia footballers CD Tenerife players S.C. Braga players Houston Dynamo FC players Club Atlético Aldosivi footballers FBC Melgar footballers Argentine Primera División players Segunda División players Primeira Liga players Major League Soccer players Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Spain Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Argentine expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States 21st-century Argentine sportsmen