Gonzalo Martínez is a Colombian football (soccer)

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

 defender. At the club level, he currently plays for Deportivo Cali

Deportivo Cali

Asociación Deportivo Cali is a Colombian sports club based in Cali, Colombia. Mostly known for its football team, it also sponsors basketball, volleyball and swimming...

.

Club career

Martínez started his professional career in the Colombian First Division with Deportes Tolima in 1998 before moving to Italian Serie A side Udinese in 2001. Martinez made 24 appearances for Udinese from 2001-03 before joining Napoli on loan, where he spent part of the 2003 and 2004 campaigns. In the 2003-04 season, he moved to Reggina with Andrea Sottil

Andrea Sottil

Andrea Sottil is an Italian former footballer turned coach, who currently manages Lega Pro Prima Divisione club Siracusa.-Playing career:...

 and David Di Michele

David di Michele

David Di Michele is an Italian footballer who currently plays as a striker for Lecce.-Club career:Di Michele, whose mother is from Casarano, began his career with Lodigiani in the Italian Serie C1 near to his hometown Guidonia, and played for them from 1993 to 1996...

, where he made 14 appearances.

The Colombian defender returned to his native Colombia and rejoined Deportes Tolima for the 2005 season, notching three goals in 21 appearances. Martìnez then moved to Olimpia, and later, Libertad, in 2005-2006 in Paraguay, where he started in a combined 27 games and helped Libertad capture the Paraguayan First Division championship. In 2007, Martìnez returned to Colombia and appeared in 36 games for Millonarios.

In early 2008, he moved to DC United, where he started initially at center back, then left back, before falling out of favor with the coaching staff. After 1 goal and 2 assists in 22 starts with United, Martinez returned to Colombia to play for Atlético Huila

Atlético Huila

Atlético Huila, is a Colombian football club based in the city of Neiva, that competes in the top division of the Colombian professional football league. The club was founded in 1990 and plays home games at the Guillermo Plazas Alcid stadium, which has a capacity of approximately 22,000...

.

International career

Martinez has represented Colombia 36 times at the international level. He was part of the Colombia

Colombia national football team

The Colombian national football team represents Colombia in international football competitions and is controlled by the Colombian Football Federation. It is a member of the CONMEBOL...

 squad that won the Copa America 2001

Copa América 2001

The Copa América 2001 was held in Colombia, from July 11 to July 29, 2001. It was organised by CONMEBOL, South America's football governing body....

 as well as playing in the qualifiers for the 2002 FIFA World Cup

2002 FIFA World Cup

The 2002 FIFA World Cup was the 17th staging of the FIFA World Cup, held in South Korea and Japan from 31 May to 30 June. It was also the first World Cup held in Asia, and the last in which the golden goal rule was implemented. Brazil won the tournament for a record fifth time, beating Germany 2–0...

 in Korea and Japan as well as 2006 FIFA World Cup

2006 FIFA World Cup

The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which won the right to host the event in July 2000. Teams representing 198 national football associations from all six...

 qualifiers. He also represented his country at the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup and 2004 Copa America.

External links