Nino (footballer, born 1980)
Juan Francisco Martínez Modesto (born 10 June 1980), known as Nino, is a Spanish professional football coach and former player who played as a striker. He is the current assistant manager of Elche CF Ilicitano.
.jpg.webp) Nino as a Tenerife player in 2010 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Juan Francisco Martínez Modesto | ||
| Date of birth | 10 June 1980 | ||
| Place of birth | Vera, Spain | ||
| Height | 1.69 m (5 ft 7 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Striker | ||
| Club information | |||
Current team | Elche B (assistant) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| CD Vera | |||
| 1995–1997 | Real Madrid | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1997–1998 | Elche B | ||
| 1998–2006 | Elche | 273 | (88) |
| 2006–2008 | Levante | 19 | (1) |
| 2007–2008 | → Tenerife (loan) | 40 | (18) |
| 2008–2011 | Tenerife | 119 | (60) |
| 2011–2016 | Osasuna | 143 | (27) |
| 2016–2021 | Elche | 170 | (38) |
| Total | 764 | (232) | |
| Teams managed | |||
| 2021– | Elche B (assistant) | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only | |||
Over 14 seasons, he amassed Segunda División totals of 571 matches and 194 goals, mainly with Elche.[1] In La Liga, he represented Levante, Tenerife, Osasuna and Elche.
Club career
An extremely prolific goalscorer in Segunda División, Nino was born in Vera, Province of Almería, and first appeared professionally with Elche CF, helping the club achieve promotion from the Segunda División B in 1998–99. In the following campaign he made his debut in division two, with 16 matches and two goals, and would go on to develop as an influential figure for the Alicante province team in the following years.
After having scored 20 goals during 2004–05, Nino made his La Liga debut two seasons later, joining neighbours Levante UD. However, he would only find the net once throughout the entire campaign, in a 2–1 loss at CA Osasuna on 20 December 2006,[2] but the Valencians managed to avoid relegation after finishing in 15th position.
Nino returned to the second tier in 2007–08, loaned to CD Tenerife, and finished the campaign with 18 goals, second best in the league behind Xerez CD's Yordi. The move was made permanent afterwards, on a three-year deal.
In 2008–09, Nino was finally crowned the second division's top scorer at 29 goals and Tenerife returned to the top flight after a seven-year hiatus.[3][4] In the next season, he was again their main attacking reference: on 18 April 2010 he scored a hat-trick at home against Getafe CF (3–2),[5] totalling 14 at the end of the season but in an eventual relegation.[6] He bettered to 17 the following campaign, but the Canary Islands side dropped down another league.[7]
Nino rejoined the top flight in early July 2011, with the 31-year-old signing a 2+1 contract with Osasuna.[8] He netted in only his second official game, a 2–1 home win over Sporting de Gijón.[9]
On 19 August 2016, after the Navarrese were promoted back into the main division, Nino remained in the second one with Elche, rejoining the club a decade after leaving.[10] He scored 12 times in his first season back at the Estadio Manuel Martínez Valero, including two in a 4–4 draw with Gimnàstic de Tarragona on 8 October,[11] but his team was relegated.
On 3 January 2021, at the age of 40, Nino competed in Elche's 1–0 La Liga away defeat to Athletic Bilbao. In doing so, he became the first player to reach 700 games in Spain's two professional divisions.[12]
Nino announced his retirement from professional football on 9 June 2021, one day shy of his 41st birthday.[13] On 2 September, he was named assistant manager of René Martínez at his last side's B-team.[14]
Career statistics
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Elche | 1998–99 | Segunda División B | 17 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | 4[lower-alpha 1] | 1 | 21 | 3 | |
| 1999–00 | Segunda División | 16 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 17 | 2 | |||
| 2000–01 | 40 | 12 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 41 | 12 | ||||
| 2001–02 | 42 | 17 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 43 | 17 | ||||
| 2002–03 | 41 | 10 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 42 | 10 | ||||
| 2003–04 | 34 | 12 | 1 | 1 | — | — | 35 | 13 | ||||
| 2004–05 | 41 | 20 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 44 | 20 | ||||
| 2005–06 | 42 | 13 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 42 | 13 | ||||
| Total | 273 | 88 | 8 | 1 | — | 4 | 1 | 285 | 90 | |||
| Levante | 2006–07 | La Liga | 19 | 1 | 1 | 1 | — | — | 20 | 2 | ||
| Tenerife | 2007–08 | Segunda División | 40 | 18 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 40 | 18 | ||
| 2008–09 | 42 | 29 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 43 | 29 | ||||
| 2009–10 | La Liga | 38 | 14 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 40 | 14 | |||
| 2010–11 | Segunda División | 39 | 17 | 1 | 1 | — | — | 40 | 18 | |||
| Total | 159 | 78 | 4 | 1 | — | — | 163 | 79 | ||||
| Osasuna | 2011–12 | La Liga | 36 | 6 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 36 | 6 | ||
| 2012–13 | 25 | 3 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 26 | 3 | ||||
| 2013–14 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 4 | 0 | ||||
| 2014–15 | Segunda División | 41 | 11 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 41 | 11 | |||
| 2015–16 | 37 | 7 | 0 | 0 | — | 3[lower-alpha 2] | 0 | 40 | 7 | |||
| Total | 143 | 27 | 1 | 0 | — | 3 | 0 | 147 | 27 | |||
| Elche | 2016–17 | Segunda División | 39 | 12 | 2 | 1 | — | — | 41 | 13 | ||
| 2017–18 | Segunda División B | 38 | 12 | 2 | 0 | — | 6[lower-alpha 3] | 4 | 46 | 16 | ||
| 2018–19 | Segunda División | 37 | 7 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 38 | 7 | |||
| 2019–20 | 40 | 7 | 2 | 0 | — | 4[lower-alpha 4] | 1 | 46 | 8 | |||
| 2020–21 | La Liga | 16 | 0 | 3 | 1 | — | — | 19 | 1 | |||
| Total | 170 | 38 | 10 | 2 | — | 10 | 5 | 190 | 45 | |||
| Career total | 764 | 232 | 24 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 6 | 805 | 243 | ||
- Appearances in the 1999 Segunda División B play-offs
- Appearances in the 2016 Segunda División play-offs
- Appearances in the 2018 Segunda División B play-offs
- Appearances in the 2020 Segunda División play-offs
Honours
- Pichichi Trophy (Segunda División): 2008–09[16]
- Zarra Trophy (Segunda División): 2008–09[16]
References
- "REPORTAJE | Cien veces Nino" [REPORT | One hundred times Nino] (in Spanish). Elche CF. 6 March 2017. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
- Osasuna 2–1 Levante; ESPN Soccernet, 20 December 2006
- El Tenerife acaricia el ascenso al son de Nino (Tenerife caress promotion with the soundtrack of Nino); Diario AS, 31 May 2009 (in Spanish)
- Nino, máximo goleador de la temporada (Nino, season top scorer); Marca, 21 June 2009 (in Spanish)
- Nino treble inspires Tenerife; ESPN Soccernet, 18 April 2010
- Nino agrandó su leyenda tras anotar catorce goles (Nino's legend grows larger as he scores fourteen goals); Diario AS, 24 May 2010 (in Spanish)
- Rodríguez, Ubay (20 March 2015). "Nino, un futbolista especial" [Nino, a special footballer] (in Spanish). Vavel. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
- Osasuna ficha a Nino (Osasuna sign Nino); CA Osasuna, 8 July 2011 (in Spanish)
- Osasuna claim first win; ESPN Soccernet, 11 September 2011
- "El Elche anuncia el regreso de Nino, diez años después" [Elche announce the return of Nino, ten years later] (in Spanish). Marca. 19 August 2016. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
- "El Nàstic no gana ni en un partido loco" [Nàstic do not even win in a crazy match] (in Spanish). Marca. 8 October 2016. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
- Díaz Pomares, Adrián (3 January 2021). "Nino, primer jugador que alcanza los 700 partidos de Liga entre Primera y Segunda" [Nino, first player to reach 700 league games between Primera and Segunda] (in Spanish). Marca. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
- Díaz, Adrián (9 June 2021). "Nino: "Me retiro de lo que más quiero, la ilusión se ha acabado"" [Nino: "I retire from what I love the most, the hunger has gone"] (in Spanish). Marca. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
- "Nino se convierte en el segundo entrenador del Ilicitano" [Nino becomes the assistant manager of Ilicitano] (in Spanish). Super Deporte. 2 September 2021. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
- Nino at Soccerway
- "Forlán y Valdés recogen el Pichichi y el Zamora 2008–09" [Forlán and Valdés get 2008–09 Pichichi and Zamora] (in Spanish). La Voz de Galicia. 27 October 2009. Retrieved 7 August 2019.