Sport Players: Javi Martínez

JAVI MARTINEZ

Javier "Javi" Martínez Aguinaga (Spanish pronunciation; born 2 September 1988 in Estella-Lizarra, Navarre) is a Spanish footballer who plays for Athletic Bilbao in La Liga, as a central midfielder.

Martínez also played for the Spanish national team and was a member of the squad that won the 2010 World Cup.

Athletic de Bilbao signed Martínez as a raw 17-year old for €6 million, in the summer of 2006, from fellow La Liga team CA Osasuna,despite him never having played a first team game.

Martínez soon became a regular in the side in his debut season with powerful displays, his highlight being scoring twice against Deportivo de La Coruña, in a 16 December 2006 2–0 away success. He finished the campaign with 35 matches and three goals, and again was everpresent in the following two, helping Athletic to the 2009 Copa del Rey final.

In the 2009 summer, Martínez was the subject of transfer speculation linking him to Liverpool, as a replacement for Real Madrid-bound Xabi Alonso, but rumors eventually died down.The midfield engine of the team once more - 46 official matches, nine goals - he scored a career-best six times in the league campaign, as Athletic narrowly missed on another UEFA Europa League qualification.

At the age of 19, Martínez began appearing for Spain's U21, representing the nation at the 2009 UEFA European Championships in Sweden, in a group stage exit.

On 20 May 2010, he was named in the senior side's list of 23 for the FIFA World Cup in South Africa, by manager Vicente del Bosque.On the 29th, he made his full debut, replacing FC Barcelona's Xavi in the 81st minute of a 3–2 friendly win against Saudi Arabia, in Innsbruck, Austria. On 3 June he started in another friendly, with South Korea (1–0 triumph, in the same venue), playing 80 minutes until David Silva took his place.

Martínez played once in the final stages, replacing injured Xabi Alonso for the final 20 minutes of the group stage 2–1 win against Chile, on 25 June, as Spain emerged victorious in the tournament. He returned to the under-21 setup for the 2011 European Championships in Denmark, captaining the national team to its third title in the category.