William Martínez

:"Not to be confused with another Uruguayan footballer, Williams Martínez."Football player infobox
playername = William Martínez


fullname = William Ruben Martínez
height =
nickname =
dateofbirth = birth date|1928|1|13
cityofbirth = Pueblo Victoria
countryofbirth = Uruguay
dateofdeath = December 28 1997 (Aged 69)
currentclub =
clubnumber =
position = Defender
youthyears = -1942
1942-1943
youthclubs = Sportivo Alba
Nacional
years = 1943-1946
1947-1948
1948-1954
1955-1962
1963-1967
1967-1968
1968-1969
1969-1970
1970
clubs = Nacional
Racing Montevideo
Rampla Juniors
Peñarol
Rampla Juniors
Atlético Junior
Rampla Juniors
Fenix
Central Español
caps(goals) =
nationalyears = 1950-1965
nationalteam = Uruguay
nationalcaps(goals) = 54 (2)
pcupdate = April 2008

William Pablo Martínez (13 January 1928 - 28 December 1997) is a former Uruguayan footballer, who played 54 times for the Uruguay national football team between 1950 and 1965 [ [http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/uru-recintlp.html rsssf: Uruguay record international footballers] ] .

Martínez came through the youth team of local side Sportivo Alba de Victoria and signed on as a youth player for Nacional in 1962. After playing for Nacional at various youth levels and for the first team he joined Racing Club de Montevideo in 1947.

In 1948 he joined Rampla Juniors where he spent 7 seasons before joining Peñarol

It was with Peñarol that Martínez enjoyed most of his success at the club level. During his time with the club they won 5 consecutive league titles (1958-1962), two Copa Libertadores (1960 & 1961) the Copa Intercontinental in 1961 and four consecutive editions of the Copa Uruguay (1958-1961).

In 1963 Martínez returned to Rampla Juniors, in 1967 he joined Atlético Junior in Colombia before returning for a 3rd spell with Rampla Juniors.

In the last years of his playing career he worked as the player-manager of Fenix and Central Español. He retired from football in 1970 at the age of 42.

International career

For , he was part of the 1950 FIFA World Cup winning team, but did not play in any matches in the tournament. Four years later, he played 5 matches during the 1954 FIFA World Cup. He was again selected for the 1962 FIFA World Cup team, but again did not play in any matches. In total he earned 54 caps and scored 2 goals for Uruguay.

Martínez won the Copa América with Uruguay in 1956 [ [http://www.rsssf.com/tables/56safull.html rsssf: Copa América 1956] ] , he also played in three other editions of the tournament (1953, [ [http://www.rsssf.com/tables/53safull.html rsssf: Copa América 1953] ] 1955 [ [http://www.rsssf.com/tables/55safull.html rsssf: Copa América 1955] ] & 1959A [ [http://www.rsssf.com/tables/59-1safull.html#rostersl rsssf: Copa América 1959 (Arg)] ] ).

External links

* [http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/wcwinners.html World Cup Champions Squads 1930 - 2002]
*es icon [http://esporte.uol.com.br/copa/2006/historia/1950/campeao.jhtm A primeira grande zebra do Mundial]
*es icon [http://www.futbolfactory.futbolweb.net/index.php?ff=historicos&f2=00001&idjugador=942 Profile] at Futbol Factory
* [http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/statisticsandrecords/players/player=53737/index.html FIFA.com - William Martinez] at fifa.com

References