Roberto Martínez facts for kids
Martínez as Belgium coach at the 2018 FIFA World Cup
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| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Roberto Martínez Montoliu | |||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 13 July 1973 | |||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Balaguer, Spain | |||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) | |||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Defensive midfielder | |||||||||||||||
| Team information | ||||||||||||||||
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Current team
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Portugal (manager) | |||||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||||
| 1981–1990 | Balaguer | |||||||||||||||
| 1990–1992 | Zaragoza | |||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||||
| 1991–1994 | Zaragoza B | 55 | (36) | |||||||||||||
| 1993 | Zaragoza | 1 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| 1994–1995 | Balaguer | 32 | (18) | |||||||||||||
| 1995–2001 | Wigan Athletic | 187 | (17) | |||||||||||||
| 2001–2002 | Motherwell | 16 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| 2002–2003 | Walsall | 6 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| 2003–2006 | Swansea City | 122 | (4) | |||||||||||||
| 2006–2007 | Chester City | 31 | (3) | |||||||||||||
| Total | 450 | (78) | ||||||||||||||
| Managerial career | ||||||||||||||||
| 2007–2009 | Swansea City | |||||||||||||||
| 2009–2013 | Wigan Athletic | |||||||||||||||
| 2013–2016 | Everton | |||||||||||||||
| 2016–2022 | Belgium | |||||||||||||||
| 2023– | Portugal | |||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | ||||||||||||||||
Roberto Martínez Montoliu (born 13 July 1973) is a Spanish football manager and former player. He is currently the head coach of the Portugal national team.
Martínez played as a defensive midfielder. He started his career at Real Zaragoza in Spain, where he won the Copa del Rey (a major Spanish cup). After a year at Balaguer, he moved to England to play for Wigan Athletic. He was part of a group of Spanish players known as "the three amigos." He played for Wigan for six years, winning the Football League Third Division and the Football League Trophy.
Later, he played for Motherwell in Scotland, then Walsall, and finally Swansea City in 2003. He became captain at Swansea and helped them get promoted to Football League One in 2005. He finished his playing career at Chester City in 2007.
In 2007, Martínez became a manager at Swansea City. He led them to win Football League One and get promoted to the EFL Championship. In 2009, he joined Wigan Athletic as manager. He helped them stay in the Premier League for three seasons. In his fourth season, Wigan was relegated, but they won the FA Cup for the first time in their history in 2013.
After that, he managed Everton, finishing fifth in his first season. He was later dismissed in 2016. In August 2016, he became the head coach of the Belgium national team. He led Belgium to third place in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, their best result ever. Belgium also held the top spot in the FIFA World Rankings from 2018 to 2022. He resigned from Belgium after the 2022 FIFA World Cup. In January 2023, he became the head coach of Portugal.
Contents
Early Life and Youth Football
Roberto Martínez was born in Balaguer, Catalonia, Spain. He started playing football for his hometown club, Balaguer, when he was nine years old. He played at every youth level for the club. When he was 16, he moved to Real Zaragoza, a bigger club.
Playing Career Highlights
Martínez first played for the Real Zaragoza B team in 1991. He made his debut for the main first team in La Liga on 20 June 1993. This was in a 2–2 draw against Atlético Madrid. In 1994, he went back to Balaguer to play for their first team. He also ran a football school there.
Moving to England: Wigan Athletic
In 1995, Dave Whelan, the Chairman of Wigan Athletic, offered Martínez a chance to play in England. He joined Wigan on 25 July 1995. He joined two other Spanish players, Jesús Seba and Isidro Díaz. They were called the "Three Amigos."
Martínez played his first game for Wigan on 12 August 1995 against Gillingham. He even scored a goal in that 2–1 loss. In his first season, he was Wigan's top goalscorer with 13 goals. Fans voted him their Player of the Year.
Winning Trophies as a Player
In the 1996–97 season, Wigan became Division Three Champions. Martínez was a key player and was named in the Division Three PFA Team of the Year again. He also won the Football League Trophy with Wigan in 1999. Even though he was injured for the final, he received a winner's medal.
Later Playing Years
After leaving Wigan in 2001, Martínez signed with Scottish club Motherwell. He played there for a year before moving back to England. In August 2002, he joined Walsall.
In January 2003, Martínez joined Swansea City. He quickly became the team's captain. He helped the club stay in the English Football League on the very last day of the season. In 2005, he helped Swansea win promotion to Football League One.
In May 2006, Swansea released Martínez. He then joined Chester City on a two-year contract. However, in February 2007, he returned to Swansea City as their new manager. This meant he ended his playing career at the age of 33 to focus on managing.
Managerial Career Journey
Leading Swansea City
As manager, Martínez helped Swansea lose only one game out of eleven. They almost made the play-offs in the 2006–07 season. He won his first League One Manager of the Month Award in October 2007. He won it again in December and January.
In April 2008, Martínez signed a new contract with Swansea. The club became League One Champions, earning promotion to the Football League Championship. In May 2008, he won the League One Manager of the Year Award.
In the 2008–09 season, Swansea played in England's second division for the first time in 24 years. They had a strong season, losing only four games out of 30 at one point. Martínez also led his team to a 2–0 FA Cup win against Premier League side Portsmouth.
Managing Wigan Athletic
In June 2009, Martínez became the new manager of Wigan Athletic. Many Swansea fans were upset because he had said he would only leave if he was "forced out." Martínez explained that managing in the Premier League at his old club was a great chance.
His first league game as Wigan manager was a 2–0 win against Aston Villa. This was Wigan's first opening game win in the Premier League. However, the season was inconsistent, with big wins against teams like Chelsea and Liverpool, but also heavy defeats, including a 9–1 loss to Tottenham Hotspur.
In the 2011–12 season, Wigan had a tough start, losing eight games in a row. Many thought they would be relegated. But their form improved greatly towards the end of the season. They won against teams like Liverpool, Arsenal, and Manchester United. This amazing comeback helped Wigan finish 15th in the league. Martínez won his first Premier League Manager of the Month Award for April 2012.
FA Cup Glory and Relegation
In the 2012–13 season, Martínez led Wigan to their most successful FA Cup campaign ever. They reached their first ever Wembley semi-final by beating Everton 3–0. On 13 April 2013, they beat Millwall 2–0 to reach their first ever FA Cup Final.
On 11 May, Wigan played Manchester City in the final. They won 1–0 with a goal in the 91st minute from Ben Watson. This made Wigan the 43rd club to win the FA Cup.
However, just three days after winning the FA Cup, Wigan were relegated from the Premier League. They lost 4–1 to Arsenal, ending their time in the Premier League since 2005.
Moving to Everton
On 5 June 2013, Everton announced Martínez as their new manager. He signed a four-year contract. He brought four of his staff members from Wigan with him. Martínez promised to help Everton qualify for the UEFA Champions League.
His first Premier League game with Everton was a 2–2 draw against Norwich City. His first league win came against Chelsea on 14 September. He became the first Everton manager to avoid defeat in his first six games.
On 12 April 2014, Everton beat Sunderland 1–0. This moved Everton to fourth place in the Premier League. It was also a club record seventh straight Premier League win. He led the team to a fifth-place finish in his first season. After the season, Martínez signed a new five-year contract.
The 2014–15 season was not as successful. By March 2015, they had won only one of their last ten matches. They were knocked out of the Europa League in the round of 16. On 12 May 2016, Martínez was sacked by the club. Fans had protested against his management.
Leading Belgium's National Team
On 3 August 2016, Martínez became the coach of the Belgium national team. His first match was a 2–0 loss to his home country, Spain.
Martínez's Belgium team was the first European side to qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. They won all their group games. In the round of 16, they came back from two goals down to beat Japan 3–2. In the quarter-finals, Belgium beat Brazil 2–1. They then lost 1–0 to France in the semi-finals. Belgium beat England 2–0 in the third-place play-off. This was their best World Cup finish ever.
Under Martínez, Belgium rose to first place in the FIFA World Rankings in September 2018. They stayed there until February 2021. He also set a record for most wins as Belgium's manager. However, they were eliminated from Euro 2020 in the quarter-finals after losing to Italy. Martínez resigned after Belgium was eliminated from the group stage of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Coaching Portugal's National Team
On 9 January 2023, Martínez was announced as the head coach of Portugal. His first game was a 4–0 home win over Liechtenstein. On 11 September, Martínez led Portugal to their biggest international victory ever, beating Luxembourg 9–0.
Portugal was one of the first European teams to qualify for UEFA Euro 2024. They had their quickest qualification to a major tournament in history. Portugal won all ten of their qualifying matches. They scored 36 goals and only let in two goals, which was a new record for the country.
In the Euro 2024 group stage, Portugal won two games and lost one. They qualified for the Round of 16 as group winners. They played against Slovenia and won on penalties. In the quarter-finals, they lost to France on penalties and were eliminated.
Managerial Style
Martínez is known for his "possession-based" style of play. This means his teams try to keep the ball as much as possible. He started this style at Swansea City, and later managers continued it. He also used a similar style at Wigan and Everton. Martínez says his ideas are influenced by the famous Dutch coach Johan Cruyff.
Younger coaches like Graham Potter have studied Martínez's training methods. They learn about his ideas for keeping possession of the ball.
Broadcasting Work
Martínez has also worked as a football expert on TV. He was a studio analyst for ESPN during the FIFA World Cup in 2010 and 2014. He also worked for the UEFA European Championship in 2012 and 2016. He has appeared on Sky Sports and the BBC's Match of the Day. In 2020, he became a pundit for CBS Sports Network's UEFA Champions League coverage.
Personal Life
In June 2009, Roberto Martínez married Beth Thomson in Swansea. They met in Scotland in 2002 when he was playing for Motherwell. They have two daughters named Luella and Safiana.
While playing for Real Zaragoza, Martínez earned a degree in physiotherapy. He also has a special diploma in business management from Manchester Metropolitan University.
Managerial Statistics
| Team | Nat | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | W | D | L | Win % | ||||
| Swansea City |  |
24 February 2007 | 15 June 2009 | 125 | 63 | 37 | 25 | 50.40 |
| Wigan Athletic |  |
15 June 2009 | 5 June 2013 | 175 | 51 | 47 | 77 | 29.14 |
| Everton | 5 June 2013 | 12 May 2016 | 143 | 61 | 39 | 43 | 42.66 | |
| Belgium |  |
3 August 2016 | 1 December 2022 | 80 | 56 | 13 | 11 | 70.00 |
| Portugal |  |
9 January 2023 | Present | 26 | 20 | 2 | 4 | 76.92 |
| Total | 549 | 250 | 139 | 160 | 45.54 | |||
Honours and Awards
As a Player
With Real Zaragoza
- Copa del Rey: 1993–94
With Wigan Athletic
- Football League Third Division: 1996–97
- Football League Trophy: 1998–99
With Swansea City
- Football League Trophy: 2005–06
Individual Player Awards
- PFA Team of the Year: 1995–96 Third Division, 1996–97 Third Division
As a Manager
With Swansea City
- Football League One: 2007–08
With Wigan Athletic
- FA Cup: 2012–13
With Belgium
- FIFA World Cup third place: 2018
Individual Manager Awards
- League One Manager of the Year: 2007–08
- Football League One Manager of the Month: October 2007, December 2007, January 2008
- Premier League Manager of the Month: April 2012
- LMA FA Cup Manager of the Year: 2012–13
- Belgian Sports Coach of the Year: 2018
See also
In Spanish: Roberto Martínez Montoliu para niños
- List of FA Cup winning managers
