Sergio Mantecón

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Martínez and the second or maternal family name is Mantecón.
Sergio Mantecón
Personal information
Full name Sergio Martínez Mantecón
Date of birth (1980-06-08) 8 June 1980 (age 44)
Place of birth Madrid, Spain
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Defensive midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Elche (technical secretary)
Youth career
Real Madrid
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1999–2001 Badajoz B
2001–2003 Badajoz 74 (1)
2003–2006 Alicante 112 (5)
2006–2008 Hércules 21 (0)
2008 Ponferradina 20 (4)
2008–2010 Castellón 68 (5)
2010–2014 Elche 119 (3)
2014–2017 Cádiz 66 (1)
2017 Lorca Deportiva 12 (0)
Total 492 (19)
Managerial career
2021 Elche (interim)
2022 Elche (interim)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Sergio Martínez Mantecón (born 8 June 1980) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. He is the current technical secretary of Elche CF.

He appeared in 270 Segunda División games over ten seasons, scoring a total of nine goals for Badajoz, Hércules, Castellón, Elche and Cádiz. In La Liga, he appeared with Elche (12 matches).

Club career

Born in Madrid, Mantecón finished his youth career with local giants Real Madrid, but made his senior debut with CD Badajoz's reserves. On 3 January 2001 he played his first professional game with the latter's first team, coming on as a second-half substitute in a 0–4 home loss against Racing de Santander for that season's Copa del Rey.[1] He finished the league campaign with eight Segunda División appearances.

The following two years, Mantecón was a regular starter for the Extremaduran side, being relegated in 2003. In August of that year he signed with Alicante CF of Segunda División B,[2] going on to appear twice in the promotion playoffs but falling consecutively short.

On 29 June 2006, Mantecón moved to Hércules CF in the second division.[3] After being regularly used in his first season he was left out of the squad in his second, and subsequently joined third-tier SD Ponferradina in January 2008.[4]

Mantecón agreed to a two-year contract with CD Castellón on 24 June 2008.[5] After experiencing another relegation in 2010, he joined fellow league club Elche CF in the off-season.[6] He started in 25 of his 39 matches in 2012–13 as they returned to La Liga after more than two decades, then signed a new one-year deal.[7]

On 19 August 2013, the 33-year-old Mantecón made his debut in the Spanish top flight, replacing David Generelo midway through the second half of a 3–0 away defeat to Rayo Vallecano.[8] After only 12 appearances and two starts during the season, he was released in June 2014[9] and moved to Cádiz CF of division three.[10]

In February 2017, Mantecón signed with Tercera División club CF Lorca Deportiva,[11] and retired shortly after. In July, he returned to Elche as part of the technical staff.[12]

Mantecón served as interim manager of the main squad on 29 November 2021 for a top-tier match against CA Osasuna, after Fran Escribá was dismissed.[13][14]

References

  1. ^ El Racing aprovecha los regalos (Racing take advantage of gifts); Mundo Deportivo, 4 January 2001 (in Spanish)
  2. ^ El Badajoz pierde a Mantecón y casi a Rodri (Badajoz lose Mantecón and Rodri's almost gone); El Periódico Extremadura, 11 August 2003 (in Spanish)
  3. ^ El Hércules ficha a Xisco Nadal, Sergio Mantecón y Piti de una tacada (Hércules sign Xisco Nadal, Sergio Mantecón and Piti in one go); Marca, 29 June 2006 (in Spanish)
  4. ^ Mantecón firma con la Ponferradina hasta el final de la temporada (Mantecón signs for Ponferradina until the end of the season); La Verdad, 19 January 2008 (in Spanish)
  5. ^ Mantecón ficha por el Castellón (Mantecón signs for Castellón); Marca, 24 June 2008 (in Spanish)
  6. ^ Mantecón ficha por un año con el Elche (Mantecón signs for a year with Elche); La Verdad, 13 July 2010 (in Spanish)
  7. ^ El Elche renueva a Sergio Mantecón (Elche renew Sergio Mantecón); Marca, 13 June 2013 (in Spanish)
  8. ^ Rayo up and running Archived 28 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine; ESPN FC, 19 August 2013
  9. ^ Carta de despedida de Sergio Mantecón (Sergio Mantecón's farewell letter) Archived 7 June 2014 at the Wayback Machine; Elche CF, 5 June 2014 (in Spanish)
  10. ^ Mantecón rompe su compromiso con el Hércules para jugar en el Cádiz (Mantecón breaks agreement with Hércules to play for Cádiz); Mundo Deportivo, 9 July 2014 (in Spanish)
  11. ^ El exfranjiverde Sergio Mantecón ficha por el Lorca Deportiva (Former franjiverde Sergio Mantecón signs for Lorca Deportiva); Diario Información, 28 February 2017
  12. ^ "Mantecón se suma a la secretaría técnica" [Mantecón joins the technical staff] (in Spanish). Elche Directo. 17 July 2017. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
  13. ^ "Mantecón se sentará en el banquillo del Elche en Pamplona" [Mantecón will sit on Elche's bench in Pamplona] (in Spanish). Diario AS. 27 November 2021. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
  14. ^ "Sergio Mantecón: "Podíamos habernos llevado los tres puntos"" [Sergio Mantecón: "We could have taken all three points"] (in Spanish). Diario de Navarra. 29 November 2021. Retrieved 29 November 2021.