Mario Gaspar Pérez Martínez (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈmaɾjo ɣasˈpaɾ ˈpeɾeð maɾˈtineθ];[lower-alpha 1] born 24 November 1990) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for EFL Championship club Watford as a right-back.
![]() Mario Gaspar playing with Villarreal in 2018 | |||
Personal information | |||
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Full name | Mario Gaspar Pérez Martínez[1] | ||
Date of birth | (1990-11-24) 24 November 1990 (age 31)[1] | ||
Place of birth | Novelda, Spain[1] | ||
Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[2] | ||
Position(s) | Right-back | ||
Club information | |||
Current team | Watford | ||
Number | 3 | ||
Youth career | |||
Villarreal | |||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2007–2008 | Villarreal C | 15 | (1) |
2008–2011 | Villarreal B | 79 | (0) |
2009–2022 | Villarreal | 337 | (10) |
2022– | Watford | 15 | (0) |
National team | |||
2008–2009 | Spain U19 | 13 | (2) |
2009 | Spain U20 | 1 | (0) |
2011 | Spain U21 | 2 | (0) |
2015–2016 | Spain | 3 | (2) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 12 November 2022 (UTC) |
He spent the vast majority career at Villarreal between 2009 and 2022, making 424 official appearances and winning the 2020–21 UEFA Europa League.[3][4] In July 2022, he signed with Watford.
Mario Gaspar played his first match with Spain in 2015, scoring in that game.
Born in Novelda, Alicante, Valencian Community, Mario Gaspar played youth football for Villarreal CF. On 15 March 2009, aged just 18, he made his first-team – and La Liga – debut, in a game against Atlético Madrid: he replaced Giuseppe Rossi with roughly 25 minutes to play, with the score at 2–1, but the Yellow Submarine eventually lost 3–2 away.[5]
Mario Gaspar spent the entire 2009–10 season with the reserves, starting in all 31 games he appeared in as they easily retained their newly-found Segunda División status. He was definitely promoted to the main squad midway through the following campaign following Ángel López's severe knee injury, being also propelled to the starting XI.
On 16 January 2011, in his first start, Mario Gaspar played the full 90 minutes in a 4–2 home win over CA Osasuna,[6] finishing the season with 22 appearances. He scored his first competitive goal on 1 May 2012, opening a 3–2 victory at Sporting de Gijón towards the end of a campaign which finished with relegation.[7] In May 2014, with a year remaining on his contract, it was extended for a further four.[8]
Mario Gaspar scored his first goal in European competition on 21 August 2014, concluding a 3–0 away defeat of FC Astana in the first leg of their UEFA Europa League play-off (7–0 aggregate).[9] In January 2017, he signed a new deal to last until 2023.[10][11]
On 18 March 2018, Mario Gaspar played his 300th official match for Villarreal, in a 2–1 win at Atlético; only Cani, Marcos Senna and teammate Bruno Soriano had reached that figure before for the club.[12] He filled in as captain during the lengthy injuries of the last of those players,[13] and on 21 April 2021 with a 2–1 away loss to Deportivo Alavés he joined him at 400 matches.[14]
In 2021–22, still under manager Unai Emery, Mario Gaspar was kept out of the team by both Serge Aurier and Juan Foyth.[15]
On 29 July 2022, Mario Gaspar signed for EFL Championship club Watford.[16] He made his league debut on 8 August, a 77th-minute substitute for Hassane Kamara in the 1–1 draw at West Bromwich Albion.[17]
Mario Gaspar earned 16 caps for Spain at youth level, including two for the under-21s. He received his first call up to the full side in October 2015,[18] making his debut on the 12th by scoring the game's only goal in Ukraine – the last round, the nation had already secured the first position in its group – for the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifiers.[19] He repeated the feat the following match, scoring an overhead kick to open a 2–0 friendly win against England in Alicante,[20] with the strike being nominated for the FIFA Puskás Award.[21]
Club | Season | League | National cup | League cup | Continental | Other | Total | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Villarreal B | 2007–08 | Segunda División B | 9 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 9 | 0 | ||||
2008–09 | 31 | 0 | — | — | — | 6[lower-alpha 2] | 0 | 37 | 0 | |||||
2009–10 | Segunda División | 31 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 31 | 0 | |||||
2010–11 | 8 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 8 | 0 | ||||||
Total | 79 | 0 | — | — | — | 6 | 0 | 85 | 0 | |||||
Villarreal | 2008–09 | La Liga | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | |||
2010–11 | 22 | 0 | 5 | 0 | — | 11[lower-alpha 3] | 0 | — | 38 | 0 | ||||
2011–12 | 23 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | 5[lower-alpha 4] | 0 | — | 29 | 1 | ||||
2012–13 | Segunda División | 28 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 28 | 0 | ||||
2013–14 | La Liga | 36 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 37 | 1 | ||||
2014–15 | 34 | 3 | 6 | 0 | — | 11[lower-alpha 3] | 1 | — | 51 | 4 | ||||
2015–16 | 33 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | 10[lower-alpha 3] | 0 | — | 44 | 2 | ||||
2016–17 | 36 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 4[lower-alpha 5] | 0 | — | 43 | 0 | ||||
2017–18 | 32 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | 5[lower-alpha 3] | 0 | — | 38 | 2 | ||||
2018–19 | 31 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | 8[lower-alpha 3] | 0 | — | 40 | 1 | ||||
2019–20 | 25 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | 28 | 0 | |||||
2020–21 | 24 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 4[lower-alpha 3] | 0 | — | 29 | 0 | ||||
2021–22 | 12 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 2[lower-alpha 4] | 0 | 1[lower-alpha 6] | 0 | 18 | 0 | |||
Total | 337 | 10 | 26 | 0 | — | 62 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 424 | 11 | |||
Watford | 2022–23 | Championship | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 16 | 0 | ||
Career total | 431 | 10 | 26 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 62 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 525 | 11 |
No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 12 October 2015 | Olympic Stadium, Kyiv, Ukraine | ![]() | 1–0 | 1–0 | UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying[19] |
2 | 13 November 2015 | José Rico Pérez, Alicante, Spain | ![]() | 1–0 | 2–0 | Friendly[20] |
Villarreal
Watford F.C. – current squad | |
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