Manuel Pablo

Manuel Pablo

Pablo playing for Deportivo in 2008
Personal information
Full name	Manuel Pablo García Díaz
Date of birth	(1976-01-25) 25 January 1976
Place of birth	Arucas, Spain
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9 1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Right back
Club information
Current team	Deportivo La Coruña
Number	2
Youth career
1993–1995	Las Palmas
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1995–1996	Las Palmas B
1996–1998	Las Palmas	56	(1)
1998–	Deportivo La Coruña	377	(1)
National team
1997	Spain U21	1	(0)
1997	Spain U23	2	(0)
2000–2004	Spain	13	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21:00, 12 April 2015 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals).

Manuel Pablo García Díaz, known as Manuel Pablo (born 25 January 1976), is a Spanish footballer who plays for Deportivo de La Coruña mainly as a right back.

He played most of his professional career with Deportivo, appearing in nearly 450 official games and notably winning the 2000 national championship. With stamina as his main asset, he also represented Spain on 13 occasions.

Football career

Born in Arucas, Las Palmas, Canary Islands, Manuel Pablo was only 22 when he joined Deportivo de La Coruña from hometown's UD Las Palmas in the summer of 1998, being signed together with Argentine Turu Flores. He made his La Liga debut on 15 November 1998 in a 2–2 home draw against Deportivo Alavés,^[1] but faced serious competition from Armando in his first season, appearing in just 14 league matches.

Pablo played 74 games from 1999 to 2001, and was a vital part of Depor's defense as the Galicians were crowned national champions in 2000 for the first time in their history. His performances earned him a debut with the Spanish national team on 16 August 2000, in a 1–4 away friendly defeat to Germany.^[2]

In his fourth season at A Coruña, disaster struck: on 30 September 2001, Manuel Pablo sustained an horrific tibia injury during the Galician derby against Celta de Vigo, in a televised match, after an unlucky tackle by Everton Giovanella.^[3][4] Eventually, he missed the rest of the campaign.^[5]

One year later Pablo returned, playing the full 90 minutes against CD Corralejo in a Copa del Rey tie.^[6] On 6 October 2002 he was handed his league return by coach Javier Irureta, coming out as a late substitute in the 0–2 home loss against Racing de Santander.^[7]

In 2003–04's closing stages Manuel Pablo proved he was fully recovered, as displayed in an excellent individual display on 7 April 2004 in a 4–0 second leg quarterfinal crushing of A.C. Milan in the UEFA Champions League.^[8] From the 2004–05 season onwards, he was the undisputed right-back at Riazor (although he faced stiff competition from Álvaro Arbeloa in the 2006–07 campaign until the latter departed for Liverpool in January 2007).

In the following two seasons Pablo remained first-choice at his position, although he was challenged by younger Laure in 2008–09. After lengthy negotiations the 33-year-old renewed his Depor link in a 2+1 deal, in early May 2009.^[9]

Statistics

Club

As of 12 April 2015^[10][11]

International

Honours

Deportivo

• La Liga: 1999–2000
• Copa del Rey: 2001–02
• Supercopa de España: 2000, 2002
• Segunda División: 2011–12
• UEFA Intertoto Cup: 2008

References

External links

• Deportivo official profile (Spanish)
• BDFutbol profile
• National team data
• Manuel Pablo at National-Football-Teams.com
• Manuel Pablo – FIFA competition record