Manuel Pablo García Díaz (born 25 January 1976), known as Manuel Pablo, is a Spanish retired professional footballer who played mainly as a right-back.

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 (age 48)
Place of birth Arucas, Spain
Height 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s) Right-back
Team information
Current team
Deportivo La Coruña (youth)
Youth career
Las Palmas
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1994–1996 Las Palmas B 6 (2)
1994–1998 Las Palmas 57 (1)
1998–2016 Deportivo La Coruña 383 (1)
Total 446 (4)
International career
1997 Spain U21 1 (0)
1997 Spain U23 2 (0)
2000–2004 Spain 13 (0)
Managerial career
2018–2021 Deportivo B (assistant)
2021– Deportivo La Coruña (youth)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

He spent most of his career with Deportivo, appearing in 482 official matches and notably winning the 1999–2000 La Liga. With stamina as his main asset, he also represented Spain on 13 occasions.[1][2]

Club career

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Born in Arucas, Las Palmas, Canary Islands, Manuel Pablo was 22 when he joined Deportivo de La Coruña from his hometown club UD Las Palmas in summer 1998, being signed together with Argentine Turu Flores.[3] He made his La Liga debut on 15 November 1998 in a 2–2 home draw against Deportivo Alavés,[4] but faced serious competition from Armando Álvarez in his first season, appearing in just 14 league matches.[5]

Manuel Pablo was a vital part of Depor's defence as the Galician side were crowned national champions in 2000 for the only time in their history. He contributed 37 games to the feat, 45 in all competitions.[6][7]

On 30 September 2001, Manuel Pablo sustained an horrific tibia injury during the televised Galician derby against RC Celta de Vigo after an unlucky tackle by Everton Giovanella.[8][9] Subsequently, he missed the rest of the campaign.[10]

Manuel Pablo returned one year later, playing the full 90 minutes against CD Corralejo in a Copa del Rey tie.[11] On 6 October 2002 he was handed his league return by coach Javier Irureta, as a late substitute in the 0–2 home loss to Racing de Santander.[12]

In 2003–04's closing stages, Manuel Pablo proved he was fully recovered, as displayed in an excellent performance on 7 April 2004 in a 4–0 win over AC Milan in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League (5–4 aggregate victory).[13] From the 2004–05 season onwards, he was the undisputed right-back at the Estadio Riazor (although he faced stiff competition from Álvaro Arbeloa in the 2006–07 campaign until the latter departed for Liverpool in January 2007).[14]

In the following two seasons, Manuel Pablo remained first-choice at his position, although he was challenged by younger Laure in 2008–09.[15][16] In early May 2009, following lengthy negotiations, the 33-year-old renewed his Depor contract in a 2+1 deal.[17]

From 2009 to 2015, Manuel Pablo still managed to total 126 league games, being relegated twice from the top flight and achieving as many promotions.[18] On 16 June 2015, he extended his link for a further year.[19]

On 7 July 2016, after only five competitive appearances during the season, the 40-year-old Manuel Pablo retired.[20] He continued to work with his main club after becoming a manager, as assistant to the B team[21] and youth head coach.[22]

International career

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Manuel Pablo's performances for Deportivo earned him a debut with the Spain national team on 16 August 2000, in a 4–1 away friendly defeat to Germany.[23] He played for his country a further 12 times.[2]

Career statistics

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Club

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Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[24][25]
Club Season League Cup[26] Other[27] Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Las Palmas 1996–97 Segunda División 20 1 0 0 0 0 20 1
1997–98 Segunda División 36 0 0 0 2 0 38 0
Total 56 1 0 0 2 0 58 1
Deportivo 1998–99 La Liga 14 0 5 0 0 0 19 0
1999–00 La Liga 37 0 2 0 6 0 45 0
2000–01 La Liga 37 1 4 0 14 0 55 1
2001–02 La Liga 5 0 0 0 2 0 7 0
2002–03 La Liga 10 0 8 1 1 0 19 1
2003–04 La Liga 18 0 1 0 8 0 27 0
2004–05 La Liga 30 0 1 0 6 0 37 0
2005–06 La Liga 31 0 5 0 7 0 43 0
2006–07 La Liga 15 0 5 0 0 0 20 0
2007–08 La Liga 34 0 0 0 0 0 34 0
2008–09 La Liga 23 0 3 0 6 0 32 0
2009–10 La Liga 33 0 3 0 0 0 36 0
2010–11 La Liga 30 0 3 0 0 0 33 0
2011–12 Segunda División 8 0 2 0 0 0 10 0
2012–13 La Liga 24 0 2 1 0 0 26 1
2013–14 Segunda División 26 0 1 0 0 0 27 0
2014–15 La Liga 5 0 2 0 0 0 7 0
2015–16 La Liga 3 0 2 0 0 0 5 0
Total 383 1 49 2 50 0 482 3
Career total 439 2 49 2 52 0 540 4

International

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Appearances and goals by national team and year[28]
National team Year Apps Goals
Spain 2000 5 0
2001 7 0
2004 1 0
Total 13 0

Honours

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Deportivo

References

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  1. ^ El Teresa Herrera de Manuel Pablo (Manuel Pablo's Teresa Herrera); El Desmarque, 7 July 2016 (in Spanish)
  2. ^ a b c d Manuel Pablo ya es historia de la UD y del Deportivo (Manuel Pablo is already history at UD and Deportivo); Tinta Amarilla, 7 July 2016 (in Spanish)
  3. ^ Turu Flores, entre dos pasiones (Turu Flores, between two passions); La Provincia, 14 December 2011 (in Spanish)
  4. ^ El Deportivo, abonado al empate (Deportivo, married to draw); Mundo Deportivo, 16 November 1998 (in Spanish)
  5. ^ Manuel Pablo cumple una década en Primera (Manuel Pablo celebrates one decade in Primera); Diario AS, 15 November 2008 (in Spanish)
  6. ^ El Dépor se estrena como campeón (Debut as champions for Dépor); Última Hora, 20 May 2000 (in Spanish)
  7. ^ Manuel Pablo, segundo jugador con más partidos de Liga con el Deportivo (Manuel Pablo, second player with the most League matches with Deportivo); Mundo Deportivo, 5 March 2014 (in Spanish)
  8. ^ Deportivo y Celta deleitan (Deportivo and Celta delight); Mundo Deportivo, 1 October 2001 (in Spanish)
  9. ^ La operación de tibia de Manuel Pablo crea polémica entre los especialistas (Manuel Pablo's tibia surgery stirs up controversy amongst specialists); El Mundo, 17 November 2001 (in Spanish)
  10. ^ Buoyant United ready for Deportivo; UEFA, 2001
  11. ^ Luque y Juanmi, claves del Depor y vuelve M. Pablo (Luque y Juanmi, key to Depor and M. Pablo returns); Mundo Deportivo, 12 September 2002 (in Spanish)
  12. ^ El Racing da un baño al Depor (Racing humble Depor); Mundo Deportivo, 7 October 2002 (in Spanish)
  13. ^ El Depor baila al campeón (Depor waltz champions); Mundo Deportivo, 8 April 2004 (in Spanish)
  14. ^ Arbeloa se va al Liverpool para aliviar la economía del Dépor (Arbeloa goes to Liverpool to ease the burden on Dépor's economy); El Correo Gallego, 31 January 2007 (in Spanish)
  15. ^ Filipe: "Hemos perdido al mejor lateral de la Liga" (Filipe: "We have lost the League's best full-back"); Diario AS, 24 August 2008 (in Spanish)
  16. ^ Laure puede sentar a Manuel Pablo en Madrid (Laure may sit Manuel Pablo in Madrid); Diario AS, 25 August 2009 (in Spanish)
  17. ^ Manuel Pablo renueva por dos temporadas (Manuel Pablo renews for two seasons); Marca, 11 May 2009 (in Spanish)
  18. ^ Manuel Pablo: "El primer gol lo debe marcar el Gran Canaria" (Manuel Pablo: "The first goal must be scored by the Gran Canaria"); La Provincia, 12 June 2013 (in Spanish)
  19. ^ Manuel Pablo continuará una temporada más como capitán del Dépor (Manuel Pablo will remain one more season as captain of Dépor); Deportivo La Coruña, 16 June 2015 (in Spanish)
  20. ^ Manuel Pablo cuelga las botas (Manuel Pablo hangs boots); La Voz de Galicia, 7 July 2016 (in Spanish)
  21. ^ Oportunidad para Manuel Pablo (A chance for Manuel Pablo); El Desmarque, 23 October 2018 (in Spanish)
  22. ^ 3–1 | El Deportivo juvenil se despide con la cabeza alta de la Copa de Campeones (3–1 | Deportivo youths say goodbye to the Champions Cup with head held high); La Voz de Galicia, 29 May 2022 (in Spanish)
  23. ^ Desastre (Disaster); Mundo Deportivo, 17 August 2000 (in Spanish)
  24. ^ "Manuel Pablo: Manuel Pablo García Díaz". BDFutbol. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  25. ^ "Manuel Pablo". Soccerway. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
  26. ^ Includes Copa del Rey and Supercopa de España
  27. ^ Includes La Liga play-offs, UEFA Cup, UEFA Champions League and UEFA Intertoto Cup
  28. ^ "Manuel Pablo". European Football. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  29. ^ Fútbol | Segunda División – El Deportivo culmina el ascenso a Primera División (Football | Second Division – Deportivo complete promotion to Primera División); RTVE, 27 May 2012 (in Spanish)
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