Place of birth Vera, Spain Role Footballer 1995–1997 Real Madrid Career start 1997 Name Juan Modesto | Number 7 Weight 68 kg Playing position Height 1.69 m | |
 | ||
Full name Juan Francisco Martinez Modesto Date of birth (1980-06-10) 10 June 1980 (age 35) | ||
Current team CA Osasuna (#7 / Forward) | ||
Juan Francisco Martínez Modesto (born 10 June 1980), known as Nino, is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for Elche CF as a striker.
Contents
Over the course of 13 seasons, he amassed Segunda División totals of 494 games and 180 goals, mainly with Elche. In La Liga he represented Levante, Tenerife and Osasuna.
Football career
An extremely prolific goalscorer in the second division, Nino was born in Vera, Almería, and first appeared professionally with Elche CF, helping the club achieve promotion from the third level in 1998–99. In the following campaign he made his debuts in division two, with 16 matches and two goals, and would go on to develop as an influential figure for the Alicante province team in the following years.
After having scored 20 goals during 2004–05, Nino made his La Liga debuts two seasons later, joining neighbours Levante UD. However, he would only find the net once throughout the entire campaign, in a 1–2 loss at CA Osasuna on 20 December 2006, but the Valencians managed to avoid relegation after finishing in 15th position.
Nino returned to the second level in 2007–08, loaned to CD Tenerife, and finished the campaign with 18 goals, second best in the league behind Xerez CD's Yordi. The move was made permanent afterwards, on a three-year deal.
In 2008–09, Nino was finally crowned the second tier's top scorer at 29 goals, and Tenerife returned to the top flight after a seven-year hiatus. In the next season, he was again the club's main offensive reference: on 18 April 2010 he scored a hat-trick at home against Getafe CF (3–2), totalling 14 at the end of the season, but the Canary Islands side was eventually relegated; he bettered to 17 the following campaign, but his team dropped down another division.
Nino rejoined the top level in early July 2011, with the 31-year-old signing a 2+1 contract with Osasuna. He netted in only his second official game, a 2–1 home win against Sporting de Gijón.