Daniel Martín

For other people named Daniel Martin, see Daniel Martin (disambiguation)

Dani

Dani in 2009
Personal information
Full name	Daniel Martín Alexandre
Date of birth	(1981-09-16) 16 September 1981
Place of birth	Seville, Spain
Height
Position(s)	Striker
Youth career
1998–1999	Betis
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1999–2002	Betis B	79	(23)
2001–2010	Betis	94	(19)
2007–2008	→ Cádiz (loan)	35	(10)
2008–2009	→ Elche (loan)	14	(0)
2010–2011	Recreativo	39	(4)
2011–2012	Atlético Baleares	29	(4)
2012–2013	Pierikos	25	(8)
Total		315	(68)
International career
1999	Spain U18	3	(3)
2001	Spain U20	1	(0)
2002	Spain U21	1	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Martín and the second or maternal family name is Alexandre.

Daniel Martín Alexandre (born 16 September 1981), commonly known as Dani, is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a striker.

His career was closely associated to Betis, for which he appeared in 115 official games (26 goals) and won one Copa del Rey.

Club career

Born in Seville, Dani started playing professionally with hometown's Real Betis, and appeared for its B-side during three years, a spell which included six goals in 27 games in the 1999–2000 season. On 4 November 2001 he made his first-team – and La Liga – debut, playing the second half of a 0–1 home loss against Real Zaragoza and finishing the campaign with 17 games and five goals.

After having missed most of 2002–03 due to a serious knee injury, occurred in April 2002 and relapsed in August, Dani was knocked unconscious during a league game against Deportivo de La Coruña in November 2003, and was unable to remember a disallowed goal he had scored during the game. However, he continue to grab important goals for the Andalusians with relatively little playing time, most notably the extra time winner in the 2005 final of the Copa del Rey against CA Osasuna, adding the game's only in a 1–0 home win against Chelsea in the 2005–06 UEFA Champions League group stage; on 20 August 2005, he also netted a brace at the Camp Nou to help defeat FC Barcelona 2–1 in the Supercopa de España, but the Catalans had already won the first leg 3–0.

On 18 January 2007 Dani netted against Real Madrid, eliminating the eventual league champions from domestic cup contention. His equalizing goal gave Betis a 1–1 draw, putting them through to the quarter-finals on the away goals rule, and he finished the league with only 14 appearances, not being able to find the net.

Under Betis contract until 2010, Dani would however join Segunda División club Cádiz CF, also in the region, in a one-year loan deal including the possibility of definitive purchase at the end of the term. With his ten goals the team could not, however, avoid relegation.

Dani stayed in the division for the following season, being again loaned, this time to Alicante side Elche CF, also in the second level. His stint was marred by injuries and dramatic loss of form, as he only managed to score once in official games and only appeared in 1/3 of the matches.

Returning to Betis in July, Dani immediately underwent a knee operation, only being made available in January 2010. However, he was one of the club's last offensive options and, late in the month, signed a one 1/2-year deal with division two's Recreativo de Huelva.

On 6 February 2011, Dani scored the game's only goal as Recreativo defeated Betis at the Estadio Benito Villamarín. He retired in 2013 at the age of 32, after spells in his country's Segunda División B and Greece.

External links

• Stats at Liga de Fútbol Profesional (Spanish)
• Dani profile at BDFutbol
• Dani at Soccerway

• Injury blow for Dani; UEFA.com, 16 April 2002
• Dani out for six months; UEFA.com, 19 August 2002
• Dani delivers for Betis; UEFA.com, 12 June 2005
• Betis buoyed by Dani strike; UEFA.com, 1 November 2005
• El Barça no deja escapar la Supercopa (Barça does not let Supercup get away); El Mundo, 21 August 2005 (Spanish)
• Betis deliver Madrid knockout blow; UEFA.com, 18 January 2007
• Dani, nuevo jugador del Cádiz CF (Dani, new Cádiz player); Cádiz's official website, 1 August 2007 (Spanish)
• Dani se marcha cedido al Cádiz (Dani goes on loan to Cádiz); Betis' official website, 1 August 2007 (Spanish)
• Dani llega al Elche cedido por el Betis (Dani arrives at Elche loaned by Betis); Marca, 14 August 2008 (Spanish)
• Dani Martín se lesiona y estará tres semanas de baja por una rotura fibrilar (Dani Martín suffers injury and will miss three months with fiber rupture); La Verdad, 5 March 2009 (Spanish)
• El Elche gana y gusta (2–0) (Elche wins and pleases (2–0)); La Verdad, 4 September 2008 (Spanish)
• Dani, lesionado, abandona el Elche y regresa al Betis (Dani, injured, leaves Elche and returns to Betis); Al Final de la Palmera, 30 May 2009 (Spanish)
• Dani obtiene la carta de libertad y se marcha al Recre (Dani gets free transfer and goes to Recre); El Desmarque, 27 January 2010 (Spanish)
• El Betis se deja el liderato ante un Recre con mucho oficio y escaso fútbol (Betis leaves first place against Recre with little football and much "know-how"); Marca, 6 February 2011 (Spanish)