Nelson San Martín

Nelson San Martín
Nelson with Kedah in 2008
Personal information
Full name Nelson Marcelo San Martín Arriagada
Date of birth (1980-05-17) 17 May 1980 (age 44)[1]
Place of birth Santiago, Chile
Height 1.76 m (5 ft 9+12 in)
Position(s) Central midfielder
Team information
Current team
Kedah DA (Technical Director)
Youth career
Colo-Colo
Universidad de Chile
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2000–2004 Universidad de Chile
2002–2003Deportes Temuco (loan)
2004 Numancia
2004–2005 Unión San Felipe
2005 Estudiantes de Santander
2005–2006 Curicó Unido
2006–2008 Kedah FA
2009–2010 Bangkok Glass
2010–2011 Home United 9 (1)
2011–2012 Barnechea
2013 Kedah FA
2014 T-Team
Managerial career
2020 Langkawi City
2024 Kedah DA (Technical Director)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Nelson Marcelo San Martín Arriagada (born 17 May 1980) is a Chilean former professional footballer who played as a midfielder.

Club career

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As a child, San Martín was with the Colo-Colo youth team until the age of 15. Then he moved to the traditional rival Universidad de Chile.[2] The former Universidad de Chile midfielder who began to pitch his tent in Alor Star in November 2006 has been playing an influential role for Kedah FA. He excels in his role as the playmaker of the team with his accurate distribution of the ball. In his first year at his new club, he managed to capture the eyes of most Kedah FA fans with his superb passing and vision, and also with an excellent free kick delivery.

Alongside his teammates, Ahmad Fauzi Saari, Marlon Alex James, Mohd Khyril Muhymeen Zambri, they played the most attractive football in Malaysia. Two years playing for the Canaries, Nelson assisted them to win historical double treble titles.[3][4]

Eventually, after seeing the domination of foreign footballers in Malaysian football, Football Association of Malaysia ordered all the clubs to release all imports player for the M.League 2009 season. Martín played his last game for Kedah FA on 23 August 2008, which was Malaysia Cup showdown against Selangor FA. He set up a goal for Marlon Alex James and struck a high-quality goal in the match which ended with Kedah won 3-2. Upon his contributions to Kedah FA, he was awarded the Ahli Cemerlang Semangat Jerai (ASK) medal from the Sultan of Kedah.

After his departure from Malaysia, Nelson went to neighbors Thailand and played 1 season with Bangkok Glass and later on relocated to Singapore in order to join Home United FC in a 6-month contract. A 3-month injury caused Nelson to miss half of his season with Home United, causing his contract to not be extended.

Nelson then left Southeast Asia and went on to sign with Chilean club, Athletic Club Barnechea for the 2011/12 season.

He was released by Barnechea in mid-2012 after a poor season with the club.

In November 2012, Nelson return to Kedah to play for the Canaries in the 2013 Malaysia Premier League. After only a season with them, he joined PBDKT T-Team FC for the 2014 Malaysia Super League season.[5]

Honours

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Club

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Universidad de Chile
Kedah FA

References

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  1. ^ Nelson San Martín World football.
  2. ^ Leal, Ignacio (7 October 2017). "El monarca de Malasia" (in Spanish). La Tercera. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
  3. ^ "Azraai's double treble with Kedah stands out in Malaysian football history". Sports247. Archived from the original on 7 April 2020. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  4. ^ Noh, Dasheer (26 August 2008). "Radhi: Difficult to win double treble again". The Star. Archived from the original on 12 February 2009. Retrieved 2 April 2010.
  5. ^ "T-Team fire warning to rivals - Soccer - New Straits Times". Archived from the original on 12 January 2014. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
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