Manuel Pablo

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.

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.

Club career
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. He made his La Liga debut on 15 November 1998 in a 2–2 home draw against Deportivo Alavés, but faced serious competition from Armando Álvarez in his first season, appearing in just 14 league matches.

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.

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. Subsequently, he missed the rest of the campaign.

Manuel Pablo returned one year later, playing the full 90 minutes against CD Corralejo in a Copa del Rey tie. 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.

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). 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).

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

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. On 16 June 2015, he extended his link for a further year.

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

International career
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. He played for his country a further 12 times.

Honours
Deportivo
 * La Liga: 1999–2000
 * Supercopa de España: 2000
 * Segunda División: 2011–12
 * UEFA Intertoto Cup: 2008