Carlos Martins

Football player infobox
playername = Carlos Martins
fullname = Carlos Jorge Neto Martins
nickname = Carlos


dateofbirth = birth date and age|1982|4|29
cityofbirth = Oliveira do Hospital
countryofbirth = Portugal
height = Height|m=1.73
currentclub = flagicon|Portugal SL Benfica
clubnumber = 24
position = Attacking midfielder
youthyears = ?-2001
youthclubs = Sporting CP
years = 2001-2002 2002-2007 2003 2007-2008 2008-
clubs = →Campomaiorense (loan) Sporting CP →Académica Coimbra (loan) Recreativo Huelva SL Benfica
caps(goals) = 27 (1) 75 (10) 9 (0) 32 (6) 2 (0)
nationalyears = 2002-2004 2006-
nationalteam = flagicon|Portugal Portugal U-21 flagicon|Portugal Portugal
nationalcaps(goals) = 5 (1)
pcupdate = September 1, 2008
ntupdate = September 14, 2008

Carlos Jorge Neto Martins (born 29 April 1982 in Oliveira do Hospital) is a Portuguese football attacking midfielder, currently for Sport Lisboa e Benfica. He is noted for his long-range shots.

Club career

Martins was a product of the youth system of Sporting Clube de Portugal. Though a promising player, he had a string of injuries and subpar performances that made him underachieve almost every season of the five years he spent on the senior books of the Lisbon-based side. However, that didn't stop him from being one of the most popular players with the fans. With a generous attitude and field vision, Martins was not few times the object of some of Europe's top clubs desires, though once again, his injuries and the lack of regularity in his exhibitions kept him from being acquired.

In the 2005-06 season, despite the everpresent physical problems, Martins was still able to score two goals in only 13 starts. With all his talent seemingly going to waste, Martins needed to improve his defensive atitude to optimize his game.

However, in February 2007, after several bouts of indiscipline at Sporting, coach Paulo Bento ostracized Martins for the final three months of the season, and although a player still under contract, moving abroad was the only option for the talented/troubled player and, on July, he transferred to La Liga's Recreativo de Huelva to start anew.

On November, Portuguese network RTPi interviewed Martins about his situation at Sporting and the player responded: "My situation with coach Bento has been a very bad one. I was constantly pressured to perform and when i did eventually get the call-up to the national side, it got so far that it almost turned into a physical confrontation". Bento denies this despite media sources releasing information of the two that went back to Bento's playing career at Sporting.

Martins finished the season with 6 goals in 32 appearances. He was a fan favourite at the "Estadio Nuevo Colombino" and was dubbed their version of Steven Gerrard by media sources and fans, also being nicknamed "Carlitos".

On the 1st of July 2008, Martins signed a 5-year deal with Sport Lisboa e Benfica. The club payed 3 million Euros for the transfer (40% to Recreativo, 40% to Sporting and 20% to the player).

International career

After Portugal finished in 4th place at the 2006 World Cup, Martins, a former U-21 international was, for the first time, called to the Portugal squad for the EURO 2008 qualifiers against Finland and Denmark, performing well. [ [http://www.uefa.com/competitions/EURO/news/Kind=1/newsId=447508.html/ Martins makes Portugal squad] ]

He was recalled again after Euro 2008.

References

External links

* [http://www.zerozero.eu/uk/jogador.php?id=292 Stats and profile at zerozero.pt]