Obafemi Martins

Obafemi Martins
Obafemi Martins
Personal information
Full name Obafemi Akinwunmi Martins[1]
Date of birth 28 October 1984 (1984-10-28) (age 27)
Place of birth Lagos, Nigeria
Height 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)[2]
Playing position Striker/Winger
Club information
Current club Rubin Kazan
Number 5
Youth career
1999–2000 F.C. Ebedei
2000–2001 Reggiana
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
2001 Reggiana 2 (0)
2001–2006 Internazionale[3] 88 (28)
2006–2009 Newcastle United 88 (28)
2009–2010 VfL Wolfsburg 16 (6)
2010– Rubin Kazan 15 (2)
2011 → Birmingham City (loan) 4 (0)
National team‡
2004– Nigeria 37 (18)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 05:21, 19 November 2011 (UTC).

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 17:15, 25 May 2011 (UTC)

Obafemi Akinwunmi Martins (born 28 October 1984) is a Nigerian footballer who plays as a striker for Rubin Kazan and the Nigeria national team. He is known for his speed on the ball. After leaving Nigeria for Italy at age 16, he has since played for a number of top-division clubs around Europe. He began his senior career in 2002 at the Italian Serie A club Inter Milan, before moving to the English Premier League club Newcastle in 2006, and then the German Bundesliga club Wolfsburg in 2009. Having joined Russian Premier League side Rubin Kazan in July 2010, they loaned him to Birmingham City in January 2011.

In club football, Martins has won the Italian Serie A title, the Italian Cup (twice), and the Super Cup, all with Inter. With Birmingham he scored the winning goal in the 2011 Football League Cup Final. He has played European football with Inter, Newcastle and Wolfsburg, winning the UEFA Intertoto Cup with Newcastle. His highest scoring league seasons so far have seen him score 11 goals in both the 2004–05 Serie A, and 2006–07 English Premier League. In international football, Martins has been in the Nigerian squad for the Africa Cup of Nations in 2006, 2008 and 2010, and for the FIFA World Cup in 2010.

Martins had two brothers who also played football professionally. His elder brother, Oladipupo Olarotini Martins played for AC Reggiana of Italy, FK Partizan of Serbia and Innsbrucker AC of Austria before having to retire from the game because of heart problems in 2009. He died on August 8th, 2011 of a suspected heart attack in Lagos, Nigeria.[4][5]Martins' younger brother is John Ronan Martins. The name 'Obafemi' translates literally to 'the king loves me' in the Yoruba language.[6]

Contents

Club career

Early years

Born in Remedika, Martins joined the local football club F.C. Ebedei, having been scouted by manager Churchill Oliseh while playing on the streets of his hometown. After a year with the club, Italian Serie C side A.C. Reggiana made a move for the player. After a two-month trial, Martins and fellow Ebedei teammate Stephen Makinwa signed youth contracts with the club in 2000. His first season in Italy saw Martins break into the first team squad, and later in the year Serie A sides Perugia and Inter made offers for the forward.

Internazionale

A €750,000 transfer fee took Martins to Internazionale in 2001,[citation needed] and in his first season he scored 23 goals for the youth team, helping them to the Italian Under-18 title. His form for the youth side led to his first-team league debut the following season, in a match against Parma in December 2002. He didn't become a regular member of the first team squad until the 2002–03 season. He played in his first UEFA Champions League match that season, and came on as a substitute against his future employers, Newcastle United, at St. James' Park. He scored his first Champions League goal in a match against Bayer 04 Leverkusen to secure Inter's place in the quarter finals; footage of his celebratory somersaults were subsequently used by UEFA to advertise the following season's competition. He scored again in the semi-final match against Inter's arch-rivals A.C. Milan, but couldn't prevent the club losing out on away goals to the competition's eventual winners.[7] He ended the season with one league goal in four games.[8]

Martins signed a long-term contract with Inter Milan in 2005 which ran until 2010 and was worth around €2.5 million annually.[9] His good form for Inter continued and he was called to play in the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations for Nigeria.

Although he had some success with Inter, scoring 28 goals for the club in 88 league games as well as 11 goals in European competitions, he was sold in August 2006. This was due to Inter bringing in two new strikers; first Argentinian Hernán Crespo was brought in on loan from Chelsea and then the Swede Zlatan Ibrahimović was bought by Inter from Juventus.[10]

Newcastle United

Martins warming up before a match

With Martins handing in a transfer request in August 2006, English Premier League club Newcastle United completed a deal with Inter for the striker on 24 August 2006 for €15 million[11], with Martins signing a five year deal. He was paraded in front of the Geordie fans before their UEFA cup tie against FK Ventspils, and inherited the club's cherished number 9 shirt, vacated after the retirement of the club-record goalscorer Alan Shearer in April.

Martins made his debut on 27 August, in the 2–0 defeat to Aston Villa, in which he was stretchered off with a knee injury. It turned out that Martins suffered a severe dead leg and internal bleeding. His unremarkable first few appearances for Newcastle caused manager Glenn Roeder to speak out in his defence.[12]

Martins with former teammate Nicky Butt in 2007

However, on 17 September, Martins scored his first goal for Newcastle. It was the second goal in a 2–0 victory over West Ham United at Upton Park, and from there his goalscoring form began to improve steadily.

Reports on 11 January 2007, indicated that Chelsea were considering making an offer for Martins services after his impressive form. These reports were later rubbished by Roeder and Martins himself.[13]

On 14 January, in a 2–3 away win against Tottenham Hotspur, Martins' 20-yard shot rocketed into the net. This strike was clocked by Sky Sports at a speed of 84 mph (135 km/h), making it unofficially the ninth hardest shot ever recorded in football according to the Guardian website.[14] This was his tenth goal for Newcastle. Martins ended his first season on Tyneside with 17 goals in 46 games.

His second season was somewhat mixed. With new manager Sam Allardyce preferring to play Michael Owen and Mark Viduka up front, Martins found himself being used as an impact substitute for the first half of the season. Despite this he managed to score consistently, and when Allardyce was sacked and Kevin Keegan was appointed, Martins found himself being used as part of a three pronged attack along with Owen and Viduka. Martins scored less goals in his second season with Newcastle, mainly due to him no longer being the focal point of all their attacks as he was in his first season with them, as well as his season being interrupted with the African Cup of Nations participation with Nigeria in December.

Martins scored six goals in 12 league games during the first half of the 2008–09 season before a torn hamstring ruled him out for several games.[15] It was confirmed on 7 January 2009, that Martins would undergo hernia surgery in Germany the next Monday. He was be operated on by renowned specialist Dr. Ulrike Muschaweck. He did make it back in time for the last two games of the season, scoring in a relegation six-pointer derby against Middlesbrough. However, he could not stop Newcastle being relegated to the Championship.[16] He initially reiterated his desire to stay and help the club return to the Premier League for the 2009-10 season, but he eventually left for VfL Wolfsburg. His last game was on a preseason friendly against Leyton Orient F.C., which Newcastle lost 6-1.

During his three-year spell on Tyneside, Martins amassed 39 goals in all competitions from 105 games.

Wolfsburg

On 29 July 2009 Newcastle accepted a £9 million bid from Bundesliga champions Wolfsburg, the transfer was confirmed on 31 July with Martins signing a four year contract.[17] The four year deal was finalised on August 12, with the club officially unveiling the player to the press and supporters.[18] For his debut, Martins came on as a second half substitute against FC Koln at the Rhein Energie Stadion, with his team deadlocked at 1-1. He helped in the buildup to the second goal and capped off his first appearance in the Bundesliga with a well-taken goal after dribbling past two onrushing defenders and then cooly finishing from six yards out, slotting the ball past the Cologne keeper to the far post.

Rubin Kazan

On 9 July 2010, Martins was sold for a reported €17 million to reigning Russian Premier League champions Rubin Kazan. He signed a three-year contract and told BBC Sport: "I am joining a team of champions and I hope to bring my best to the club to make them even greater." Martins' agent, Nicola Walter, revealed that Rubin met all of the player's requirements and that manager Kurban Berdyev had a "massive role" for him to play, following the departure of striker Aleksandr Bukharov. Martins was able to make his debut with Rubin after 1 August, when the transfer window was opened.[19][20]

Loan to Birmingham City

Following the birth of his child, Martins requested a move to England to be nearer to his family.[21] On 31 January 2011, he joined Premier League club Birmingham City on loan until the end of the season,[22] with the option of a £5 million permanent deal in the summer of 2011.[23] He made his debut, which had been delayed by the formalities of obtaining a working visa, in the starting eleven against Stoke City on 12 February; he played for 75 minutes as Birmingham won 1–0.[24][25] He scored his first goal for the club, 17 minutes into the FA Cup fifth-round defeat of Sheffield Wednesday, after a strong run.[26]

Martins celebrating after the 2011 Football League Cup Final

Martins scored the winning goal in the 2011 Football League Cup Final as Birmingham beat Arsenal 2–1 at Wembley Stadium, having been brought on as an 83rd-minute substitute. With one minute remaining in normal time, there was a moment of confusion between Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny and defender Laurent Koscielny as they attempted to deal with a headed knock down from Birmingham's Nikola Žigić. Martins passed the resulting loose ball into the empty net from near the penalty spot.[27] Martins described it as "the easiest goal I've ever scored in my career".[28] After two more Premier League appearances, he spent several weeks out with an injury eventually diagnosed as a stress fracture of the left tibia. After surgery in late April, he faced a recovery period estimated at three to four months.[29]

International career

Martins has scored seventeen goals in 32 appearances for Nigeria. He was a part of the Nigerian team that finished third in the 2006 African Cup of Nations. Martins scored two goals in the competition, both coming against Senegal in the first round.

His future for the national team has been placed in doubt on numerous occasions after separate incidents of controversy. In August 2006, the Nigerian FA (NFA) website had his date of birth down as 1 May 1978, which would have made him 28 years of age rather than 21. The NFA soon confirmed that it had been an administrative error and apologised for the confusion it had caused. However Martins threatened to quit playing for the national team after the blunder had initially put his move to Newcastle in doubt.[30]

On 6 February 2007, Martins failed to turn up for the 4–1 friendly defeat against Ghana, despite being ordered to play. He later explained his absence was due to the fact he had travelled to Lagos in order to visit his sick mother.[31] The Nigerian caretaker coach Augustine Eguavoen was furious with Martins and threatened to ban him from the national team.[32] On 14 February 2007, Martins apologised for missing the game but said he believed his mother's health was more important. He also said that he would be available to play for Nigeria in the future.[33] He made his return to the national side on 24 March 2007, playing the full match against Uganda in an African Cup of Nations Qualifying match and won.

Following the end of Nigeria's 2008 Africa Cup of Nations qualification campaign, Nigeria faced Mexico in Ciudad Juárez for a friendly match. Martins scored two goals in a 2–2 draw.

On 17 November 2007, Martins captained Nigeria for the first time, in a friendly match against Australia for his 19th appearance. On 12 November 2009 he scored a spectacular goal in the 83rd minute against Kenya in Nairobi, thus ensuring Nigeria's qualification for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. At the finals in South Africa, Martins played in just two games for a total of 71 minutes, without scoring.[34] In the first group game, he came on as a 52nd minute substitute for Victor Obinna.[35] In the third game he was used as a 57th minute substitute for Nwankwo Kanu.[36] Nigeria exited the tournament bottom of Group B with only one point.[37]

Career statistics

As of 19 March 2011.[38]
Club performance League Cup League Cup Continental Total
Season Club League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Italy League Coppa Italia League Cup Europe Total
2000–01 Reggiana Serie C1 2 0 - - 0 0 2 0
2001–02 Internazionale Serie A 0 0 0 0 - 0 0 0 0
2002–03 4 1 2 0 - 4 2 10 3
2003–04 25 7 3 1 - 9 3 37 11
2004–05 31 11 6 6 - 8 5 45 22
2005–06 28 9 6 2 - 9 2 43 13
England League FA Cup League Cup Europe Total
2006–07 Newcastle United Premier League 33 11 2 0 2 0 9 6 46 17
2007–08 31 9 0 0 2 1 0 0 33 10
2008–09 24 8 0 0 1 0 0 0 25 8
Germany League DFB-Pokal DFB Ligapokal Europe Total
2009–10 VfL Wolfsburg Bundesliga 16 6 1 0 0 0 8 0 25 6
Russia League Russian Cup Russian Premier League Cup Europe Total
2010 Rubin Kazan Russian Premier League 12 2 0 0 0 0 5 0 17 2
England League FA Cup League Cup Europe Total
2010–11 Birmingham City (loan) Premier League 4 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 6 2
Country Italy 90 28 17 9 - 30 12 137 49
England 92 28 3 1 6 2 9 6 110 37
Germany 16 6 1 0 0 0 8 0 25 6
Russia 12 2 0 0 0 0 5 0 17 2
Total 210 64 21 10 6 2 52 18 289 94

[39]

Nigeria national team
Year Apps Goals
2004 4 3
2005 4 6
2006 7 2
2007 5 2
2008 2 0
2009 3 2
2010 12 3
Total 37 18

Honours

Internazionale
Newcastle United
Birmingham City
Individual

References

  1. ^ "Statistics". Premier League. http://www.premierleague.com/staticFiles/c2/3b/0,,12306~146370,00.pdf. Retrieved 9 March 2010. 
  2. ^ "Player Profiles: Obafemi Martins". Premier League. http://www.premierleague.com/page/PlayerProfile/0,,12306~23651,00.html. Retrieved 16 March 2011. 
  3. ^ "Obafemi Martins". Archive. F.C. Internazionale Milano. http://archivio.inter.it/cgi-bin/giocatori-scheda?codice=G0745&L=en. Retrieved 6 February 2011. 
  4. ^ Socqer.com. How Did Nigeria's Obafemi Martins' Brother Die? Retrieved, 10, August, 2011.
  5. ^ Vanguard. Martins' Brother Dies of Heart Problem. Retrieved 10, August, 2011.
  6. ^ Meaning of Obafemi in Nigerian.name
  7. ^ "Inter passage paved by Martins". UEFA. http://www.uefa.com/competitions/ucl/history/season=2002/round=1637/match=1038266/index.html. Retrieved 2008-12-29. 
  8. ^ "Player Profile:Obafemi Martins". Newcastle United. http://www.nufc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/PlayerProfiles/0,,10278~23651,00.html. Retrieved 2008-12-29. 
  9. ^ "Martins Signs New Inter Deal". Sky Sports. 2005-12-01. http://home.skysports.com/list.aspx?hlid=346628&plid=14934&clid=&cpid=21. Retrieved 2007-03-04. 
  10. ^ "Martins asks to leave". Sky Sports. 2006-08-07. http://home.skysports.com/list.aspx?hlid=408367&plid=14934&clid=127&cpid=21. Retrieved 2007-03-04. 
  11. ^ Newcastle FC 2006 Annual Report
  12. ^ "Be patient with Martins - Roeder". BBC Sport. 2006-09-11. http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/n/newcastle_united/5334604.stm. Retrieved 2011-05-25. 
  13. ^ "Martins slams Chelsea links". Sky Sports. 2007-01-11. http://home.skysports.com/list.aspx?hlid=440846&CPID=8&clid=4&lid=&title=Martins+slams+Chelsea+links. Retrieved 2007-03-04. 
  14. ^ Dart, James (2007-02-14). "The hardest recorded shot in football - ever". The Guardian (London). http://football.guardian.co.uk/theknowledge/story/0,,2012031,00.html. Retrieved 2007-03-04. 
  15. ^ "Martins missing for Magpies against Spurs". The Northern Echo. 2008-12-21. http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/sport/football/3993745.Martins_missing_for_Magpies_against_Spurs/. Retrieved 2008-12-29. 
  16. ^ Martins to undergo surgery Retrieved on January 07 2009
  17. ^ "Wolfsburg seal Martins deal". Sky Sports. 2009-07-31. http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11678_5464649,00.html. Retrieved 2009-07-31. 
  18. ^ http://footballfashion.wordpress.com/2009/08/12/obafemi-martins-vfl-wolfsburg-official-presentation/
  19. ^ Okeleji, Oluwashina (2010-07-09). "Nigeria's Obafemi Martins signs for Russian champions". BBC Sport. http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/africa/8806226.stm. Retrieved 2011-05-25. 
  20. ^ ""Рубин" заплатил "Вольфсбургу" за Обафеми Мартинса 16 миллионов евро, срок контракта – 3 года" (in Russian). sports.ru. 2010-07-09. http://www.sports.ru/football/71707662.html. 
  21. ^ "Martins will play in Birmingham City on loan". FC Rubin Kazan. 2011-01-28. http://rubin-kazan.ru/en/news/club/1904.html. Retrieved 2011-01-31. 
  22. ^ "Blues complete Martins deal". Birmingham City F.C. 2011-01-31. http://www.bcfc.com/page/News/NewsDetail/0,,10412~2279243,00.html. Retrieved 2011-01-31. 
  23. ^ "Birmingham City fend off major bid as they land Obafemi Martins". Birmingham Mail. 2011-02-01. http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-sport/birmingham-city-fc/2011/02/01/birmingham-city-fend-off-major-bid-as-they-land-obafemi-martins-97319-28090412/. Retrieved 2011-02-01. 
  24. ^ "Nigeria's Obafemi Martins set for Birmingham City debut". BBC Sport. 2011-02-09. http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/africa/9392077.stm. Retrieved 2011-05-25. 
  25. ^ Roopanarine, Les (2011-02-12). "Birmingham 1–0 Stoke". BBC Sport. http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/9391008.stm. Retrieved 2011-05-25. 
  26. ^ Lacey, David (2011-02-21). "Birmingham cruise leaves Gary Megson lamenting woeful Wednesday". The Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/feb/21/birmingham-city-sheffield-wednesday-fa-cup. Retrieved 2011-02-21. 
  27. ^ "Football: Arsenal 1-2 Birmingham, Carling Cup Final 2011 Result". The Global Herald. 2011-02-27. http://theglobalherald.com/football-arsenal-1-2-birmingham-carling-cup-final-2011-result/12195/. Retrieved 2011-02-27. 
  28. ^ "Jubilant Martins celebrates victory". ESPNsoccernet. 2011-02-27. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/886988/birmingham-city%27s-obafemi-martins-celebrates-%27easiest%27-goal?cc=5739. Retrieved 2011-02-28. 
  29. ^ "Oba out for the season". Birmingham City F.C. 2011-04-29. http://www.bcfc.com/page/News/NewsDetail/0,,10412~2349296,00.html. Retrieved 2011-04-29. 
  30. ^ "NFA embarrasses Obafemi Martins, ridicules Nigeria". Vanguard. 2006-08-04. Archived from the original on 2006-10-31. http://web.archive.org/web/20061031063329/http://www.vanguardngr.com/articles/2002/sports/august05/04082005/sp104082005.html. Retrieved 2007-03-04. 
  31. ^ "Martins no-show for sick mother". BBC Sport. 2007-02-07. http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/africa/6339843.stm. Retrieved 2011-05-25. 
  32. ^ Okeleji, Oluwashina (2007-02-09). "Nigeria get tough on Martins". BBC Sport. http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/africa/6345871.stm. Retrieved 2011-05-25. 
  33. ^ "Martins sorry for Nigeria no-show". BBC Sport. 2007-02-14. http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/africa/6360583.stm. Retrieved 2011-05-25. 
  34. ^ http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/southafrica2010/players/player=199817/index.html
  35. ^ http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/southafrica2010/matches/round=249722/match=300061460/index.html
  36. ^ http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/southafrica2010/matches/round=249722/match=300111115/index.html
  37. ^ http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/southafrica2010/teams/team=43876/index.html
  38. ^ "Obafemi Martins". ESPNsoccernet. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/player/_/id/25785/obafemi-martins?cc=5739. Retrieved 25 May 2011. 
  39. ^ http://www.national-football-teams.com/v2/player.php?id=4931

External links

Awards
Preceded by
Mido		 CAF Young Player of the Year
2003, 2004		 Succeeded by
John Obi Mikel
v · d · eFC Rubin Kazan – current squad

1 Ryzhikov · 2 Kuzmin · 3 Ansaldi · 4 César Navas · 5 Martins · 6 Tukura · 7 Bystrov · 8 Ryazantsev · 9 Nemov · 10 Kasaev · 11 Lebedenko · 15 Kislyak · 16 Noboa · 18 Valdez · 19 Kaleshin · 20 A. Eremenko · 21 Antoniuc · 22 Orekhov · 23 R. Eremenko · 24 Arlauskis · 25 Dyadyun · 26 Medvedev · 27 Bocchetti · 61 Karadeniz · 63 Dzhalilov · 65 Zhestokov · 66 Natkho · 67 Kvirkvelia · 76 Sharonov · 87 Carlos Eduardo · 92 Orazsähedow · Manager: Berdyev

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