Obafemi Martins
The American Major League Soccer no doubt cannot compare with major leagues in Europe. MLS serves as haven for ageing football stars in their quest to have a befitting ending to their football ending career and the list of these players is endless. So, when in March 2013, Obafemi Matins moved to America to join Seattle Sounders, many felt it was the end of his national team career, considering that most Super Eagles coaches are not favourably disposed to extending invitations to player plying their trade in the MLS.
Martins
However, erstwhile Super Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi, at the twilight of his reign as national team coach invited the former Newcastle of England striker but he was not convincing after two matches and that rested the clamour for Martins’ call. Almost two years after his last call, ahead of Nigeria’s World Cup qualifier game against Swaziland, Super Eagles Chief coach, Sunday Oliseh had surprisingly invited the 30 year old striker. Kunle Adewale in this report asks if Martins’ inclusion is a justification of the dwindling state of the senior national team or that indeed, he is bringing added value to the team?
Martins himself admitted that he was shocked on his recall to the Super Eagles. Reacting to his recent recall to the national team after two years absence, Martins revealed it was a bit of shock after he got coach Oliseh’s invite.
“It was a bit of a shock, but a nice shock. I’m very happy; because I have always worked hard, supported and respected all the players picked by the coaches. I thank coach Oliseh for this great opportunity. I’m just looking forward to going out there and playing for Nigeria again,” he told BBC Sports.
Martins
Prior to his recent invitation, the former Levante of Spain striker admitted in an interview with FIFA.com that the MLS cannot compare with the top League of Europe, while also conceding that at 30, his speed had slowed down considerably.
“When you talk about those leagues in Europe, (Premier League, the German Bundesliga and Serie A), you’re talking about deep, long history.
They have all the tradition that comes with years and years. So, you can’t just compare a league like MLS to those leagues. It’s not fair. It’s growing fast, maybe faster than any other league in the world. More teams are coming in all the time and players, friends of mine from Europe, want to come here now. You can see it getting better every year. And the fans in Seattle, they are some of the best I’ve ever seen,” he said.
Reacting to a question on his pace which used to be his greatest assert, Martins said, “I’ve slowed down some and so I have to adapt the way I play. It’s fine, though, because I like to play with the ball, to have it at my feet. When it’s time to run and get up the pitch fast, I can still do that too, though,” he said.
In an interview with THISDAY, former Nigerian international, Waidi Akani said Martins’ invitation was much unexpected considering the depth of strikers in Oliseh’s fold.
“I never expected that Obafemi Martins would be invited back to the national team considering the depth of strikers the country boasts of now. Considering the fact that we have players coming up from the U20 and U23 to the senior national team makes Martins’ invitation much unexpected. But that does not say he could not be invited because of the level of his performance now, but I would have expected that the coach would have gone down to the ladder and pick up younger players that would serve as the future of the national team.
“But maybe the coach feels the younger striker might not fit in to the striking capacity and his style and therefore sees Matins filling that hole, hence his invitation,” Akani said.
Asked if inviting a player from the MLS was not a sum up of the state of the Super Eagles, the former international reacted thus: “The league in America like everybody know is not regarded as a top league when compared to the ones in Europe but that does not also mean a player cannot be invited from the American league. Tactically, the coach might feel Martins could play to his style and that could probably be the reason for his invitation. Therefore, we need to know the style the coach wants to play; he might feel Martins style suits his formation. The fact that the America does well internationally and the bulk of their players are drawn from the MLS goes to show that it’s not after all a bad idea to invite players from the MLS.”
Akani, who lost his place in the national team under Clemence Westerhof because he was playing in America and turned a deaf ear to the Dutchman’s advice that he should move to Europe to enhance his future in the Super Eagles said Martins’ invitation did not mean the Eagles shirt would be a walk in the park for him, saying he would earn it by working hard.
Martins’ invitation is a great departure from Oliseh’s initial stand that only players playing in top European leagues would make his team, when it was obvious that just a fraction of Nigerian players play in top leagues.
Oliseh however disclosed that Martins must earn his place in the starting line-up of the team, just as he said, “Martins will offer us some other qualities in attack but first he must earn his place in the team.”
On March 15, 2013, Seattle Sounders FC announced the signing of Martins from Levante after the club paid a $4 million buyout clause in Martins' contract with Levante. He scored his first goal for the club on April 20, 2013.
On October 2014, Martins signed a new three-year contract extension with Seattle, nearly doubling his annual salary to more than $3 million. The following day, Martins provided an assist for the first goal as Seattle defeated the Galaxy 2–0 to win the Supporters Shield. The assist meant that Martins finished with 17 goals during the regular season, a club record, as well as notching 13 assists, a joint-club record.
He was a part of the Nigerian team that finished third in the 2006 African Cup of Nations scoring 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 (NFA) website had his date of birth down as May1 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.
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