Nigerian footballer Obafemi Akinwunmi Martins who plays as a forward for Shanghai Greenland Shenhua was born October 28, 1984. He is known for his speed on the ball and his amazing skills. Martins had two brothers who also played football professionally. His elder brother, Oladipupo Martins and his younger brother is John Ronan Martins.
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He joined the local football club F.C. Ebedei after he was scouted by manager Churchill Oliseh while playing on the streets of his hometown. He began his senior career in 2002 at the Italian Serie A club Inter Milan where he won the Italian Serie A title (the Italian Cup twice) and the Italian Super Cup. He then moved to the English Premier League club Newcastle in 2006, and then the German Bundesliga club VfL Wolfsburg in 2009. Having joined Russian Premier League side Rubin Kazan in July 2010, they loaned him to Birmingham City in January 2011.
Martins was part of the Nigerian squad for the Africa Cup of Nations in 2006, 2008 and 2010, and for the FIFA World Cup in 2010. He played for Seattle Sounders FC of Major League Soccer from 2013 to 2015, scoring 40 goals, before moving on to China.
READ: Sunday Oliseh Biography
He was awarded the title of CAF Most Promising Talent of the Year (2003, 2004), MLS Best XI: (2014) and MLS Goal of the Year (2014). In 2017, he won the title of Chinese FA Cup: Top Goalscorer.
Martins received his U.S. green card in 2015 which qualifies him as a domestic player for MLS roster purposes. He is married to Ghanaian-Italian Abigail Barwuah, sister of Mario Balotelli. The couple is blessed with 3 children; Tyler Martins, Kendrick Martins and Kelvin Martins.
