Super Eagles out of favour striker, Obafemi Martins, has disclosed that he is enjoying massive supports in the Major League Soccer club, Seattle Sounders.
The former Inter Milan of Italy star was quick to praise the support he’s received since arriving in Seattle, including a group of supporters who were on hand to greet the new recruit the day before he made his debut.
“When I first came to Seattle I couldn’t believe the support they had,” Martins said enthusiastically. “They have a lot of fans. I’d rate Seattle’s fans at 99 per cent: They are some of the best supporters I have had since I’ve been playing.”
As the conversation shifted to his expectations for both club and country, Martins paused before responding and answered with a clear focus: “We want to win the trophy. That’s why it’s been difficult, winning a couple of games and then losing again. That’s what we’re waiting for, the trophy.
“We want to win. This is a big competition. (Our opponents) want to win; we want to win, so it’s going to be tough. We’ll see what will happen. It’s fun. It’s a fun game and a fun league.”
Until Martins made his way from playing in the streets of Lagos to Inter Milan – by way of Serie C side Reggiana – he was unaware of the footballing greats that he would one day play alongside.
“I remember when I was a child in Nigeria, when I used to play in the street for fun I didn’t know any players, but when I came to Europe and I went to Italy, seeing Ronaldo – you know: Brazilian Ronaldo – playing, I was thinking ‘I want to play like him.”
Like many great goalscorers, Martins has a trademark celebration that supporters hope to see every time he steps on the field. The origins of Martins’ now famous back-flips date back to the same streets where he learned to play the game: “I learned to do the back-flip in Nigeria because I was just doing it for fun, but all of a sudden I became really good at it.
“I was doing it with friends, and they told me, ‘Now you’re playing soccer. Why can’t you simply score goals and do the flip?’ They said, ‘Try it. It’s going to be fun. I think people will really love it.’ All of a sudden I started doing it, and now people love it.”
And as Sounders continue to push for a play-off spot in the Western Conference, Seattle supporters will be looking for as many of Martins’ famous back-flips as possible.
