Obafemi Martins is a Nigerian born professional footballer, known world over for his characteristics summersault or front, turned back flip goal celebrations. He is known popularly as either “Oba-goal” (King of goals) or “Weapon of Mass Destruction” by his fans in Nigeria and Africa at large. He is a prolific goal scorer, who has scored 19 goals for his country Nigeria in all competitions from 42 appearances for the Super Eagles.
Biography of Obafemi Martins
Obafemi Martins was born in Lagos, Nigeria on October 28, 1984 to his parents whose names are given simply as Alhaji and Alhaja Martins. He has two siblings – an older and younger brother.
He grew up a football lover as most Nigerians are, and developed his skills playing football on the streets of Lagos, Nigeria.
Player Profile
Obafemi Martins is a diminutive, fleet-footed and direct professional footballer, who loves to play as a center forward. He loves scoring goals and it shows by the vibrant celebration that follows thereafter.
He left the shores of Nigeria at 16 to begin his professional career in Italy. He joined Serie C side, Reggiana signing a youth team contract in 2000. He moved to Inter Milan in 2001 signing a 10-year contract with the club, after proving himself with the youth team, he made his senior appearances more regular scoring 28 goals from 88 appearances.
He joined EPL side, Newcastle United for $ 15 million In 2006, and scored 34 goals in all competitions from 104 appearances. He joined German side, Vfl Wolfsburg for $ 9 million in 2009, scoring 6 goals from 16 appearances. He was on the move again in 2010, signing for Russian champions, Rubin Kazan, scoring 3 goals from 20 appearances. In January 2011, he requested to be loaned to Birmingham City in England, in order to be close to his family and newborn son.
In 2012, he moved to Spanish club, Levante, on a free transfer, scoring 7 goals from 21 appearances. The Yankee life appealed to him, and he made a mid-season move to American side, Seattle Sounders FC , scoring 40 goals in 72 appearances. He moved to the Chinese side, Shanghai Shenhua in 2016, and scored 19 goals from 40 appearances for the club. He played until 2018 when he finally left following a hamstring injury.
Martins career has been plagued by injuries, and that was a major factor that made Shenshua waive his contract in June 2018. Having recovered from his last knee injury, he has stated that he hasn’t retired from football, rather he is currently waiting for the right club to come along.
Net Worth
Martins has played professional football for almost 2 decades and is said to have a net worth of about $25 million, obtained largely from his football career/salary and endorsement deals.
Amazing facts about Obafemi Martins
1. Acrobatic goal celebrations
Martins is known for scoring goals and then to proceed onto making between 1 to 7 summersaults – depending on the quality and importance of the goal, much to the admiration of his team mates, fans and even football commentators.
He began the summersault goal celebrations based on the advice of his peers right from when he was 12, playing football on the streets.
2. Relationship and Children.
Martins fell in love with Ghanaian-Italian model, Abigail Burwah, while he was playing for Inter Milan in the Serie A. Although there is no records on whether the two have been married, it is known that they have two boys together, Kendrick and Kelvin Martins. There are some rumors that they have since tied the knot secretly.
Coincidentally, Abigial Burwah is professional football star, Mario Balotelli’s sister; he was Martins team mate while they were at Inter.
3. Football playing siblings
Playing football seems to run in the Martins family, as he has two siblings who were also footballers. His older brother, Oladipupo Martins, played for clubs like Reggiana (Italy), Partizan (Serbia) and Innstruck (Austria) – retired in 2009 due to health concerns. Unfortunately, he lost his life in 2011 as a result of a suspected heart attack. At the time of his death, Oladipupo Martins was 28.
His younger brother, John, is also a footballer.
4. Lifestyle of Obafemi Martins
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Martins works hard and definitely deserves to play hard as well. He is known to love the finer things of life including diamond studded ear rings, expensive designer clothes and footwear.
He is also known to love posh cars and his collections includes a Gemballa Porsche, Lamborghini Aventador, Ferrarri Spider, BMW X6, Mercedes Benz SLR McLaren and a G-class.
5. Interests in Real Estate
Martins is known to also invest heavily in real estates. He own a mansion in Como, Italy reportedly worth millions of Euros. He also has 2 mansions in the prestigious Victoria Garden City (VGC) in Ajah, Lagos, Nigeria worth close to $ 2 million, amongst several other properties. He also has an hotel/nightclub in Lagos, Nigeria.
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6.) Dual Citizenship
Obafemi Martins got his United States of America Green Card in 2015 while playing for the American professional soccer, Seattle Sounders FC. This effectively qualifies him as a United States citizen, while still having his Nigerian citizenship as well.
7. He missed playing in England
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Martins played in the English Premier League on two occasions. First, he moved to Newcastle United FC in 2006 from Inter Milan, and played for 3 seasons scoring 28 goals in 88 appearances. He also had a loan spell with Birmingham City in 2011 from Rubin Kazan, but unfortunately he didn’t score for them, making only 4 appearances.
He stated in an interview that he missed the fans, atmosphere and competitiveness of the EPL.
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8. Career/Personal Honors and achievements
Martins has won a lot of Laurels with Inter Milan – including a Serie A title, 2x Copa Italia and Supercoppa Italiana; Others includes UEFA Intertoto Cup with Newcastle (2006), League Cup with Birmingham city (2010/11), Russian Super Cup with Rubin Kazan (2012), MLS Supporter’s Shield and U.S. Open cup both in 2014 with Seattle Souners an Chinese F.A. Cup (2017) with Shanghai Shenshua.
Obafemi Martins won the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Most Promising Talent of the Year in 2003 and 2004. He was top goal scorer in the Chinese F.A. Cup in 2017 and got the MLS Goal of the Year award in 2014.
9.) Encounter with Racism
Though he confirmed that he had not experienced it personally via personal attacks, but his friend in the company of his brother did experience it while he was playing in Russia.
10. Painful Bereavement
He lost his older brother Oladipupo in August 2011, as a result of a heart attack. He also lost his mother earlier in 2008 in Lagos, Nigeria, when she died of suspected shock in her car, while trying to flee from a petrol tanker explosion and fire near her home.
Complete profile of Obafemi Martins
| Obafemi Martins | |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Obafemi Akinwunmi Martins |
| Date of Birth | 28 October 1984 |
| Age | 36 years |
| Zodiac Sign | Scorpio |
| Nationality | Nigeria |
| Birth place | Lagos, Nigeria |
| Ethnicity | Yoruba ethnic group |
| Profession | Professional footballer |
| Playing position(s) | Striker (forward) |
| Club | 2000–2001Reggiana 2001–2006-Inter Milan 2006–2009 Newcastle United 2009–2010-VfL Wolfsburg 2010–2012 Rubin Kazan 2011 → Birmingham City (loan) 2012–2013-Levante 2013–2015-Seattle Sounders FC 2016–2018Shanghai Shenhua 2020- Shanghai Greenland Shenhua F.C. 2020- Wuhan Zall F.C |
| Education | NA |
| Father | Alhaji Obafemi |
| Mother | Alhaja Martins |
| Siblings | Brothers- Oladipupo Martins, John Ronan Martins |
| Marital Status | Married |
| Spouse/Partner | Abigail Barwuah |
| Girlfriend | Abigail Barwuah |
| Kids | Tyler Martins, Kelvin Martins, Kendrick Martins |
| Religion | NA |
| Estimated Net Worth: | $25 Million |
| Source of net worth | Football Career |
| Height | 1.70 m (5 feet 7 in) |
| Weight | 70 kg |
| Eye color | Dark-Brown |
| Hair color | Black |
| Social media | Instagram |
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