Oba Martins

Oba Martins

Obafemi Akinwunmi Martins (born 28 October 1984) is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as a forward. He is best known as a pacy forward and youth talent. Martins left Nigeria for Italy at age 16 where he was touted as a youth talent. In 2002, at the age of 18, he made his senior debut for Serie A club Inter Milan. He started in the 2002–2003 UEFA Champions League sem-finals against AC Milan. In his final season at Inter, he won the Serie A title. He moved Premier League club Newcastle United in 2006, and then to Bundesliga club VfL Wolfsburg in 2009. He moved to Russian Premier League side Rubin Kazan in July 2010 before he was loaned to Birmingham City in January 2011. He spent a season with La Liga club Levante, he played for Seattle Sounders FC of Major League Soccer from 2013 to 2015, scoring 40 goals, before spending several years in China with Shanghai Shenhua and Wuhan. In club football, Martins has won the Serie A title, the Italian Cup (twice), and the Italian 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 the 2004–05 Serie A, and 17 in both the 2006–07 Premier League and 2014 MLS. 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.

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