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Tag: Obafemi Martins

  • Obafemi Martins arrives for Lagos @ 50 match

    Obafemi Martins arrives for Lagos @ 50 match

    Shanghai Greenland Shenhua of China forward, Obafemi Martins has arrived in Nigeria for Sunday’s Super Eagles Commemorative match to mark Lagos 50th anniversary, Senior Special Assistant on Sports to Governor Akinwunmi Amobode, Anthony Adeyinka has confirmed.

    Adeyinka, while speaking on the preparation on ground for the match billed to celebrate the state’s contribution to sports development in the country said Martins’ arrival has made many other players to show more commitment to the match.

    According to Adeyinka, the former Inter Milan of Italy striker has been talking to his colleagues in the national team and they have all assured that they will be available to celebrate with Governor Akinwunmi Ambode who is also a lover of sports.

    “I can confirm to you that all is set for the match and I am happy that many players have been calling from Uyo to re-assure us that they will be available to come and celebrate with our Governor”, says Adeyinka

    “As I speak with you, Obafemi Martins is in the country and he has been doing a lot to make sure that other players invited are available for the match. We have done everything to ensure maximum security before, during and after the match”, he added

    The match will see Lagos born Eagles play against Eagles players from other states on Sunday at the Teslim Balogun Stadium.

    A novelty match between Stationary Stores of Lagos and Young Strikers Academy will be played in the afternoon before the Eagles match in the night.

    Players that have confirmed include Kayode Olanrewaju, Kelechi Iheanacho, Ogenyi Onazi, Dele Alampasu, Sylvester Igboun,Gbolahan Salami, Elderson Echiejile, Nnamdi Oduamadi among others.

  • Martins rediscovers scoring form, Ideye also on target

    Martins rediscovers scoring form, Ideye also on target

    Nigerian international Obafemi Martins bounced back to scoring form Saturday as he grabbed a 37th minute goal to hand his Chinese Super League side Shanghai Shenhua a 0-2 away victory over Guizhou Zhicheng.

    Martins who enjoyed full 90 minutes action however saw yellow in the 76th minute of the match.

    It was teammate and Colombian import Fredy Guarín that opened scoring in the 14th minute after an assist from Cao Yunding while Martins also got an assist from Bai Jiagun. Big money man Carlos Tevez was however not listed.

    Interestingly Martins was equally in action when Shenhua faced Odion Ighalo’s Changchun Yatai last week, it was however Odion  Ighalo that emerged the hero  on the day scoring a brace despite losing 2-3 loss

    Martins was however not the only Eagle that sang victory song in China on Saturday. Brown Ideye was also on target for Tianjin Teda who ran away with a 3-1 victory over visiting Yanbian Funde.

    Home boys Qiu Tianyi and Hu Rentian had shot the team into the lead in the 58th and 62nd minutes respectively before Ideye put icing on the cake in the 10 minutes later.

    Yanbian Funde’s consolation goal came via a penalty in six minutes to the end of the match. Tianjin Teda who played without Captain and birth day boy John Obi Mikel were apparently the better side on the day with 54% possession with three goals to show for their effort.

  • Martins donates wheelchairs, crutches to Nigerians with disabilities

    Martins donates wheelchairs, crutches to Nigerians with disabilities

    NIGERIA striker, Obafemi Martins has donated over 500 wheelchairs and clutches to Nigerians with disabilities, including special athletes.

    The Shanghai Shenhua forward made the donation through his foundation, Obafemi Martins Foundation at an event held at the National Stadium, Surulere in Lagos on Tuesday.

    In his address, Martins’ representative Deji Olusesan said the core of the foundation is to reach out to the less privileged in the society rather than wait for the government to do everything.

    ”Giving back to the community is our slogan and that is the essence of this presentation,” said Olusesan.

    ”Donating to people with disabilities is a section of what we have been doing because we have carried out several charity works and more are in progress.

    ”Obafemi Martins is a giver and he has vowed to continue doing this till he is tired  because he wants to see everyone happy.’’

    The foundation also visited Maryland, Agege, Lagos Island and Ajegunle to share cash gifts.

     

     

     

  • Martins missing in Shenhua draw

    Martins missing in Shenhua draw

     

     

     

    Nigerian international Obafemi martins was again missing in the line up as Chinese Super League side Shanghai Shenhua  were held to 1-1 draw by visiting Tianjin Quanjian Saturday. The Nigerian is yet to get playing time for the side in the new season. The tie was however a highly temperamental one as Martins teammate Qin Sheng was severely punished by Shanghai Shenhua after a nasty, deliberate stamp on Axel Witsel.

    The midfielder was not only sent off but also  fined £35,000, relegated to Shanghai’s reserve team and could yet see his wages reduced by furious club president Wu Xiaohui.

    A Shenhua statement read: ‘In the 24th minute, Greenland Shenhua player Qin Sheng deliberately stamped on the foot of his opponent in the box, and was shown a red card by the referee. His behavior was against sportsmanship.

    ‘The club will see his attitude and follow-up performances, and decide whether to cut his annual salary.

    ‘When purchasing competitive achievements, the club will not loosen its management over players. We will take this as a lesson and avoid incidents like this.’

    Qin was ordered to make a public apology following his assault on the Belgium international – who is one of the star attractions in the expanding Chinese Super League and commands wages of £16million per season, or roughly £300,000 each week.

    Back in 2013, playing in a CFA Cup final for Guangzhou Evergrande, he kicked Guizhou Renhe’s striker Zlatan Muslimovic in the face causing a nasal fracture and forcing his opponent to return to Bosnia – his home country – for surgery.

    The same year, while on international duty for Chgina, Qin was sent off 13 minutes into a FRIENDLY against Holland for an outrageous tackle on Jonathan de Guzman. 

    He wrote on one of his social media accounts: ‘Exciting match but stupid foul.

    ‘My personal behaviour affected the whole team. I want to apologise to the fans, club officials and coaches, as well as my pals fighting together on the pitch.

    ‘As a professional player, I should not take such ‘revenge’ but respect the referee’s decision.’

    President Wu was less dismissive of the matter, however, saying: ‘The extremely irrational behaviour of Qin Sheng has severely tarnished the image of this club, the football of Shanghai and even Chinese football.

  • Martins missing in Shanghai massive win

    Martins missing in Shanghai massive win

     

     

    Nigeria international Obafemi Martins was missing in action as Shaghai Shenhua opened the Chinese Super league with a massive victory over Jiangsu Suning on Sunday.

    Martins, who was part of all the pre-season matches was not listed in the match played at the Hongkou Stadium with Shaghai Shenhua running away with impressive 4-0 victory.

    Argentina intentional Carlos Tevez who was making his debut after a record signing from Brazilian side Boca Juniors in January, lived up to expectation as about 23,998 spectators had turned out to watch the game.  Tevez did not only convert a 36th minute penalty but also provided two assists in the harvest of goals.

    ‘I am extremely happy for Tevez,’ said club coach Poyet. ‘Goals are important and he has started his CSL journey with goals. The four goals are all linked to him but he needs the team to work as a whole”‘

    An elated Martins early last month expressed delight at the quality of pre-season effort ahead of the new season, citing ” excellent match against Sydney United in which he played alongside Carlos Tevez and adding ” our squad is really coming together,”

    The former Seattle Sounders forward who joined Shanghai Shenhua a year ago could however be lined up against Tianjin Quanjian on Saturday.

  • Birmingham victory thrills Obafemi Martins

    Birmingham victory thrills Obafemi Martins

     

     

    Nigerian international Obafemi Martins was nostalgic at the weekend after watching his former teammates at Birmingham City earn three points away at the expense of hosts Wolverhampton Wanderers.  The two English Championship sides took to the pitch Friday at the Molineux Stadium in front of 27,541 spectators.

    Hosts Wolverhampton Wanderers who had Super Eagles goalkeeper Carl Ikeme in goal got baptism of fire as early as the 27th minute when Birmingham city shot into the lead through Maikel Kieftenbeld. As if that was not enough shocker for Ikeme and his teammates, City’s David Davis increased the tally for the visitors five minutes later.  It was not until the 73rd minute that hosts Wolverhampton managed to reduce the tally thanks to Malian import Nouha Dicko, but it was not enough to stop the visitors from running away with a 2-1 victory.

    Birmingham are 14th on the 24- team English Championship  log  with 43 points in 34 matches six places above Wolverhampton with 35 points in 32 matches.

    Martins who plays for Shanghai Shenhua and is currently shaping up ahead of the new Chinese Super League season due for kick off next month had a loan spell with Birmingham City in 2011 while on contract with Russian side FC Rubin Kazan.

    Obagoal took to the social media to give his former teammates a pat on the back for what he described as a well deserved victory

    “Happy Obafemi Martins day and shout out to all my former teammates’ #bcfcofficial at Birmingham city football club for the successful win,” he submitted backing up the tweet with a past photo with teammates in action a Birmingham.

  • Rohr to visit Mikel, Martins in China 

    Rohr to visit Mikel, Martins in China 

     

     

    The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and Super Eagles head coach, Gernot Rohr has put all logistics in place for Rohr to pay an official visit to John Mikel Obi and Obafemi Martins in China.

    The Eagles gaffer will leave for China in the second week of February to discuss Nations and World Cup qualifiers and most importantly the way  forward with the Nigerian players.

    According to the Nigeria Football Federation(NFF), scribe Dr. Sanusi Mohammed, the Super Eagles tactician has been given permission by the  Glass House  to visit any player he feels is of important to him in delivering the trophies for the country.

    He said: “The Federation has given Rohr blank cheque to do what is necessary. He owe us (Nigeria)  the World  Cup and Nations  cup tickets. The federation can’t stop him from travelling if the purpose is enhance his job with no cost implication to  the federation .  It is our duty to encourage him to do what is best for us to be in Russia,”  Sanusi said.

    Sanusi also stated that the Eagles Boss will visit London to meet with Kelechi Iheanacho, Alex Iwobi, Ademola Lukman, Ahmed Musa, Wilfred Ndidi. He said the visit is to prepare their minds for the task ahead

    “I  can tell you that Rohr calls the office daily from Gabon and we speak  each time our world cup opponents played in their games in the ongoing Nations Cup in Gabon.  Rohr is really doing a good job”. Sanusi concluded.

  • U-18 TOURNEY: Oshoala drags Onazi, Omeruo, AY to Lagos on Boxing Day

    U-18 TOURNEY: Oshoala drags Onazi, Omeruo, AY to Lagos on Boxing Day

     

    Nigeria internationals including Obafemi Martins, Ogenyi Onazi, Kenneth Omeruo and Imoh Ezekiel will feature against celebrities like AY, Akpororo in a novelty match as part of activities marking the final of the 2nd edition of Asisat Oshoala U-18 invitational football Competition billed to hold on 26th of December, 2016 boxing day at the popular Campos Mini Stadium, Joseph Street, Lagos Island, Lagos.

    The competition sponsored by Super Falcons striker, Asisat Oshoala and organized by First Class Sports Marketing in partnership with Emzor Pharmaceuticals and Nairabet kicked off on Wednesday with preliminary matches involving 14 teams.
    The semi finals was held on Thursday while the third place match and the final will hold on the 26th of this month.

    Winner of the competition will go home with the sum of N200,000, second placed team will get N140,000, while the third placed team will be rewarded with
    N100,000.
    Speaking at an event proceeding the final in Lagos on Thursday, Oshoala said the tournament is not just a football competition but an historical event planned to give back to the society by encouraging the younger generations to grow in education and their football career.

    “This is my personal project and it’s basically to encourage the young and talented girls not to kill their dreams because of the challenges we are facing in the country right now,” begins the 2016 Africa Women Cup of Nations’ Golden Boot winner.
    “A lot of parents outthere don’t want their children to play football but they want them to go to school alone. This is a way of bringing that together. I want to use this to preach to the world that there is always a way to put education and Sports generally, not only football together. This is my area, I’m a professional footballer and this is the way I can communicate with other people not to stop their children from taking part in sporting activities, ” the Arsenal Ladies forward said.
    First Vice President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Seyi Akinwunmi commended the reigning BBC Women’s Footballer of the Year for not forgetting her roots by given back to the grassroot.
    Chairman of the Lagos State Sports Commission, Deji Tinubu pledged the commission’s total support towards the success of the competition.
    Also present at the occasion includes representatives from NairaBet and Emzor Pharmaceuticals, President- General of the Nigeria Football and Other Sports Supporters Club, Dr Rafiu Ladipo; Senior Special Assistant on sports to Lagos state governor, Anthony Adeyinka Adeboye and Super Falcons defender, Onome Ebi who was around to give moral support to her national teammate.

  • Obafemi Martins moves to China

    Obafemi Martins moves to China

    Nigeria striker Obafemi Martins has joined Chinese Super League side, Shanghai Shenhua, from United States Major League Side (MLS), Seattle Sounders.

    The striker was linked with a return to the English Premier League in the January transfer window, but British agent Tony Harris and the player’s attorney, Soroosh Abdi brokered the deal that took him to China, the BBC reports.

    Martins scored 15 goals for Seattle Sounders last season

    The striker, who has also had spells in Italy, Germany, Russia and Spain, has scored 18 goals in 41 international appearances for Nigeria and was voted Africa’s most promising talent in 2003 and 2004.

  • Wizkid, Krane’s scuffle gets deeper

    Wizkid, Krane’s scuffle gets deeper

    The scuffle between Ayodeji Balogun (aka WizKid) and Dammy Krane, as popularly called by his fans, got deeper on Thursday night as Wizkid reportedly threw a glass cup on Krane’s face at Quilox Club.

    Earlier on Thursday, Krane had apologised to his fans on twitter concerning his accusations of Wizkid over stealing songs and lyrics belonging to him.

    “Park, reverse baby pull over, was mine. Baba nla melodies both chorus and verses were recorded in his Wizkid’s house by me in he’s studio,” Krane said on his twitter handle.

    However, it was gathered that Obafemi Martins, former Super Eagles Striker, was hosting a party at Quilox Club and both singers were present.

    Although, both singers are yet to speak on the latest development, there were claims on Social media that Krane left the club soaked in blood.

    Find Krane’s Earlier Posts below: