On-form Nigeria striker Obafemi Martins scored his 12th goal of the season to snatch a point for his MLS side Seattle Sounders at San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday night.
He is now just five goals shy of the record-breaking 17 goals he scored last season.
‘Oba’ scored in the 82nd minute to draw Seattle Sounders level.
Nigerian-born Fatai Alashe gave San Jose Earthquakes the lead in the 70th minute, when he twisted his body to head home Perez Garcia’s free kick.
Former Super Eagles striker, Obafemi Martins, scored his third goal of the MLS season, as Seattle Sounders beat Houston Dynamo 1-0.
Martins turned a defender to beat Houston goalkeeper, Tyler Deric, to seal the win for Sounders on Saturday night despite playing the final 35 minutes with just 10 men.
Martins’ goal came in the 39th minute as Seattle quickly countered off a Houston turnover.
Martins collected a pass from Clint Dempsey, did a 360-degree spin around Houston defender Jermaine Taylor and put enough power on the shot that Deric’s deflection couldn’t keep it out of the net.
Staying in the MLS, Tesho Akindele of FC Dallas leveled for his side in their game against Portland Timbers his second goal of the season from five games so far but his strike failed to prevent his side from losing 3-1 to Portland Timbers who had Fanendo Adi on for the entire duration of the game.
Tesho is eligible for Nigeria, Canada and the USA at senior International level but the 23-year-old has represented Canada at Under-17 level, playing in a friendly game against Costa Rica in 2009.
Nigerian international, Obafemi Martins has expressed delight after opening his goal account in the new Major League (MLS) season which kicked off last weekend.
Martins, who scored 17 goals last term, began this season with a goal and made an assist as Seattle Sounders got off to a flying start with a 3-0 victory over New England Revolution in front of 39,782 fans at the CenturyLink Field, Seattle in Washington on Sunday.
Two-goal hero, Clint Dempsey opened scoring via a penalty in the 25th minute before Martins doubled the tally with a powerful header in the 41st minute.
In the 67th minute, midfielder Marco Pappa sent a through ball forward that Martins caught up with and could have put into the net himself. Instead, he tapped it back to Dempsey for the easy score.
As for passing up what could have been his second goal of the night in favour of Dempsey, the weapon of Mass destruction said: “I think, yeah, I can do it, but Clint is there. So I just played it and scored so we can win. It was me and the goalkeeper one on one, so I don’t want to risk. (The pass from Pappa) was a good one.
Speaking on the chemistry with Dempsey compared to last year, Obagoal said: “This is what we’ve (been) doing since last year, same thing in the preseason. We’ve never stopped doing our thing but at the end of the day we did very well as a team and we’re very happy (with the three points.”
Martins is expected to continue with the scoring form as the Sounders return to action on Saturday when the San Jose Earthquakes visit CenturyLink Field.
Onyekachi Apam’s hope of resurrecting his career has suffered a set back after Major League Soccer (MLS) side, Seattle Sounders, released him and two other Nigerians from the current squad.
The club, in a statement, revealed they are declining contract options of eight players including defender Apam and forward Sean Okoli, while defender Jalil Anibaba is out of contract.
“In our league it’s a consistent challenge to keep successful teams together, and these types of decisions are always difficult,” said Sounders FC Owner and General Manager Adrian Hanauer.
“Having said that, conversations are ongoing with several players about their respective futures with our club, and as we continue to shape the roster for 2015 we’ll have additional announcements to share.”
The former Nigeria youth international failed to make an appearance for Sounders since joining on a free transfer in September 2014.
Meanwhile, Sean Okoli played three games before joining second-tier Orange County on loan, while Anibaba played 17 games for Sounders, who have opted not to renew his contract.
Sounders, winners of the 2014 MLS Supporters’ Shield and the U.S. Open Cup, currently maintain a squad of 23 players including Nigerian Obafemi Martins, who scored 17 goals and made 13 assists in the 2014 season.
Seattle Sounders FC coach Gigi Schmid, has said he expects Nigerian striker Obafemi Martins to resume the MLS season with the franchise when it opens on January 25.
Martins has been heavily linked with a lot of European teams when the MLS went on recess, but the sounders say they expect him to be back with them.
The former Inter Milan striker, was pictured with representatives of Turkish Super League side Caykur Rizespor, and was also linked to English Premier League side West Ham United.
“I think he has a bad travel agent, so he gets a lot of connections when he is trying to get back to the states,” Schmid told reporters after the MLS SuperDraft press conference.
“There a lot of connecting stops along the way. We expect him to be here at the start of the season. There is nothing that he said to us indicates anything different,”he added.
Martins, 29, who moved to the MLS from Spanish side Levante scored eight goals for the Seattle side in 20 matches he played for the side despite being blighted by injuries during the season.
The former Newcastle United striker, who has also played for Wolfsburg amd Rubin Kazan has played 39 times for Nigeria, scoring 18 goals.
Seattle Sounders have devised a way to keep Nigerian striker, Obafemi Martins fresh for the upcoming MLS: be leaving him out of games before the big one.
The former Super Eagles striker was expected to miss the high profile MLS clash between Seattle Sounders and LA Galaxy on Sunday, as he was still recovering from a groin injury.
Sounders Coach Sigi Schmid, provided some clarity to the report this week, noting that Obafemi Martins likely wouldn’t play Sunday as they were trying to get him healthy for the playoffs.
“Obafemi probably (won’t be available). We wanted to go easy with him today. He had some treatment yesterday (Saturday), so we wanted to see a day of rest for him,” Schmid said after the team’s practice on Saturday.
Martins has been playing through the pain barrier for Sounders, but had to come off a few weeks ago, when the pain became unbearable.
SUPER EAGLES ace, Obafemi Martins has given reasons why he did a short backflip after scoring his first MLS goal against Colorado Rapids when he asked if the fans enjoyed it.
Obagol on Monday took to his Twitter page to ask his Sounders fans. @oba_martins: “Hello everyone, thanks for all your support… Glad I’m back playing and the team got their first win of the season…”
“For my Sounders family that wanted to see the backflip, hope you all enjoyed it…had to be careful with the knee… Love u all and thanks…”
Meanwhile, Martins teammate, Lamar Neagle also tweeted that Sounders fans will see more goals from the Nigerian.
@LamarNeagle:”The #Obagoals will come.”
The former Levante of Spain ace has now scored in Serie A, EPL, Bundesliga, Russia Premier League, La Liga and MLS.
• Says, I’m happy I’m here
• Storms Nigeria Monday
• Club sure of Martins goals
There was no hiding the excitement for Super Eagles returnee, Obafemi Martins after been unveiled by Sounders FC moments after arriving in Seattle, United States of Ameria on Friday (American time).
The 28-year-old forward and the newest addition to the Sounders FC roster talked about his eagerness to meet his new teammates, to see a packed CenturyLink Field and to play with his new club. Most obvious in indicating the sincerity of that enthusiasm was the megawatt smile that never left his face while he met with media at SeaTac Airport just minutes after he landed on a flight from London.
“I’m happy I’m here,” he beamed. “Chris Henderson came over to Valencia in Spain and tried as hard as possible to bring me here. Now I’m glad I’m here and I can’t wait to see my teammates.”
He won’t have to wait long to see them in action, as head coach Sigi Schmid said it is possible that Martins will be included in the 18 when the Sounders take on the Portland Timbers as part of MLS Rivalry Week on Saturday at 5 pm (early hours of Sunday (today)) at CenturyLink Field in a nationally televised match.
Over the course of the six-month courtship of Martins, he has seen several Sounders matches while he was playing with Levante in Spain’s La Liga, but seeing them in person with a crowd of over 40,000 on hand drew Martins to fly to Seattle for the match knowing that he would be flying to Nigeria after the match to join the Nigerian National Team for a World Cup qualifying match next week against Kenya.
Such is his conviction to bring excitement to the fans and help Seattle to the top of Major League Soccer.
“I’ve been watching the games and they’re crazy about football. They love the game. I want to really see how it’s going to be tomorrow,” said Martins, who said he expects to play against Portland. “I’m ready to play. That’s why I’m here.”
After playing at the top levels in Italy with Inter Milan, England with Newcastle United, Germany with Wolfsburg, Russia with Rubin Kazan and Spain with Levante, he is now ready to conquer another challenge in the US. It wasn’t a decision that came without some soul-searching, though.
“I wasn’t sure yet if I was going to come,” he said. “All of a sudden I just decided to myself, ‘Why not? Let me try and come a different league.’ So that’s why I’m here.”
However, owner of MLS club Seattle Sounders Adrian Hanauer has predicted Obafemi Martins will make a huge impact in the USA.
“We are thrilled to welcome Obafemi to our family,” said Hanauer.
“Winning trophies continues to be the focus of our club. Martins is an impact player who we hope will help us reach the ultimate goal.”
Nigeria striker Martins has signed for Seattle Sounders, the club announced on Friday, but by league and club policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Martins joins Seattle after a short stint at Spanish La Liga side Levante, where he scored nine goals in 24 appearances across all competitions.
Martins will occupy Seattle’s third and final Designated Player slot.
Levante attacking midfielder José Javier Barkero has said that the bombshell of Obafemi Martins possibly leaving the club at this stage of the season has dominated talk amongst the players, both inside and outside the dressing room.
Speaking to Las Provincias radio on Saturday, Barkero admitted that when Obafemi Martins revealed he was leaving Levante for MLS team Seattle Sounders, it was both shocking and a major point of discussion amongst the players.
Barkero thought that it was “tough” what Juanfran had said about the situation previously, but felt what his team-mate had said was done with no malice and only concern.
“We know there’s the possibility of Obafemi leaving, but also that he could stay and we don’t want to say anything that could do further damage to the situation. The outcome is up to Martins and the club to resolve, whilst the rest of us just have to concentrate on the sporting side of things,” he said.
When Barkero and the rest of the players became aware of the situation, he admitted that it was like a bombshell, with players messaging each other, to find out what was happening.
Levante striker Obafemi Martins is reported to be on the radar of US Major League Soccer side Seattle Sounders FC.
Last year, Martins told MTNFootball.com he was informed of interest from LA Galaxy, the former team of England star David Beckham.
Seattle Sounders FC have recently been linked to a number of current and former stars playing in Spain, the latest being Nigeria striker Obafemi Martins, who made a name for himself playing for Inter Milan and Newcastle United, as well as the Super Eagles of Nigeria.
He scored a boatload of goals in Italy with 49 goals in 137 games at Inter and Reggiana and in England scoring 37 goals in 110 appearances for Newcastle and Birmingham City.
‘Obagoal’ has scored seven league goals in the Spanish La Liga this season.
Malaga’s Javier Saviola is also linked to a move to Seattle Sounders in the MLS.