Obafemi Martins was born in Lagos, Nigeria, moving to Italy to begin his professional career at age 16. He played for some pretty big clubs around Europe, including Inter Milan, Newcastle, Wolfsburg and Levante. In 2013, he landed in MLS with the Seattle Sounders. He signed on as a Designated Player after purchasing him for $4m from Levante. He opened his account in green on April 20th, scoring a rebound against the Colorado Rapids. There would be plenty more from where that came from.
In the next match, he scored off the bench against San Jose, performing his signature backflip to celebrate. Not even integrated into the team as a full starter yet, he scored off the bench in the next one as well, pushing it home against FC Dallas. In July, he scored his first brace in MLS against DC United, opening the scoring with a clean left footed finish. He used his pure pace and strength to get his second. Martins scored his final goal of the year against Real Salt Lake in September, totaling an 8 goal and 4 assists season. This was a decent first year, but he was about to double and triple his stats. The Portland Timbers knocked Seattle out in 2013.
In 2014, Martins went nuclear. He powered home a header against Montreal to score his first of many. He also picked up 4 assists across the first 5 matches. The Clint Dempsey and Obafemi Martins duo was gaining some serious chemistry, and they combined to defeat Chivas USA in the late moments. He cut inside and smashed a shot into the bottom right corner in a home match versus Colorado. On May 17th, Obafemi Martins scored the 2014 MLS Goal of the Year. Now Atlanta United manager Gonzalo Pineda clipped a ball over the top at a tough angle, from which Martins reached out his left foot to somehow lob the goalkeeper. Jon Busch had a look of shock on his face, as it stood up as the lone goal in a 1-0 Seattle win.
At the end of May, Martins crashed the back post to help a Kenny Cooper shot attempt in. He scored a brace against Chicago in just a 42 minute start. He turned and fired one home at 31', before scoring a penalty minutes later. Martins scored two more against Portland in the Cascadia Cup, scoring 18 minutes in at Providence Park. He then used some sort of witchcraft to split the entire defense with the ball glued to his foot to score another. He beat Nick Rimando through a Dempsey through ball in the next one. All the while, the Seattle Sounders were surging in he US Open Cup. On September 16th, they set up for a final of the tournament against Philadelphia. He showcased his speed by running straight past the defense, then chipping the keeper to clinch the trophy and the 3-1 victory. He beat Chivas USA for two more goals in late September. In October, No. 9 scored his 16th goal of the season, directly followed by his 17th. Seattle won the Supporters' Shield with a 20-10-4 record. They defeated FC Dallas in the playoffs, but the Galaxy sent them home on aggregate. Martins was named to the 2014 MLS Best XI.
Following a 17 goal and 13 goal season, Obafemi Martins stayed hot in 2015. This was his last season in MLS. There is no one else that spent such little time in Major League Soccer that will make it this high up the list, but he was just that good. He rose up for a beautiful header in the season opener against New England. In the second match, it was a tap in consolation goal for the main man. He used the rare spin move to use the defender as turnstile and score against Houston. It was an incredible first time turn that set up another goal against the Rapids. At Yankee Stadium, he timed his run perfectly and rolled it into the awaiting goal. A low, powerful left footed strike found its way in for a brace at NYCFC. Martins scored a fabulous goal against FC Dallas, bringing the ball in with perfect control, then using his body strength to shrug the defender off and score. He then suffered a groin injury that forced him two miss two months. Just 17 minutes into his return from injury, he waltzed into the box on a one-two and scored against Orlando. It became a brace with the most casual clip over the keeper, then a stomp with the bottom of his boot.
He went on an absolute goal scoring tear across the final month and a half of the 2015 campaign. The high press and effort gave Martins an early goal in the rivalry with the Timbers. One thing that he always did so well was holding his run, and perfectly timing his sprint as the ball was played over the top. He did exactly this against Toronto FC. The San Jose killer struck again with an impressive no-look goal. Dempsey slid a pass to Obafemi to defeat Vancouver in the Cascadia Cup. On the road against Sporting Kansas City, he would not be denied of the opener. Martins scored his 15th goal of the year, and his last as a Sounder, when a corner kick found its way inches in front of goal for a free header. His Sounders career ended against FC Dallas, in a penalty shootout.
Obafemi Martins was simply incredible for the Seattle Sounders. He scored 40 goals and added 23 assists across just 2.5 seasons, scoring at a rate that very few players ever have. The downside is the small sample size, as he left for China the next year, joining Shanghai Shenhua. He scored 19 goals there, but dealt with injuries and started to see his successful career fizzle out. Martins said he realized just how bad his injuries were, and quietly decided to retire from the sport earlier this year. He will go down as one of the best Nigerian strikers to grace the sport. He scored 18 goals in 42 caps for his country as well. Obafemi Martins gave MLS fans an incredibly entertaining 2.5 years of goal scoring, and for that he comes in at #42.
YEAR | CLUB | MINUTES | GOALS | ASSISTS |
2015 | SEA | 1,805 | 15 | 6 |
2014 | SEA | 2,600 | 17 | 13 |
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