Obafemi Martins is an international footballer who plays as a striker. He was born on October 28, 1984 in Lagos, Nigeria and has two brothers namely Oladipupo Olarotini Martins and John Ronan Martins, who are also professional footballers. Obafemi Martins represented Nigeria national team at the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations (AFC) in which his country finished in the third position. On November 17, 2007, he captained Nigeria for the first time in a friendly match against Australia.
Obafemi Martins started his professional career with the youth club of FC Ebede in 2000 and later the same year, he moved to AC Reggiana’s youth club. In 2001, Internazionale signed him for its youth club for a transfer fee of €750,000 and Obafemi Martins proved his worth by scoring 23 goals in the 2001-02 season, helping them win the Italian Under-18(U-18) title. In 2002, he was promoted to the senior team and made his debut against Parma in December of the same year. By the 2002-03 season, Obafemi Martins became a regular first-team player, scoring his first and the crucial goal in the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Champions League game against Bayer Leverkusen. His brilliant performance earned his team a place in the Quarter finals and he also scored in the semi finals of the competition against AC Milan.
In 2005, Obafemi Martins signed a five year contract with the club for an annual fee of €2.5 million. By the end of 2005-06 season, he had scored 28 goals from 88 league appearances for the club. On August 24, 2006 he was signed a five-year contract by Newcastle United for €15 million. Obafemi Martins first appeared for the club on August 27, 2006 against Aston Villa, and he scored his first goal on September 17 in the 2-0 victory over West Ham United. On January 14, 2007 he scored a goal from 20 yards in the 3-2 win over Tottenham Hotspur and he ended the season with 17 goals in 46 games.
