When Obafemi Martins scores goals, Sounders FC wins games.
It’s an inarguable fact that has proven true time and time again in his two seasons in Seattle. While posting 23 goals and 14 assists in 47 MLS matches, Sounders FC has gone 18-0-0 in games when Martins has scored a goal. With just four matches remaining in the season, Seattle’s single-season scoring leader is looking to add to his goal total and lift Seattle to more victories along the way.
“I remember when I came, I wanted to help the team score goals. I think that’s what I’m doing now,” he said at training on Tuesday. “The 15 goals is not enough. We need to be on top and we need to score more goals.”
All season long, Martins has been a scoring threat. Whether paired with Clint Dempsey or any other forward on Seattle’s roster, he has found a way to help his teammates get open shots while also taking over possessions at a moment’s notice.
Lately, that has meant scoring goals in bunches for Sounders FC.
In the 2004-2005 season with Inter, he scored three braces and had just two during the 2006-2007 season with Newcastle.
Over the past seven games with Sounders FC, he has recorded three doubles, including Saturday when he brought his season total to a club-record 15 goals. The mark also bettered his personal-best for a season in a career that has seen him net dozens of goals and turn his signature backflip in stadiums around the world.
That recent surge has impressed even his Seattle teammates, who have seen his progression first-hand.
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“Early in the year, he was one of the best scorers in the league and he just steps it up with more and more energy. It’s nice to have a guy like that,” said midfielder Lamar Neagle, who has matched his career high with eight goals and doubled his previous career-best with eight assists. “I think every championship team has at least one guy and we have a couple. We have a ton of guys backing them up.”
Entering the 2014 season, Martins had never scored more than 11 goals in a season. He reached that mark in the 2004-2005 season with Inter Milan in Italy and again in the 2006-2007 campaign with Newcastle United in England. Now with 15 goals in 2014, the Sounders FC forward is broaching new ground on his journey to help Seattle add the Supporters’ Shield and MLS Cup to its trophy case to go with the U.S. Open Cup hoisted earlier this month.
With Dempsey, Neagle and Marco Pappa aiding in the attack, Martins is looking to extend his club scoring record over the final four matches of the season.
“We’ve been playing a lot of games and I’ve been trying to score goals and trying to win games. We still have four games left so we’ll keep going,” Martins said. “Fifteen goals is the record and I’m happy, but at the same time, we have a lot of games to play and I’m ready to score more goals.”
Sounders FC will meet the Colorado Rapids on Sunday at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park – the site of Martins’ first goal for Seattle last season.
