Place of birth Colon, Honduras Name Saul Martinez Current team Miami United | Playing position Height 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) | |
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Full name Saul Asael Martinez Alvarez Date of birth (1976-01-29) 29 January 1976 (age 39) | ||
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Saúl Asael Martínez Alvarez (born 29 January 1976 in Colón, Honduras) is a Honduran football forward who currently plays for USA fourth tier-side Miami United.
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Club career
Nicknamed Speedy, Saúl Martínez started his career at Honduran second division side Melgar before moving abroad to play for American outfit Long Island Rough Riders. He was assigned to Major League Soccer team Miami Fusion in 1999. His first game in Liga Nacional was on 10 December 2000 with Olimpia against Broncos.
China
He first attracted the attentions of Shanghai Shenhua when he scored a hat trick against Slovenia during the Lunar New Year Cup in Hong Kong in early 2002. Shenhua quickly signed him and afterwards, Martinez became one of the most important players in the Shenhua team. He would end up playing in Asia for five years, winning the 2003 Chinese league title with Shanghai Shenhua; that title was however taken away from the club in 2013 due to its part in a match-fixing scandal. He also won the 2003 Golden Boot Award with Shanghai.
In January 2008, Martínez joined Costa Rican side Herediano for three months after a move to Motagua did not materialise. He then had a couple of seasons at Marathón.
He made a remarkable return from retirement with Victoria in the 2010 Apertura season, topping the goalscoring charts at age 34 and ending the season as runner-up behind Jerry Bengtson with 11 goals.In July 2011 he returned for another spell at Marathón.
He retired from football at the end of 2011. In 2013 he returned to playing and joined compatriot Érick Vallecillo at newly formed Miami United of the National Premier Soccer League.
International career
Martínez made his debut for Honduras in a July 2001 friendly match against Ecuador, in which he immediately scored a goal, and has earned a total of 35 caps, scoring 16 goals. He has represented his country in 11 FIFA World Cup qualification matches and played at the 2007 and 2009 UNCAF Nations Cups His international breakthrough however came during the 2001 Copa América, when Honduras surprisingly ended third and Martínez scored both goals in the historic win over World Cup runners-up Brazil.
His final international was a January 2009 UNCAF Nations Cup match against Panama.
Honours
Nacional Montevideo
Shanghai Shenhua
C.D. Marathón
Personal life
Saul is married and he and his wife, Roxana, have a baby boy, Joshua, born in September 2005 in Miami, Florida and two girls (twins), Kiara and Natalie, born in June 2009.