Saúl Martínez

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.

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.^[1] 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.^[2] 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.^[3] 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^[4] and ending the season as runner-up behind Jerry Bengtson with 11 goals.^[5]In July 2011 he returned for another spell at Marathón.^[6]

He retired from football at the end of 2011.^[7] In 2013 he returned to playing and joined compatriot Érick Vallecillo at newly formed Miami United of the National Premier Soccer League.^[8]

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^[9] and played at the 2007^[10] and 2009 UNCAF Nations Cups^[11] 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.^[12]

His final international was a January 2009 UNCAF Nations Cup match against Panama.

Club statistics

National team statistics

International goals

N.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	7 July 2001	Orange Bowl, Miami, USA	Ecuador	1–0	1–1	Friendly match
2	23 July 2001	Estadio Palogrande, Manizales, Colombia	Brazil	2–0	2–0	2001 Copa América
3	29 July 2001	Estadio Nemesio Camacho, Bogotá, Colombia	Uruguay	1–0	2–2	2001 Copa América
4	12 February 2002	Hong Kong Stadium, So Kon Po, Hong Kong	Slovenia	1–0	5–1	Carlsberg Cup
5	12 February 2002	Hong Kong Stadium, So Kon Po, Hong Kong	Slovenia	2–1	5–1	Carlsberg Cup
6	12 February 2002	Hong Kong Stadium, So Kon Po, Hong Kong	Slovenia	3–1	5–1	Carlsberg Cup
7	12 February 2002	Hong Kong Stadium, So Kon Po, Hong Kong	Slovenia	4–1	5–1	Carlsberg Cup
8	31 January 2003	Estadio Olímpico Metropolitano, San Pedro Sula, Honduras	Argentina	1–0	1–3	Friendly match
9	25 January 2004	Hong Kong Stadium, So Kon Po, Hong Kong	Norway	1–1	1–3	Carlsberg Cup
10	18 August 2004	Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto, Alajuela, Costa Rica	Costa Rica	5–2	5–2	2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
11	7 September 2005	Miyagi Stadium, Rifu, Japan	Japan	3–1	4–5	Friendly match
12	27 January 2007	Estadio Tiburcio Carías Andino, Tegucigalpa, Honduras	Denmark	1–1	1–1	Friendly match
13	15 February 2007	Estadio Cuscatlán, San Salvador, El Salvador	Nicaragua	6–1	9–1	2007 UNCAF Nations Cup
14	15 February 2007	Estadio Cuscatlán, San Salvador, El Salvador	Nicaragua	8–1	9–1	2007 UNCAF Nations Cup
15	15 February 2007	Estadio Cuscatlán, San Salvador, El Salvador	Nicaragua	9–1	9–1	2007 UNCAF Nations Cup
16	24 January 2009	Estadio Tiburcio Carías Andino, Tegucigalpa, Honduras	Nicaragua	3–1	4–1	2009 UNCAF Nations Cup

Honours

Nacional Montevideo

• Uruguayan Primera División: 2001, 2002

Shanghai Shenhua

• Chinese Jia-A League: 2003 (revoked due to match-fixing scandal)

C.D. Marathón

• Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional de Honduras: 2008–09 (Apertura)

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.

References

External links

• Saúl Martínez at National-Football-Teams.com
• 1999 Stats – MLSSoccer

Honduras squad – 2001 Copa América Third Place
1 Enamorado 2 Phillips 3 Cárcamo 4 Caballero 5 Reyes 6 Lagos 7 Suazo 8 Brown 10 de León 13 Bernárdez 14 Rodríguez 15 García 16 Pineda 17 Güity 18 Martínez 19 Turcios 20 Guevara 21 Pérez 22 Valladares 23 Izaguirre 24 Medina 26 Morales Coach: Maradiaga