Toni Martínez (Barrio del Progreso, 1997) knows what it is like to fight in football. The striker has fought to find his place among the best in Portugal. He first went from Murcia to Valencia, from Valencia he was transferred to one of the most prestigious academies in England, West Ham and As a ‘hammer’ he had to learn to fight without being sent on loan to Oxford United, Valladolid, Rayo Majadahonda and Lugo. He finished his contract and Martínez found his place in Portugal.
The Famalicao lived a season 19/20 surprising locals and strangers. Being a club almost unknown to the average fan, they added weeks at the top until finishing in sixth place. One of its great protagonists fue Martínez, who scored 14 goals and distributed another six throughout the campaign. His success attracted the spotlight of Porto, where today he fights every minute.
After a first campaign with nine goals in 29 games, ToNeither did Martínez fight to find his place in Porto’s powerful forward line. After the departure of Luis Díaz to Liverpool, Martínez remains as the third top scorer after his main competitors, Taremi (14) and Evanilson (14). Both accumulate quite a few more minutes, but Toni is willing to earn his place from the Europa League.
After losing in the Champions League, Sergio Conceiçao started Toni Martínez in the first leg of the Europa League playoffs, where they ended up drawn after falling in the same group against Atleti and Liverpool. ANDhe draw was not benevolent and they had to face Lazio. One that came forward in Do Dragao. Martínez was the protagonist of the comeback. The ‘nine’ caught a center from Joao Mario and, beyond the penalty spot, he caught it with his head to make the tie. To make the final 2-1, Martínez once again ate up the Laziale defense and caught another lateral cross. He clearly won the duel against Luiz Felipe and finished off with his right foot to give the dragons the victory. The third was avoided by Strakosha so that Martínez did not take the ball home and Porto left the tie almost sentenced.
With 2-1 on aggregate, the duel travels to Rome where Sergio Conceiçao will once again give Toni Martínez the opportunity to lead the attack. The coach himself acknowledged at a press conference after the first leg that he was one of the players with whom the football system itself was unfair. “Toni has fewer chances than he deserves. He is one of the underutilized players that he deserves more of,” he acknowledged.
Today, he will get the opportunity again in attack. The Murcian was ambitious in the previous one. “Happy for the two goals but more because I contributed to the victory. Otherwise it would have been useless. We know that we have an advantage and that Porto always comes out to win. We are going to Rome to win,” he assured. A victory that, if consummated, will leave Lazio out and give double joy to one of the symbols of his club, Jose Mourinho, now coach of Roma.