Angola, a must for Martins- Lawal

Although the player has already made the team to the Africa Nation’s Cup, doctors are still battling hard to get him to be ready for Eagles opening match on January 12 against tournament defending champions Egypt. Consequently, some football analysts have questioned why the team’s handler Amodu Shaibu has insisted on a player who is […]

Although the player has already made the team to the Africa Nation’s Cup, doctors are still battling hard to get him to be ready for Eagles opening match on January 12 against tournament defending champions Egypt.

Consequently, some football analysts have questioned why the team’s handler Amodu Shaibu has insisted on a player who is not fully ready for a competition of such magnitude.

However, when he spoke to Trustsports, Lawal supported Amodu’s decision to include Martins in his team despite growing concerns about his fitness for the competition which commences on January 10.

He said the importance of the Wolfsburg star to the team can not be over-emphasized and so it would have amounted to shooting himself in the foot, if the coach had accepted to leave the player out of the team.

“I fully support Amodu’s decision on Martins. He must be in Angola because a half fit Martins is better than five physically fit strikers. He is good at converting even near impossible chances that come to him and what else do we need from a striker? He asked rhetorically.

He said even if Martins is given ten minutes to play, he will certainly use the minutes to contribute meaningfully to the success of the team.

“Give Martins just ten minutes in a match and he will prove that he is a deadly striker. Although he is just recovering from an operation, he will bail the team in Angola any time he is fielded. It is too early for us to forget what he did in Kenya to qualify Nigeria for the World Cup in South Africa”.