Nigeria Content Online

Although his late
goal was responsible for securing a win for Birmingham City over
Arsenal on Sunday, Obafemi Martins has played down his new-found
legendary status by admitting he just wants to carry on scoring goals
for the Blues. The Super Eagles striker came off the substitutes’ bench
at London’s Wembley Stadium to score the match-winning goal that helped
the Blues win the Carling Cup, and in the process secure their first
piece of major silverware for 48 years.

The last time Birmingham City
won a major title was back in 1963 when they defeated fierce local
rivals Aston Villa 3-1 over two legs to claim the Carling Cup, which
back then was known as the Football League Cup. With just over six
minutes left until full time, and with Arsenal launching wave after
wave of attack on the Birmingham City defence line, Blues manager Alex
McLeish threw Martins into the fray. And it immediately paid off in the
89th minute as Martins latched onto a defensive mix-up by defender
Laurent Koscielny and goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny and coolly jabbed
the ball into a gaping net to spark wild celebrations among the over
30,000 Blues fans at the venue.

Birmingham will now
feature in next season’s Europa League while Martins, who has been at
Birmingham for only one month, looks set to be remembered as a Blues
legend with his name expected to go down in Blues folklore.

But the former
Inter Milan player who is currently on loan from Russia’s Rubin Kazan
insists it is his teammates who deserve all the credit for Sunday’s
shock victory over the Gunners.

“I don’t know that (I’m a legend now),” he told reporters. “I just want to play my football for the team.

He added: “It’s not
easy coming in when the team are doing well so they deserve all the
credit, they did well (on Sunday). I’m happy for the team and the
fans.” After celebrating his goal with an extravagant back-flipping
somersault, Martins almost scored again when he attempted to lob the
ball over Szczesny only to see the young Polish stopper block his
attempt. In the last minute of stoppage time Martins then rounded
Szczesny but failed to hit the back of the net with his speculative
effort.

Important and easy

However, his vital
goal was enough to secure a memorable victory for the Blues, and he
insists the strike is the most important of his career, as well as the
easiest he has ever scored.

“I have scored a
lot of important goals but since I was at Inter Milan this is the most
important because it won a trophy,” Martins continued.

He added: “I think this is the most easiest goal that I’ve ever scored in my career and it’s very important.

“I’m glad I scored
and we won — I’m very happy. The gaffer (McLeish) said to me I was
going to come on in the second half and I was going to try my best.

“The gaffer did it
right. I think it was my second touch. It seems easy, but I took my
time to score and I’m glad we won.” It was a header from giant striker
Nikola Zigic, who had earlier opened scoring for the Blues, that led to
the mix-up between Kocielny and Szczesny. Martins admitted he was
shocked to see the ball fall at his feet but his instinct for goals had
brought him to the right place at the right time.

“The chance came and I took my time,” he continued. “Sometimes as a
striker you just have to be there. You can never tell what might
happen.”