Former Super Eagles forward, Obafemi Martins has opened up on some of the struggles he had with injury which also informed his decision to retire from the sport.

Martins was one of Nigeria’s most lethal goal poachers, and had a big reputation to his name since bursting onto the big stage as a youngster for Inter Milan.

An emotional ‘Obagoal’ revealed on Brila FM’s Morning show, No Holds Barred with Ifeanyi Udeze, some of the issues he had with injuries which forced him to call it a time on what was a impressive career.

“I was a bit lucky to have played that long because, I thought my career would have ended at Newcastle around 2007 and 2008, when I had a problem with my tibia,” the former Nigerian International recalls.

“I still had to play, forcefully, with the same leg and was lucky to have gotten a move to Germany. Yet,  even  in Germany I could not play well because the injuries slowed me down a lot.

“Those times that it seemed that I slowed down, it was all due to the injury and people did not understand what was really going on; as to why I had a sharp drop in form. They were convinced I already got old even when my career was just starting to peak, but I don’t respond to social media.”

“I realized it (how bad) when I moved to Russia, and then I went on loan to Birmingham City. After I played in the final against Arsenal in the Carling Cup, I went to see a doctor.

“The doctor told me that if I had not checked it sooner, my leg could have broken, so, I had it operated.

“I spent two years on the sidelines before my shin healed, and then I started to get fit before my move to Levante and Seattle Sounders, and then to China, where I started to enjoy football again.”

“I later had another problem with my other knee, a stress fracture and I had to get it operated on again, then after the surgery, I decided that I needed to slow down to not aggravate it.

“Even then, I still played away from the pitch, like kickabout for fun with the boys and that was why I quit professionally.”