Indian football: Nigeria’s Ranti Martins – ultimate fox in the box who made goal-scoring look easy
In Indian football, good strikers have always been a rare commodity. Few have come and gone leaving their mark, but none of them quite left an impression like Nigeria’s Ranti Martins, the all-time leading goalscorer in Indian league football. Having spent 12 years playing his trade in Indian football, he notched up more than 200 goals.
After spells in Malaysia and the United States, Martins reportedly hung up his boots on Tuesday.
For him too, the separating factor was the hunger to find the back of the net.
“He could do anything to score goals. Absolutely anything. He was the most lethal box striker in Indian football,” Arnab Mondal, former India and East Bengal defender who was an opponent as well as a teammate of Martins told Scroll.in.
In his 12-year career in India, Martins was the top scorer in a season on seven occasions and with three different teams out of the five he played for.
“The team that Ranti played for always had a psychological advantage over the other team. This was true for every team he played for in India,” Mondal, Martin’s teammate at East Bengal said.
“He could score a goal at any time and knowing that kept the team morale up even when the team struggled. In crunch situations, Ranti took responsibility and delivered. It gave the team confidence and made opponents wary,” he added.
“Ranti was a top player coming from a top footballing nation where he had played with great players, but his attitude towards the game was excellent,” Colaco said.
“Every single day, in every single training session, he was out to prove his worth. He was extremely determined to score goals even in training. Initially, he struggled while tracking back and defending but he also incorporated that into his game later. He never stopped learning,” he added.
“Ranti was brilliant in the air, but he was equally good on the ground. He constantly moved and it was very difficult to predict where he would go. He was dangerous on set-plays. Ranti would punish you if you afforded him even the slightest of space and time. He was an absolute nightmare to play against,” Mondal said.
The Nigerian kept the opponent defenders on toes and rival coaches scratching their heads.
“In every team meeting before we played his team, Ranti was the first point we discussed. The coaches prepared strategies and plans to stop him and we discussed at length. Even after that, he found a way to score goals,” Mondal added.
“Scoring a goal is a lot harder than it seems. But he made it look very easy,” Mondal said.
“That was a time when Indian football wasn’t as professional as it’s today, but he was ahead of times. He knew how to keep fit and worked harder than everyone else even when he was the best,” he added.
It has been four years since he last kicked a football in India, but only FC Goa’s Ferran Corominas has shown the potential to eclipse Martin’s achievements as an overseas striker. But even the Spaniard has a long way to go to match the Nigerian’s rich haul of goals.
His consistency over a decade was remarkable but the number of personal and team accolades he won testifies the importance of his goals in the teams’ success. His record may or may not be broken in the future, but his legacy is safe. He will always be Indian football’s ultimate fox in the box.
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Indian football: Nigeria’s Ranti Martins – ultimate fox in the box who made goal-scoring look easy
After spells in Malaysia and the United States, Martins reportedly hung up his boots on Tuesday.
For him too, the separating factor was the hunger to find the back of the net.
“He could do anything to score goals. Absolutely anything. He was the most lethal box striker in Indian football,” Arnab Mondal, former India and East Bengal defender who was an opponent as well as a teammate of Martins told Scroll.in.
In his 12-year career in India, Martins was the top scorer in a season on seven occasions and with three different teams out of the five he played for.
“The team that Ranti played for always had a psychological advantage over the other team. This was true for every team he played for in India,” Mondal, Martin’s teammate at East Bengal said.
“He could score a goal at any time and knowing that kept the team morale up even when the team struggled. In crunch situations, Ranti took responsibility and delivered. It gave the team confidence and made opponents wary,” he added.
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“Ranti was a top player coming from a top footballing nation where he had played with great players, but his attitude towards the game was excellent,” Colaco said.
“Every single day, in every single training session, he was out to prove his worth. He was extremely determined to score goals even in training. Initially, he struggled while tracking back and defending but he also incorporated that into his game later. He never stopped learning,” he added.
............................................................................................................................................................................................
“Ranti was brilliant in the air, but he was equally good on the ground. He constantly moved and it was very difficult to predict where he would go. He was dangerous on set-plays. Ranti would punish you if you afforded him even the slightest of space and time. He was an absolute nightmare to play against,” Mondal said.
The Nigerian kept the opponent defenders on toes and rival coaches scratching their heads.
“In every team meeting before we played his team, Ranti was the first point we discussed. The coaches prepared strategies and plans to stop him and we discussed at length. Even after that, he found a way to score goals,” Mondal added.
............................................................................................................................................................................................
“Scoring a goal is a lot harder than it seems. But he made it look very easy,” Mondal said.
“That was a time when Indian football wasn’t as professional as it’s today, but he was ahead of times. He knew how to keep fit and worked harder than everyone else even when he was the best,” he added.
It has been four years since he last kicked a football in India, but only FC Goa’s Ferran Corominas has shown the potential to eclipse Martin’s achievements as an overseas striker. But even the Spaniard has a long way to go to match the Nigerian’s rich haul of goals.
His consistency over a decade was remarkable but the number of personal and team accolades he won testifies the importance of his goals in the teams’ success. His record may or may not be broken in the future, but his legacy is safe. He will always be Indian football’s ultimate fox in the box.
https://scroll.in/field/965038/indian-football-nigerias-ranti-martins-ultimate-fox-in-the-box-who-made-goal-scoring-look-easy