A shivering Josef Martinez walked into the locker room wearing just his Atlanta United kit.
For the next 10 minutes, he tried to warm up after he was left standing in the snow and cold at TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. After scoring three goals – his first hat trick in MLS – Martinez was named the man of the match. Television wanted to interview him after the 6-1 Atlanta United victory and they didn’t want him to wear the bulky jacket that was protecting him from the elements. So, he took it off for the interview, held outside as the snow accumulated.
That may have been the last time Martinez wasn’t hot.
Powered by a competitive streak that can be seen in every training session and every game, the Venezuelan has posted three more hat tricks, including one in Atlanta United’s most-recent game. He needs just one more to tie the all-time league record. He will get that chance on Saturday back in Minneapolis where it all started.
“What you guys see during games is exactly what Josef is like in every training session,” manager Gerardo Martino said. “I think all players are competitive. Some players show it more than others. When he loses a game in training or misses a goal opportunity and gets mad and shows it; he’s just an animal in terms of his competitiveness.”
Martinez has scored 23 goals in just 23 games. He is first in MLS history in goals per game and goals per 90 minutes (1.16). He has almost as many multi-goal games (six) as single-goal games (seven). In the 23 games he has played, he has failed to score in just 10. And, in the games he has played, he has never gone more than two without scoring. And when he gets a shot on goal (37), he rarely misses.
Martinez said after his latest hat trick in a 4-1 over Vancouver two weeks ago that he hopes he can eventually get the hat-trick record. However, he was more interested in thanking his teammates.
“We play every game, he wants to win,” Atlanta United’s Leandro Gonzalez Pirez said. “He wants to make a difference. In the gym. With the medical staff. He wants to make a difference. He’s competitive, 100 percent.
“In video games, in basketball, NBA2K, he’s grumpy when he loses. But he’s a good guy. When we win, we joke around with him. We rile him up when we win.”
Teammates don’t offer other anecdotes about Martinez’s will to win because it seems there’s no off switch. They don’t have a baseline of when he’s more low key.
The times he has ripped off his jersey during games in frustration after not scoring or winning?
“That’s Josef.”
The time he scored a hat trick against Orlando City but wasn’t at all happy the teams finished tied 3-3?
“That’s Josef.”
The times he has been subbed and, before leaving, stopped to petulantly rip the tape off his shins and cleats before walking off the pitch?
Or, after those games, when he has left the locker room before any media has had a chance to talk to him?
Yes, that’s also Josef.
“Most of it it’s great,” Atlanta United captain Michael Parkhurst said. “His fire, his energy, his passion for scoring goals. You can see it in preseason this year when he didn’t score goals that he thought he should have scored.
“I think the team respects the fact that he’s never happy, he’s always hungry, he wants to score more. We hope he does. The negative is sometimes it’s too much.”
Martino said he and Martinez frequently have deep conversations about that desire. Sometimes, Martino said he has asked Martinez to dial it down for different reasons that he didn’t want to discuss.
Teammate Jeff Larentowicz goes back to the game at Minnesota and the first hat trick.
Larentowicz knew it was going to be cold. He knew what it would feel like. He didn’t know how the players from South America would respond.
But there was Martinez wearing short sleeves in four inches of snow.
Larentowicz was impressed.
“He doesn’t care. He’s a warrior on the field,” he said.” It doesn’t matter what you put in front of him he’s going to find a way. That’s what winners do and someone with a competitive spirit can do. He’s got that.
“Guy ripped his shirt off in a game. We love that. We want that.”
About the Author
