In the history of Shanghai Shenhua, a number of players known as Martinez have been introduced, and Walter Martinez is the second Martinez to join the Shenhua team after Phil Martinez, but unfortunately this Martinez has not played a minute in the Shenhua team.
Shenhua merged with Liancheng
February 8, 2007, this is a big day in the history of Shanghai Shenhua Team. On the evening of the 8th, the two clubs of Shanghai Shenhua and Shanghai Liancheng each informed the players of their own teams that the two teams of Shanghai Shenhua and Shanghai Liancheng were officially merged.
Zhu Jun, the owner of Liancheng, who is quite legendary in the history of Chinese professional football, injected 150 million yuan into Shenhua Club, becoming the largest shareholder of Shenhua.
At the same time, Zhu Jun directly cancelled the qualification of Shanghai Liancheng, which is equivalent to directly dissolving the club.
The merger of the two Chinese Super League teams into one team is bound to cause overstaffing. So a lot of players were forced to play in the reserves at the time. In 2008, shenhua team listed 47 players in one go, setting a Chinese league record.
The newly joined Walter Martinez was not favored by head coach Gimenez and joined Beijing Guoan on loan.
First entry into national security
Before joining Shenhua, Walter Martinez was already a Honduran international. In the 2006 season, Martinez played well in the Honduran domestic club marathon team, winning the league Golden Boot.
The Shenhua team also specifically asked Saul Martinez for advice before bringing her in, and it turned out that martin the elder was extremely appreciative of martin jr., which made the club determined to bring him in.
After subleasing Guoan, Walter Martinez made his debut in the Chinese league against his old club Shanghai Shenhua. In this game, Martinez contributed an assist to help the team win away to Shenhua for the first time in its history.
In the first half of 2007, the Guoan team's attack was largely dependent on Martinez alone. With the arrival of Panta and Tiago, coupled with Tao Wei's dispatch, Beijing Guoan's attack improved greatly. Throughout the season, Martinez played 27 games for Guoan, scoring seven goals. With excellent performances, Martinez was able to remain in Guoan.
In the 2008 season, due to injury, Martinez played only 17 games for Guoan, scoring seven goals and contributing three assists.
At the end of the 2008 season, Martinez decided to leave China in order to follow the Honduran national team to the World Cup qualifiers.
After leaving Guoan, Martinez landed in Spain and joined La Liga side Alaves. However, the experience was not successful, with only 3 appearances in half a season.
Martinez then returned to Honduras to join the Marathon team. With his outstanding performances in the domestic league, Martinez was also able to follow Honduras to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
Return to China
After the World Cup, Beijing Guoan, who suffered a weak front, once again threw an olive branch to Martinez. Joining in the halfway range, he scored four goals in 16 games and performed decently.
In the 2011 season, Martinez continued to play in the Chinese Super League with Guoan. This season, Martinez played 25 games for the team, scoring 10 goals.
In 2012, after leaving Guoan, Martinez joined Chongqing. In one season, he played 29 games for the team, scoring 3 goals.
At the end of the season, Martinez left China. Since then, he has worked in the United States, Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador and other countries.
Although Martinez's technique is slightly rough and his ability to grasp opportunities is not excellent, he is still deeply recognized by Chinese fans because of his fighting spirit on the field and his physical running.
Unfortunately, on August 12, 2019, Martinez died of a sudden heart attack in New York at the age of 37.