On May 17, 2016, Cristian Martinezarrived to Columbus with no conversational understanding of the English language and a love — and natural talent — for fútbol.
Since then, Martinez has worked hard to adapt to his new surroundings, earning a starting role in 2018 with Columbus Crew SC.
His career began in his hometown, El Chorillo, Panama. At just eight-years-old, the midfielder joined Chorillo FC’s youth ranks at the Under-9 level. He eventually progressed to make his professional debut for Chorillo FC in 2012, at the age of 15.
With Chorillo FC, Martinez earned two caps for the Panama National Team. In his first appearance, in February 2016, Martinez came on as a substitute in the 78
th
minute and helped Panama earn a 1-0 victory over El Salvador. In March of the same year, Martinez earned his first start for
Los Canaleros
against Nicaragua.
Shortly after receiving his second cap, Martinez was acquired on-loan by Crew SC. Martinez made five appearances — including two starts — and scored a goal. He was also called up for two friendlies with the Panama Under-20 National Team in 2016, both against Peru. Martinez started and wore the captain’s armband in both games, scoring a goal in the first as Panama won 4-1.
Martinez was officially acquired on a permanent transfer by Columbus on January 25, 2017. His second season saw eight appearances, with one start. Martinez started in Crew SC’s international friendly against Eintracht Frankfurt on July 14 and provided the game-winning assist on forward Ola Kamara’s goal.
Flash forward to March 3: The start of the 2018 Major League Soccer regular season and Crew SC’s first match — against defending champion Toronto FC — Martinez was named to the Starting XI as a right midfielder. In the first half, Martinez nearly opened the scoring by sidestepping a defender and hitting the right post, missing the goal by inches.
The midfielder has started every game so far in the 2018 MLS regular season. At home against D.C United, Martinez produced a career performance with two assists in 85 minutes of action. In the 20th minute, Martinez sent in a cross to Milton Valenzuela, who found the back of the net to open the scoring. At the end of an exciting first half, Pedro Santos cemented the 3-1 victory over D.C on counter-attack strike, assisted by Martinez and Federico Higuain.
“I’m very happy on a personal level with the beginning of the season because the coach has given me his trust,” said Martinez. “Let’s hope I continue to grow as a person and as a player so I can contribute my little grain of salt [to the team].
“I have changed most of all in the defensive [aspect], I work more now. I come back to help after attacking now and I’ve gotten better 1-v-1.”
Martinez acknowledges there's still work to be done to maintain his spot in the starting XI.
“He likes to give chances to young players,” said Martinez about Sporting Director and Head Coach Gregg Berhalter, “He gives us his trust and we work very well with him. Let’s hope I can continue to work well and return his trust with good performances.”
The boy from El Chorillo has developed into a professional willing to do what it takes to make his mark in MLS.
The Black & Gold return to MAPFRE Stadium on Saturday, April 21 to host New England Revolution in a 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff.
