Josef Alexander Martínez Mencia (born 19 May 1993) is a Venezuelan professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a striker for

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

club

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional association football, soccer club based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Origin ...

and the Venezuela national team. Josef Martínez began his career with

Caracas Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...

. In 2012, he was acquired by the

Swiss Super League The Super League (also known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a professional association football league in Switzerland and the highest level of the Swiss football league system. It has been played in its current fo ...

club Young Boys before spending a year on loan at

Thun Thun () is a List of towns in Switzerland, town and a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the administrative district of Thun (administrative district), Thun in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Canton of Bern, Bern in Switzerland. ...

. In 2014, he was sold to Italian club

Torino Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

, and in 2017,

expansion side,

Atlanta United Atlanta United FC is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Atlanta. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. Domestically, the club has won o ...

. He later joined Inter Miami for the 2023 season. He holds the MLS record for career hat-tricks with six in his first 44 games, the record for cumulative goals in regular and post season with 35, the record for most consecutive games with a goal (15), and formerly held the record for goals in a single season (31 in 2018). Additionally, Martínez scored 100 goals in the MLS faster than any single player in league history (125 games). In 2018, Martínez became the most decorated single-season player in MLS history by winning the League MVP,

All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game that showcases the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or division, bu ...

MVP, Golden Boot, and MLS Cup Final MVP. He is a former Venezuela under-20 international. In 2011, he made his debut for the senior Venezuela national team against

El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...

, and has since represented his nation at three editions of the

Copa América The CONMEBOL Copa América (; known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship), often simply called the Copa America, is the top men's quadrennial association football, football tournament contested among list of men's national ass ...

Club career

Caracas

Martínez made his debut for

on 21 August 2010 against

Estudiantes de Mérida Estudiantes (in English: ''students'') is the name of different sports clubs in the Spanish-speaking world: Argentina * Estudiantes de La Plata, sports club based in La Plata, Buenos Aires Province * Estudiantes de Buenos Aires, football club based ...

, entering as a substitute in the 70th minute, won 1–0. He scored his first goal in a 2–2 draw against

Deportivo Petare Deportivo Miranda Fútbol Club (previously named Deportivo Italia Fútbol Club, Deportivo Italchacao, Deportivo Petare Fútbol Club and Petare Fútbol Club) is a Venezuelan football club based in Caracas. Formed in 1948 as "Deportivo Italia F.C ...

on 21 November 2010.

Young Boys

On 3 January 2012, Caracas announced Martínez had been sold to Young Boys of the

for a period of four years along with fellow right-back Alexander Gonzalez. He debuted on 5 February 2012 against Servette, which the Young Boys won 3–1. After a string of good performances, Martínez was called up to the Venezuela national team, as well as awarded his first start for Young Boys on 21 October 2012, in which he scored his first goal for the Swiss club with a volley in the 50th minute against

Grasshoppers Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are amongst what are possibly the most ancient living groups of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago. Grassh ...

Loan to Thun

After one season in the Swiss capital city, he was sent on loan to

. After scoring eight goals in 18 games with the team from

Bernese Oberland The Bernese Oberland (; ; ), sometimes also known as the Bernese Highlands, is the highest and southernmost part of the canton of Bern. It is one of the canton's five administrative regions (in which context it is referred to as ''Oberland'' witho ...

, he was momentarily the top scorer in the Swiss Super League and recalled by Young Boys.

Torino

On 7 June 2014, Martínez was sold to Italian

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

club

for a reported fee of €3 million. He made his debut in a 0–3 away win against Sweden's

Brommapojkarna Idrottsföreningen Brommapojkarna, more commonly known as Brommapojkarna (meaning ''the Bromma boys'') or simply BP, is a Swedish football club based in the borough of Bromma, in the western parts of Stockholm municipality. Brommapojkarna is th ...

in the

third round Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system Places * 3rd Street (di ...

of the 2014–15 Europa League. He scored his first goal for the ''Granata'' in the return leg, won 4–0 in

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

(7–0 on aggregate). He made his league debut on 14 September in a 2–0 loss away to

Sampdoria Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional football club based in Genoa, Liguria. Sampdoria was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the ...

. On 7 December, he scored his first goal in Serie A during a 2–2 draw with

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

. Four days later, he scored his first brace in the

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

against

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, which ended 5–1 in favour of Torino. On 30 April 2016, he scored his first brace in Serie A, as Torino won 5–1 away to

Udinese Udinese Calcio (; "Udinese Football") is a professional football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy. The team currently competes in the Serie A, the first tier of Italian football. It was founded on 30 November 1896 as a sport ...

Atlanta United

On 2 February 2017, Martínez was loaned with a buying option to

expansion team

. He made his league debut on 5 March in a 2–1 home defeat against

New York Red Bulls The New York Red Bulls are an American professional association football, soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conferenc ...

. He scored his first career hat-trick, and the first hat-trick in the history of the club, in a 6–1 win at Minnesota United the following week. On 21 March, Atlanta announced they had activated the buyout clause for an undisclosed transfer fee. He was named the MLS Player of the Month for March after scoring five goals in his first three games in the league. On 23 March, while playing for the Venezuela national team against

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

, Martínez injured his left quadricep. After more than two months of recuperation, he returned to action only to be injured again over the summer. Upon his return from the second injury, he scored hat tricks in two consecutive games against the

New England Revolution The New England Revolution are an American professional association football, soccer club based in the Greater Boston area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. It is on ...

and Orlando City, and was named the MLS Player of the Month for September 2017. Atlanta United finished in a tie for third in the Eastern Conference, but were eliminated in the first round of the MLS Cup Playoffs by

Columbus Crew The Columbus Crew are an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The team began play in 1996 as one of the 10 cha ...

. Despite only making 20 appearances (all competitions) due to injury, Martínez finished his first year in Atlanta fourth in the league in scoring, with 20 goals in all competitions, and was named to the

MLS Best XI The MLS Best XI is an annual acknowledgment of the best eleven players in Major League Soccer. The selection is determined by a collection of media, players, and MLS club technical staffs. Winners Appearances by player The following players ...

for the 2017 season.

2018 season

On 2 June 2018, Martínez converted a late penalty kick against

Philadelphia Union The Philadelphia Union are an American professional soccer club based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Founded on February 28, 2008, the Union began ...

to notch his fifth MLS hat-trick, tying the league record for hat-tricks and doing so faster than any other player in league history. He broke the record for hat-tricks on 21 July 2018 against DC United, after only 44 games. He was voted the MLS Player of the Month for July after scoring ten goals and adding one assist to lead the Five Stripes to a 3–1–1 record. He scored the only goal for the MLS All-Stars in the

2018 MLS All-Star Game The 2018 Major League Soccer All-Star Game was the 23rd edition of the annual Major League Soccer All-Star Game. It was held on August 1 at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia and played against Italian club Juventus. The match was ...

against

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

, a 1–1 draw, and was named MVP. On 24 August 2018, he scored his 28th goal of the season, a game winner in Orlando City, to break the league single-season record of 27, held by

Roy Lassiter Roy Lee Lassiter (born March 9, 1969) is an American former professional soccer player. who played as a forward. He played the first few years of his professional career in Costa Rica. He returned to the United States to play in Major League ...

Chris Wondolowski Christopher Elliott Wondolowski (born January 28, 1983) is an American former professional Association football, soccer player who played as a Forward (association football), forward. He was MLS's MLS Golden Boot, top scorer in the 2010 Major ...

, and

Bradley Wright-Phillips Bradley Edward Wright-Phillips or “BWP” (born 12 March 1985) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. He is currently a studio host on MLS Season Pass. Wright-Phillips is the son of Ian Wright and younger brot ...

. After failing to capitalize on numerous opportunities, Martínez utilized his quick footwork to cut back against the defender and then chip Joe Bendik to set the record in just his 26th match. He was named MLS Player of the Month for August 2018. Atlanta United won the MLS Cup that season.

2019 season

On 6 August 2019, Martínez was awarded the MLS Player of the Month for July. He earned the award having scored in nine straight matches, tying his own MLS record set the previous season, which was also shared with Diego Valeri. On 23 August, he set a new MLS record by scoring a goal in 12 consecutive games. The goal helped his side to a 1–0 win over rivals Orlando City and was his 15th strike during the streak. On 18 September, Martínez extended his goal-scoring record to 15 consecutive games, which is the third longest streak in world football after

Lionel Messi Lionel Andrés "Leo" Messi (; born 24 June 1987) is an Argentine professional Association football, footballer who plays as a forward (association football), forward for and Captain (association football), captains both Major League Soccer ...

(33 goals in 21 games) and Tor Henning Hamre (21 goals in 15 games).

2020 season

On 29 February 2020, in Atlanta United’s first game of the 2020 season, Martínez suffered a torn ACL against MLS debutant

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

. Martínez missed the entirety of the 2020 season.

2021 season

Martínez made his first appearance since early last season on 6 April 2021 in the

CONCACAF Champions League The CONCACAF Champions Cup, formerly known as CONCACAF Champions League (2008–2023), is an international association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for clubs from North America, Central America, ...

against

Alajuelense Liga Deportiva Alajuelense (LDA, ), commonly known as Alajuelense and nicknamed La Liga (), is a Costa Rican multisport club based in the borough of El Llano, Alajuela, Alajuela province. Although they compete in a number of different sports, Al ...

, coming on as a 67th minute substitute in the 1–0 away victory. On 9 May 2021, Martínez scored his first goal of the season in a 1–1 draw against Inter Miami. In July 2021, after returning from

, it was revealed by coach Gabriel Heinze that Martínez was training away from the team, with no specific reason given. Heinze was removed as Atlanta United's coach on 18 July and Martínez played his first match since returning on 21 July against

FC Cincinnati Football Club Cincinnati is an American professional soccer club based in Cincinnati. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team was first announced on August 12, 2015 as a United Soccer Leag ...

. He came on as a substitute in the 1–1 draw. On 30 July 2021, Martínez scored the opening goal for Atlanta United in the first minute of a 3–2 away defeat against Orlando City. He then scored the first goal for Atlanta on 4 August in their 2–2 draw against

CF Montréal Club de Foot Montréal () is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Montreal. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. Founded in 1992 as the Mo ...

. Martínez also earned a red card in the 82nd minute following an altercation with Montréal's

Victor Wanyama Victor Mugubi Wanyama (; born 25 June 1991) is a Kenyan professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for club Dunfermline Athletic. He also plays for the Kenya national team. Wanyama became the first ever Kenyan player to sc ...

. He returned to the side on 15 August, scoring the only goal in a 1–0 home victory against

Los Angeles FC Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC) is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Los Angeles. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. It was establi ...

2022 season

Martínez scored his first goal of the 2022 season on 13 March 2022. After a second successful knee surgery, he started his first game since April, where he went on to score a goal and assisted another. At the end of the season, after winning the award for the 2022 MLS Goal of the Year, Martínez did not renew his contract with Atlanta United, subsequently leaving the club after six seasons.

Inter Miami

On 18 January 2023, it was announced that Martínez had been traded to Inter Miami. Martínez made his 2023 Inter Miami season debut in a match against

on 25 February 2023, ending in a 2–0 win. On 19 August, Inter Miami won the

2023 Leagues Cup The 2023 Leagues Cup was the third edition of the Leagues Cup, an international club soccer tournament between Major League Soccer (MLS) and Liga MX. It was held from July 21 to August 19, 2023, with all 77 matches held in either Canada and the ...

, with Martínez scoring three goals in the competition. Later on, Inter Miami went to the

2023 U.S. Open Cup final The 2023 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup final was a soccer match played on September 27, 2023, at DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States. It was contested by Inter Miami CF and Houston Dynamo FC to determine the winner of the 108t ...

, where they lost 1–2 against the

Houston Dynamo Houston Dynamo Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in Houston. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Established on December 15, 2005, the club was founded after their fo ...

, with Martínez scoring the only goal. On 21 October, Inter Miami's head coach,

Gerardo Martino Gerardo Daniel "Tata" Martino (born 20 November 1962) is an Argentine professional football coach and former player who last coached Major League Soccer club Inter Miami. Martino played mostly for Newell's Old Boys in his native Rosario. He ...

, confirmed that Martinez would leave Inter Miami after only one season. Four days later, the club confirmed the player's departure.

CF Montréal

On 6 February 2024,

announced that they had signed Martínez as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

for the 2024 season with an option for a further year. Though his option was declined he tallied a total of 13 goals and 3 assists.

San Jose Earthquakes

On 13 January 2025, Martínez joined

as a free agent, signing a one-year deal.

International career

Martínez made his international debut on 7 August 2011 against El Salvador as a substitute in the 76th minute. On 10 November 2016 ( matchday 11 of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification), Martínez scored a hat-trick against

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

in a 5–0 win in

Maturín Maturín () is a city in Venezuela, the capital of the Venezuelan state of Monagas and a centre for instrumental exploration and development of the petroleum industry in Venezuela. The metropolitan area of Maturín has a population of 401,384 inha ...

Style of play

While he started as a winger, a position in which he often played at Torino under Sinisa Mihajlovic, it was Gerardo Martino who changed his position, converting him into a center forward. Primarily a forward, Martínez is an aggressive and powerful player, who usually plays in a central role as a main striker, but who is also capable of playing as a winger. His pace,

dribbling In sports, dribbling is maneuvering a ball by one player while moving in a given direction, avoiding defenders' attempts to intercept the ball. A successful dribble will bring the ball past defenders legally and create opportunities to score. As ...

ability, eye for goal, and his accurate finishing ability with either foot, as well as his head, combined with his ability to make attacking runs off the ball from behind and get into good positions, make him a dangerous attacking threat in the penalty area.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Venezuela's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Martínez goal.''

Honours

Atlanta United *

MLS Cup MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Playoffs. The game is held in November or December and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Confere ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

* Eastern Conference:

* U.S. Open Cup:

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

Campeones Cup The Campeones Cup is an annual North American association football match contested between the winners of the previous MLS Cup from Major League Soccer and the winners of the Campeón de Campeones from Liga MX. The competition was established by ...

Inter Miami *

Leagues Cup The Leagues Cup is an annual soccer competition between clubs from Major League Soccer (MLS), the main soccer league in the United States, and Liga MX, the main soccer league in Mexico. It is hosted in Canada and the United States. It began in ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

Individual *

Team of the Year: 2013–14 *

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

* MLS Most Valuable Player:

MLS Golden Boot The MLS Golden Boot (currently commercially termed "Audi Golden Boot") has been awarded since the 2005 Major League Soccer season, 2005 season to Major League Soccer's regular–season leading scorer. The award replaced the MLS Scoring Champion ...

MLS All-Star The Major League Soccer All-Star Game is an annual Association football, soccer game held by Major League Soccer featuring selected players from the league against an international club or selected players from another league. MLS initially ado ...

* MLS All-Star Game MVP:

* MLS Player of the Month (6): March 2017, September 2017, July 2018, August 2018, July 2019, August 2019 * MLS Cup MVP: 2018 * MLS 100 goals club *

MLS Goal of the Year The MLS Goal of the Year Award (currently commercially termed "AT&T MLS Goal of the Year") is handed out annually since its inception in 1996 to a player in Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association footbal ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

References

External links

Torino profileThun profile
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Martinez, Josef 1993 births Living people Footballers from Valencia, Venezuela Venezuelan men's footballers Men's association football forwards Caracas F.C. players BSC Young Boys players FC Thun players Torino FC players Atlanta United FC players Inter Miami CF players CF Montréal players San Jose Earthquakes players Venezuelan Primera División players Swiss Super League players Serie A players Major League Soccer players Designated Players (MLS) Venezuela men's under-20 international footballers Venezuela men's international footballers 2015 Copa América players Copa América Centenario players 2019 Copa América players 2021 Copa América players Venezuelan expatriate men's footballers Venezuelan expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Venezuelan expatriate sportspeople in Italy Venezuelan expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States