Inter Miami forward Josef Martinez opens up on scoring slump, facing Atlanta United

There was a time in his life when Josef Martinez would have been in a foul mood and reluctant to chat with reporters if he was stuck in a nine-game goalless slump and spent the last game on the bench as an unused sub.

But the Inter Miami forward was friendly and philosophical after practice Wednesday, as he discussed how he is handling his struggles heading into his first game against his former team, Atlanta United, on Saturday at DRV PNK Stadium.

He was once the face of that franchise, nicknamed “El Rey”, and in 2018 became the most decorated single-season player in MLS history, winning league MVP, All-Star Game MVP, Golden Boot, and MLS Cup Final MVP. Martinez scored 98 regular-season goals over 134 games for Atlanta, but things were never the same after he tore his ACL in the opening game of the 2020 season.

After knee surgery, his production dropped to 21 goals over the past three seasons.

It will be the first time Martinez faces Atlanta since the club bought out his contract during the preseason, freeing him to sign with Miami, where he has yet to score in the first nine games. He came into camp amid much fanfare, even had a pink arepa sold at the stadium in his honor, but he was out of shape after taking time off following the birth of his first son, his pride and joy.

“I am happy because I am alive, I am healthy, my family is fine, I have food, so that is most important,” said the 29-year-old Venezuelan, sporting a new silver hairdo. “The only pressure I have is to bring food to the table for my son. I used to get more annoyed and frustrated. Now, it is what it is. It’s a job. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. I can’t bring what happens at work to my home.”

Coach Phil Neville and Martinez’s teammates say that he has maintained a positive attitude throughout his scoring drought.

“He always is rooting for the team to do well whether he is playing or not,” said midfielder Nico Stefanelli. “I have played with guys who had a negative face in these situations, but it’s the opposite with Josef. He keeps working, same smile. It’s a long season and we’re going to need everyone. He’ll be fine.”

Martinez is trying to keep things in perspective.

“These things happen to even the best in sports because we are all mortal,” he said. “There are better forwards who have gone through the same circumstances. You have to keep working because at some point your time will come and then we won’t have to talk about this anymore.”

He stressed that soccer is a team sport, and although he never left the bench during Miami’s 2-1 road win against the Columbus Crew last Saturday, he said he was delighted to see forward Leo Campana score his first two goals of the season.

“We all need each other,” Martinez said. “Sometimes forwards have to deal with stretches like this. I was very happy for Leo, who also hadn’t scored in a long time because of his injuries. He came back and scored. And that made me happy. When I arrived here, I said the most important thing was I was here to help the team win as much as I could and that is what I am doing. Hopefully, now the ball will roll my way, too.

“You have to wait and keep working. You never know when the ball is going to roll in your favor. Sometimes life is not what you want, it’s what life gives you.”

He then shared one of his favorite Venezuelan sayings: “Al arbol que mas fruta da es al que le tiran mas piedras.” Translation: The tree that bears the most fruit is the one people throw the most stones at, meaning people like to criticize those who have done well.

Martinez said he is looking forward to playing against Atlanta, which is expected to have a large fan contingent making the trip. But he didn’t want to make too big a deal of it.

“It’s always special, I have always had good moments with that club,” he said. “But all the games are special. That’s football and life. Football doesn’t stop for anyone. I hope we have a happy result like we did last weekend. We have to keep working because it is a very long season. What happens in November is what counts.”

Injury report: Midfielders Rodolfo Pizarro and Jean Mota, both of whom are key players, were missing from training on Wednesday morning. A team spokesman said they were injured but did not provide more details. Neville will give an update on Thursday morning. Mota has started all nine games and has four assists. Pizarro has started seven of the eight games he played in, and did not play against Columbus on Saturday.