He could be a character from El Marginal, he even has a nickname that would fit in that police series created by Sebastián Ortega. But
Maravilla
is not
Diosito
,
Morcilla
or
Pantera
, protagonists of fiction.
Adrián Martínez was imprisoned by mistake
. Ten years ago, exactly, he spent 7 months in the Campana prison. The same city in which he was born and where on Tuesday, before getting on the plane to travel to Paraguay (this Thursday at 9:00 p.m. he faces
Sportivo Luqueño
), he inaugurated a complex of fields on Route 6.
How did this 31-year-old attacker go from prison to becoming the top scorer in the League Cup, a privilege he shares with River attacker Miguel Borja? His numbers are extraordinary.
He scored 10 goals in 12 dates of the domestic tournament and only needed 13 shots on goal.
Its effectiveness is remarkable. In total, he has 11 shouts in 13 games, adding the one that opened the account against San Martín de Burzaco for the Argentine Cup, 9 in the last 9, no less.
Photo Guillermo Rodriguez Adami - Clarín
Only in the First Division, counting the games he played in the highest category with Instituto, he has 29 goals in 54 appearances (0.53 average). And in the League Cup he scored two hat-tricks in just a dozen games. The first was against San Lorenzo, in the classic of the 4th round. The second was recorded this Saturday, in Santiago del Estero, where Racing beat Central Córdoba 3 to 1.
“God took me off the street, gave me the opportunity to play and today he blesses me in this way, the truth is that everything I am experiencing is wonderful,” says
Maravilla
, a nickname that has to do with Sergio, the boxer, but which matches its fantastic performance. After all, if goals are loves, Martínez conquered the
Academy
fans . And although Gustavo Costas is questioned by the unevenness of the team, which has not yet secured a place in the quarterfinals of the League Cup, we must recognize the wisdom of asking for this footballer with an itinerant past who exploded in Alta Córdoba.
Costas, who had extensive experience abroad, knew him from Paraguay. With the Libertad shirt he played 86 games and scored 22 goals. Al
Gumarelo
arrived in 2018 thanks to the 12 screams he scored with the Sol América shirt. And he had a fleeting appearance in Cerro Porteño and a season in Curitiba until landing at Instituto, already with the pass in his possession, at the beginning of last year.
Photo Juano Tesone - CLARIN
What preceded the five seasons in Asunción was the path of the Ascenso.
Maravilla
started well from the bottom, if he was even a waste collector and bricklayer. He didn't make lower divisions. When he was released from prison, where he was caught in a raid that involved him in an alleged family revenge, he ended up at the Las Acacias Social Club, of the Campanense League until a test at Defensores Unidos de Zárate, which was then active in the First C, gave him an opportunity. There was only the per diem, of course. A brief passage through Villa Dálmine had been left behind.
Without training, Martínez built his career with sacrifice. In Atlanta he also showed his strength and even scored a goal against River in the Argentine Cup. After passing through the red land, Brazil and Córdoba, with a negligible investment for a scorer of his characteristics (2 million dollars), Racing incorporated his best card. He did not mind the transition to a heavy team, unlike Maxi Romero who left Avellaneda amid criticism and today is a scorer for Argentinos Juniors.
In 194 games, he scored 69 goals. More than interesting numbers for a forward who usually plays as a “9”, he is a good reference in the area, but far from being static he is characterized by his power, he plays well with his back turned and he launches himself judiciously into spaces.
In return, he barely has one assist: it was against San Lorenzo, the night of his three goals, when he set up Facundo Mura. He has the arch between his eyebrows, of course. He was not the only great that marked him; also, to Independiente (1 to 0 victory in the Libertadores de América) and to Boca (4 to 2 defeat in the Bombonera).
This Thursday, against Luqueño in the debut of the Sudamericana, he will share the attack with another Martínez, Roger. But
Maravilla
doesn't need his last name, so common in the phone book, to stand out. He reaches him with the goals, those that push Racing and will seek, like the motto of the Cup, the Conquest of Glory.