Nigeria striker Obafemi Martins will be out of action for up to seven months with a torn hamstring, his Chinese Super League club Shanghai Shenhua have announced.
Martins, 33, was taken off early with the injury during Shanghai Shenhua’s clash against Kashima Antlers in the Asian Champions League on Tuesday.
The former Inter Milan striker was carried off midway through the first half of the match which ended 2-2 and Shenhua announced on their official website on Wednesday that he is out long-term.
Martins, who was tipped to be involved with the Super Eagles for the Russia 2018 World Cup, had scored a hat-trick for Shanghai on Saturday in their 4-2 CSL win over Hebei China Fortune.
Any hopes Martins had of forcing his way into the Nigeria World Cup squad are now over with the global competition just two months away.
The Super Eagles are facing a mini striker crisis with the team’s only centre forward Odion Ighalo, also based in China, misfiring in their last two friendlies against Poland and Serbia.
Nigeria will face Croatia, Iceland and Argentina in Group D at the World Cup.
The post Martins Injured, Out For Up To Seven Months appeared first on Complete Sports Nigeria.
