At the age of 34 and after a 16-year career, Jackson Martinez retires from football.
34-year-old Jackson Martinez retires from football. His potential promised much more than he actually achieved, unfortunately.@BabaGol_ pic.twitter.com/XHx7NOikm3
— Idan Segev (@Idans10) December 6, 2020
In recent years, one of the best Colombian strikers was hoping to bring his career to a close playing for his beloved team, Independiente Medellin. Unfortunately, his current form, characterized by chronic injuries, brought a great career to an early end. Jackson, or “Cha Cha Cha” after his goal-celebration dance, scored extensively for almost every club he played for. Despite gaining an international reputation, his career failed to reach the heights anticipated - mostly due to injuries.
He began his career in 2004 at the age of 18 playing for Medellin, breaking through in 2008 under head coach Santiago Escobar. He became one of the best strikers in Colombia, his style of play resembles that of the legendary Adolfo Valencia: Impressive presence in the box, physicality, strength but also pace, an excellent header and a superb finisher. In 2009 he was the top scorer of the Clausura tournament, breaking the goals record per tournament. Independiente Medellin won the championship and Martinez was chosen as the best player of the season.
Jackson was on his way to the Korean club, Ulsan Hyundai, but at the last moment, after realizing the Koreans changed several items in his contract, he moved to Mexican club, Jaguares de Chiapas. Over the course of two years, he scored 36 goals in 68 matches. At that point, a move to Europe was only a matter of time and in 2012 Porto signed him for €11M. The Colombian market was a goldmine for Porto back then, when players like James Rodriguez and Radamel Falcao led the team to win trophies; Jackson followed suit and was a success. During his years in Portugal, he gained the reputation as one of the best strikers in Europe, scoring 94 goals in 149 matches for Porto.
Para sempre um de nós 💙 O Estádio do Dragão não esquece o seu melhor marcador 👏
— FC Porto (@FCPorto) December 7, 2020
👉 Jackson Martínez anunciou hoje o final da sua carreira. Qual o golo que mais te fez vibrar?#FCPorto #JacksonMartinez pic.twitter.com/JxR96U3Grk
The higher the expectation, the harder the fall
His name was linked to several top European clubs, eventually in Atletico Madrid of head coach Diego Simeone in June 2015 for €35M. The expectations were high, but the disappointment was even bigger when Jackson couldn’t adjust to Simeone’s play style. After several poor performances, he was benched by the Argentinian coach. The trouble kept piling up: in November, he suffered an ankle injury during Colombia’s match against Chile and was carried off the pitch on a stretcher. This injury was the one who finished his career, de facto; Jackson never did return to his good form, or nowhere near it.
He returned for several matches at the end of the year but was eventually sold to the Chinese side, Guangzhou Evergrande for €42M in January 2016. In Spain, he was considered a “flop” after 3 goals in 22 matches. His former teammates said that he lacked confidence and Atletico’s president, Enrique Cerezo, said that “Jackson simply doesn’t belong at this level”.
Despite plummeting from the top European tier to the Chinese league, his situation actually worsened. After three months he scored only three goals and suffered from an injury in his left ankle. Until his last game in Guangzhou in October 2016, Jackson kept playing despite the pain until he couldn’t take it anymore. The next step was surgery and a six-month recovery. The problem was that even during the recovery Jackson suffered from severe pains, so his club sent him to another exam in the United States. During the exam, the doctors found a bone spur in his heel, leading him to another surgery in July 2017.
During these two years off the pitch, Jackson discovered his musical talent and became more religious. He came out with a new religious hip hop album, but the passion for returning to the pitch was strong. It was the small Portuguese side, Portimonense, who gave him the chance to return to Europe. It was evident that Martinez was very far from his glory days. In two years with the club, he scored 12 goals in 50 matches and eventually decided to return to Colombia and retire in Independiente Medellin. After failing the medical examinations, his doctors advised him not to take risks and Jackson announced his football retirement.
Exploding in his club, Disappointing in the National Team
After Colombia’s desert years away from World Cup tournaments, came the golden generation who brought the National Team to its best achievement ever in Brazil 2014. Colombia had a potential killer front with Radamel Falcao, Jackson, and Carlos Bacca - but Martinez couldn’t find his place in the starting lineup.
Falcao became the best striker globally while Jose Pekerman prioritized Bacca and Teo Gutierrez. Even when he received his chances, usually in friendly matches, he would fail to deliver. He has 40 caps and 9 goals, four of them in friendly matches. His best game was in the 2014 World Cup group phase when Colombia beat Japan 4-1, and Martinez scored twice. In the end, he couldn’t stop himself from criticizing coach Pekerman: “I respect him as a coach, but he lost my trust when he said one thing and did another”, referring to the fact that Pekerman said that he wouldn’t invite players from the Chinese league after Jackson’s move, but later did invite Gio Moreno from Shanghai Shenhua.
Also, the fact that even at his best he wasn’t Pekerman’s first or second choice did not help: “Today, unlike in my time, the players with the best form are the ones who play”, the coach said. The match against Chile on November 12th, 2015 was also his last cap for Colombia, summing up a disappointing national team career.
But despite all, we can say only one thing to one of the best Colombian strikers of the 21st century: Gracias, Jackson!
This piece is an extended version of a piece published in Colfootball, your home for Colombian football.
Photo via Jackson Martinez official Instagram.
