S3, E7

Vital Stats

Josef Alexander Martinez Mencia

Born 5/19/93

Native of Venezuela

Obtained US Green Card in July 2018

Club History

First club was Caracas FC on

First professional appearance was 8/21/10 entering as a sub in the 70th min

Scored his first goal against Deportivo Petare on 11/21/10

Young Boys - Swiss club based in Bern Switzerland.

Sold to Young Boys on 1/3/12 for 4 years

made his debut on 2/5/12 against Servette

Solid performance lead to a call up to the Venezuela National Team

First start with Young Bots was 10/21/12

Scored his first goal with the Swiss club in the 50th minute vs Grasshopper Club Zurich

Short Loan to FC Thun

After 1 season with Young Boys, they sent him on loan to Thun

Scored 8 goals in 18 games with Thun

This put him in running for top scorer in the Swiss Super League

He was quickly recalled to the Young Boys

Torino - Italian Serie A Club from Turin, Piedmont - nicknamed I Granata, Italian for Maroon

Transfer fee was 3 million euro

First appearance for the club was 7/31/14 in the third round of the Europa League (tournament)

First goal for the club was on the second leg of the third round, second appearance with the club

Scored a brace in Europa League vs Copenhagen

League debut was 9/14/14 vs sampdoria

First goal in Serie A was 12/7/14 vs Palermo

First brace in Serie A was 4/30/16

The King comes to Atlanta

2/2/17 loaned with option to buy to ATLUTD

League debut was the first game in the regular season v Red Bulls lost 2-1

Yamil Asad scored the first goal for the club

First Career hat trick / first hat trick in club history was the next week

smashed minnesota united 6-1

won player of the week (week 2)

Week 1 - debut, week 2 - Hat Trick, Week 3 - ATL UTD exercises the option to buy

that didn’t take long..

undisclosed transfer fee at the time is now showing as $4.95mil per transfermarkt.us

Week 4 - MLS player of the month

5 goals in first 3 games in the league

Injuries in the first season

3/23/17 playing with the Venezuelan nation team v peru injured his left quadricep (it was his right knee if you are thinking what I am thinking)

First match back from this injury was U.S. Open Cup v Charleston Battery on June 14th

missed the match on 7/27 due to this foot contusion

Jumped back in ready to show his royalty in September with back to back hat tricks vs New england rev and Trashlando

Player of the month in September

20 goals in 20 appearances in 2017

Season 2 2018

broke league record for Hat Tricks on 7/21/18 v DC United after only 44 games

Player of the month for July scoring 9 goals with 1 assist

Josef scored the only goal in the 2018 MLS All-Star game v Juventus (1-1 draw)

MVP of that game (duh)

8/24/18 broke the single season goal record of 27 - ended at 31

goal scored v orlando

orlando was talking trash (pun intended) about preventing him from breaking the record

Josef had a cheeky chip past Joe Bendik and turned to speak to him as the ball hit the back of the net

MLS Player of the month - august

won the golden boot and an MLS Cup… but more awards and accolades later

Season 3 - 2019

broke single season goal scoring streak record running the record up to 15 games before he was stopped

scored the record breaker vs our wonderful friends from the wrong side of the tracks, don’t call me trashlando

tied for second world wide in goal scoring with Tor Henning Hamre (21 goals in 15 games) behind Messi 33 goals in 21 games

Streak ended with an injury…. a right knee injury from an awkward collision with Pity v San Jose Earthquakes

he was stretched off

I think we all know what happened at the beginning of 2020

When his right knee was injured in 2019, FDB said no ligament dmg and “nothing broken” per doug roberson

Beer of the week: Steady Hand

Lager - featuring 100% regionally sourced craft malts, our lager is crisp and dry in flavor with light flora hoppiness and a clean finish - cans are red white and blue and modeled after evil kinveal.

Style

Primary Striker

Venezuelan Viper

accurate with both feet and his head

vicious attack and drive to score a goal

can find his way into the right position

Stats

Total Appearances across all clubs and competitions 2011-2020 - 291

Total goals across all clubs and competitions - 133

scored in 45.7% of games played

ATL UTD Appearances in league play- 84

ATLUTD goals - 77

scored in 91.6% of games

ATL UTD apps all comps - 103

goals all comps - 90

87.3% of games played

ATL UTD Post season apps - 9

post season goals 5

55.5% of games

Scored game winning PK in the Campeones Cup

apps in CCL - 6

goals in CCL - 5

Notable Factoids and accolades

MLS Cup 2018

US Open Cup 2019

Campeones Cup 2019

MLS Best XI 3 years in a row 2017-2019

MLS MVP - 2018

Golden Boot - 2018

MLS All Star - 2018, 2019

MLS All Star MVP - 2018

MLS Player of the month (6), (2) in 2017, (2) 2018, (2) 2019

MLS Cup MVP - 2018

MLS Goal of the Year - 2019

Memorable quotes

“What we do in life echoes in eternity.” is tattooed on his neck

“God is my guide and family is my strength” is tattooed on his forearms

“Atlanta es familia”

“We are the only team in this city that wins shit” - thank you felipe cardenas keep doing what you are doing!

A core memory about his grandparents that would shape him fundamentally -

“That’s the thing I remember most about growing up with him and my grandmother: They really cared about whatever they did. My parents had me and my sister at a young age, so my childhood was just different. My grandparents saw the darkness of the world — the crime and the struggle in Colombia — before they moved to Venezuela. So it made me see the world as a place where you had to work hard for everything you got. Everything. You had to care. Otherwise you’d be in trouble.”

What does Atlanta mean to you? - “Atlanta is family. Atlanta means family.”