Martinez says teamwork key to beating Arsenal

BERLIN, Feb. 2 (NsNewsWire) — Before the central defender joined Bayern Munich in 2012 for 40 million euros, the 28-year-old Javi Martinez played for CA Osasuna and Athletic Bilbao. Martinez competed in 18 Internationals for Spain, reports Xinhua.

The following is the full text of Xinhua’s recent interview with Martinez:

Xinhua: Mr. Martinez, most professional footballers want to keep their private lives private for good reason. What about you?

Martinez: (laughing) Oh, I think I’m pretty much the same. But let us try and see how private I’m and what secrets you want to reveal….

Xinhua: Ok, let’s get right to the center of your personality. What does Javier Martinez do besides playing football?

Martinez: You might be disappointed.

Xinhua: Why?

Martinez: Because I’m pretty much the same as other 28-year-olds. I spend time with my friends and my family. I now have a son and spend a lot of time with him.

Xinhua: We guess you will have to wait a while until you can play basketball with your son?

Martinez: (laughing) You could be right, but let’s see how Luca develops. (laughing) No, but seriously, basketball is one of my big loves. I love to play and watch a good team playing. I played a lot when I was younger and we won several regional tournaments….

Xinhua: Can we assume you were a pretty competitive basketballer?

Martinez: You could be right. But one day I had to choose between basketball and football. Looking back, I must say it was a good decision to choose football and give it my everything.

Xinhua: You’re 1.90 meters, is that enough for basketball?

Martinez: It might be the right height to be one of the playmakers, I guess.

Xinhua: Basketball is quite popular among Bayern Munich players. We know Mats Hummels likes basketball, both playing and watching. Any plans to play or watch together?

Martinez: We’re talking about two games against the Bayern Munich basketball team. One basketball and one football match. We hope we can find some time to do it; it would be great fun as Bayern has a top-class team.