Shekiera Martinez said it was a dream come true to make her West Ham United women’s team debut against Chelsea at the weekend, and she hopes she can follow it up by helping the Hammers to victory in the Subway Women’s League Cup against Tottenham Hotspur.
The 23-year-old joined the Irons in the summer from Frauen-Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt, but spent the first half of the season in her home country on loan at SC Freiburg, for whom she netted five goals for in 13 appearances.
But having accumulated the necessary points to meet the Governing Body Endorsement (GBE) criteria for international player visas, the Germany U23 international returned to Chadwell Heath at the beginning of the year, ready to push the Hammers to success in the Barclays Women’s Super League.
Martinez was named on the bench in Sunday’s defeat to Chelsea, but manager Rehanne Skinner wasted no time in handing the attacker her debut in Claret and Blue, introducing her to the Hammers faithful at half-time.
Chigwell Construction Stadium cheered Martinez onto the pitch and she made a positive impact on proceedings, helping her side produce a more intentful second-half showing in the attacking third. Despite the result, a 5-0 defeat, Martinez was overjoyed to play her first minutes for the Hammers and hopes this can be the start of a brilliant journey in Claret and Blue.
“I'm really happy to make my debut for West Ham,” she smiled. “It was a really hard game, I knew it would be difficult, but I'm happy to have played my first game for the Club.
“[At half-time, the manager said] to just play my game, and also that I should enjoy the game. And for sure I enjoyed it, because it was always a dream for me to play here.
“The team has been really, really nice to me since I returned and they have also helped me with my English. It’s not the best! But I think after two days I felt settled in and everyone was so kind to me.”
As Skinner alluded to in her post-match interview, her side have no time to dwell on the weekend’s defeat and are now fully focused on Wednesday night’s meeting with Spurs.
The Hammers progressed through the group stages of the Women’s League Cup with three wins from three matches, and now have the opportunity to book a semi-final place in the competition with a win over their London rivals.
“We're looking forward to it,” said Martinez. “We're going to train hard in preparation for the match, and full focus is on the game. Hopefully we’ll be able to progress to the semi-finals.”
The Hammers will seek a return to winning ways on Wednesday evening, when Skinner's squad travel the short distance to Brisbane Road in Leyton to face Tottenham Hotspur in the Subway Women's League Cup quarter-finals. Kick-off is at 7.30pm and tickets are available HERE.
