*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 2008-09-27 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 2009-01-30
In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Martínez and the second or maternal family name is Álvarez.
Saúl Asael Martínez Álvarez (Latin American Spanish:[saˈulmaɾˈtines]; born 29 January 1976) is a Honduran former football forward who last played for Marathón.
Martínez first attracted the attentions of Shanghai Shenhua when he scored four goals against Slovenia during the Lunar New Year Cup in Hong Kong in early 2002. Shenhua quickly signed him and afterwards, Martinez became one of the most important players in the Shenhua team. He would end up playing in Asia for five years, winning the 2003 Chinese league title with Shanghai Shenhua; that title was however taken away from the club in 2013 due to its part in a match-fixing scandal.[2] He also won the 2003 Golden Boot Award with Shanghai.
In January 2008, Martínez joined Costa Rican side Herediano for three months after a move to F.C. Motagua did not materialise.[3] He then had a couple of seasons at Marathón.
He made a remarkable return from retirement with Victoria in the 2010 Apertura season, topping the goalscoring charts at age 34[4] and ending the season as runner-up behind Jerry Bengtson with 11 goals.[5] In July 2011 he returned for another spell at Marathón.[6]
Martínez made his debut for Honduras in a July 2001 friendly match against Ecuador, in which he immediately scored a goal, and has earned a total of 35 caps, scoring 16 goals. He has represented his country in 11 FIFA World Cup qualification matches[9] and played at the 2007[10] and 2009 UNCAF Nations Cups[11] His international breakthrough however came during the 2001 Copa América, when Honduras surprisingly ended third and Martínez scored the second goal in the historic win over World Cup runners-up Brazil.[12]
