As Atlanta United made their return from their Concacaf Champions League opener, star striker Josef Martinez found a city awaiting him with open arms.
Not that it's so surprising.
Martinez is already among the all-time MLS great following his incredible three-season run in Atlanta, where he helped the club to MLS Cup in 2018 and the Campeones Cup and U.S. Open Cup last season. But after losing in last year's Eastern Conference final brought Atlanta's season to an end, a the city hasn't had a recent chance to express thanks to the forward for pledging his loyalty to the club.
That changed this week. First, Martinez returned to the Castleberry Hills neighborhood near Mercedes-Benz Stadium to discover a street mural created in his honor and meet both the artist and business owner who partnered on the project.
Following that, the Venezuelan striker was honored by the NBA's Atlanta Hawks with a personalized jersey. And even Quavo, the Georgia-born rapper and songwriter best known for his part of the group Migos, got in on an action with a personal courtside greeting.
Martinez and his teammates make their competitive home debut next Tuesday in the second leg of their CCL round-of-16 series against FC Motagua at Fifth Third Bank Stadium (8 pm ET | FS2, TUDN), then visit Nashville SC for their MLS opener on Saturday night (8 pm ET | FOX, FOX Deportes, MLS LIVE on DAZN in Canada).
