He is called Omere Larry Peters aka “Jackson Martinez” the nickname was gotten from the former FC PORTO of portugal striker whose name is also Jackson Martinez, because of their similar style of play.
Lr99 has he’s preferred to be called, let Nigeria while playing for a local club called sporting sporting club based at Ojodu Berger (border stadium) at the age of 18 to sign a professional contract at a Portuguese club called Uniao de Coimbra in 2013.
Played in the junior U-19 National league 2013/14 comprising with teams like, Benfica B, Sporting B, Estoril and the likes
At the end of that season he ended up being the 3rd highest goal scorer despite joining the team at the second part of the season with 11 goals in 19 games,
The reward came at the end of the championship when top teams like Benfica and Estoril came asking about the possibility of signing the prolific striker, but a deal wasn’t agreed with both teams because of some third party rights and compensation fees that needed to be paid to each and every club Larry has been in starting from Nigeria.
He eventually signed for a second division club “leixoés* where he got a limited playing time before being shipped on loan to a third 3rd division club *GD Sourense* where he started playing and proving doubters wrong.
He has played across various clubs in Portugal in Portugal, last season he got a very lucrative offer from Haiti for a season and according to him he can’t afford not to accept it, he eventually signed and played a season in Haiti before returning to Portugal in January 2018.
Below is the short interview I had with him while I was in Portugal.
We.. Good afternoon Mr Larry
Larry.. good afternoon, nice having you here
We.. smiled, how did your football career started?
Larry.. well it wasn’t an easy journey but we thank God for where he has taken us to so far
We.. how did it started? Tell us about your full name, where you’re from in Nigeria and family background
Larry.. My names are Larry Omere Peters, from Benue state but was born in Lagos. I am 23 years old from a family of 10, 4girls and 6boys and lost our first and second born whom happens to be girls, although I never saw the second born because she died first and I wasn’t born then.
I also lost my mother in the year 2011 due to breast cancer, lack of funds and late detection contributed to her dealth, this are what expired me to leave school and focus solely on football which was and still my passion and I wanted to make a living through it and be able to care for my family’s needs, that’s how it all started footballing wise and about my family background
We.. that’s very emotional, how do you manage to be able to still scale through despite all the difficulties you went through
Larry.. it’s all about determination, when you’ve set your mind to do something you have passion for and you’re determined and also have enthusiasm you’ll surely scale through also with a lot of prayers
We.. can you tell us how you moved to Portugal from Nigeria?
Larry.. smiled. It was just God’s work. I was playing a competition called ( golden chance Lotto competition ) we got to the quarter final and played a club (sportom sporting club) I managed to score two goals and an assist against that team, after the final whistle the TM of the called me and invited me to train with his team, which I accepted, I trained with his team for a week, and he told me he’ll send me a Nigerian league club 3sc of ibadan for a trial, when I got there I trained with the team, luckily for me there was some secret scout there who came to watch a player of 3sc but eventually decided to scout me, after my first training there, they came to me and introduced themselves as a scout from portugal, on hearing a scout from portugal I was so eager to hear what they have to say, they invited me for another trial in another club, I went and it was successful, between three months I moved to Portugal and signed a contract with Uniao de coimbra, that’s how it all happened.
We.. what a journey that was, would you consider yourself lucky on how everything went smoothly?
Larry.. off cause I considered myself lucky because firstly the scout wasn’t there to scout me but by the grace and will of God, he placed me at the right place at the right time, so I will say it’s God’s grace that went along with me, despite being 17/18 then I’ve been through a lot football wise, done a lot if training traveled to different states across Nigeria for trials which was unsuccessful. My parents will send me to school unknowing to them I have my football kits in my bag, when I get a corner I will change my clothes and go direct to a football field instead of school but I didn’t regret leaving school for football, I will eventually return to school and finish my education, Nigeria is not a country where you can combine football with education it won’t work unless you leave one for one and continue the other later
We.. what are your dreams in terms of your career?
Larry.. I still have a lot to achieve in my career, am still young at 23 years old.
I want to one day play for the super eagles of Nigeria this is my ultimate dream in terms of football and when it comes to clubs, I’d go anywhere I have good offers and playing time because before I went to some clubs where I wasn’t getting playing time and it contributed negatively in my career
I was a Chelsea fan growing up I still support them tho *laugh*
We.. what do you think about the current set of players in the National team?
Larry.. ATM we have got talented players in the team, their success so far will speak for them, individually they’re doing well in their various clubs and the coach has managed to bring this group of players together and make use of their strength in the right way, we can tell there’s no player has technical as Jay Jay and kanu in that team today but the coaches didn’t relent instead they’re making use of the strength of the players and playing a style that suits the kind of players they currently have
We.. what do you think would be the outcome for Nigeria at this coming world cup?
Larry.. well I wouldn’t want to exaggerate but I see the team getting at least to the quarter finals
(He joked) maybe if I was selected for the WC we could left the trophy
We.. maybe just maybe?
Larry.. hahaha just maybe, but I believe in my ability, technical skills and abilities to finish (score) with my both feet and head. If am playing you hardly know which feet I use naturally because am good with both
We.. we hope to see you at the next world cup or CAF nations cup
Larry.. by the grace of God I will continue working hard and hope to be selected for future call ups either for the CAF tournament or world cup
We.. thanks for creating time for us to conduct this interview
Larry.. the pleasure is mine.
We.. hope to have another interview with you soon
Larry.. my doors are always open
We.. thanks.
Larry.. you’re welcome
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