Hours after the birth of his son, Norwich City captain Russell Martin capped off an 'emotional day' by scoring an equaliser against Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday.
Martin, 29, spent Saturday night with his partner in the Norwich area in eastern England and only left to join up with his team-mates after she had given birth on Sunday morning. After sharing a flight to Liverpool with the club's directors, the centre-back netted with a deft lob that cancelled out Danny Ings' 48th-minute opener and earned Norwich a 1-1 draw in the Premier League game.
"I was late for the game as I made it back home last (Saturday) night for the birth of my son," Martin said. "Then I shot back up on the plane today with the directors, so it's a fantastic day and an emotional day.
"Just to score at a place like this is great and it's an important goal. I'm over the moon and delighted."
Norwich manager Alex Neil said, "He just had a baby boy this morning so he left late night, went to the birth and came back up for the game.
{{/usCountry}}Norwich manager Alex Neil said, "He just had a baby boy this morning so he left late night, went to the birth and came back up for the game.
{{/usCountry}}"Then he produced an excellent performance here. I don't think the last 24 hours get much better than that.
"I left it in Russell's hands about whether he was going to play or not. He is the captain of the club and would have said if he had not quite been right for the sake of the team.
"I spoke to him earlier and he said he was ready. I think the adrenaline helped him through."