[1] In total he made 18 appearances as a starter in Serie A, during difficult times for Italy and football, as the World War II raged and the leagues certainly took a back seat.

Almost at the same time as AEK Athens, the HFF, recognizing his ability to fix the defensive line, entrusted him with the Greece national team, where however, he did not manage to achieve similar results.

The heavy defeat 7–1 on 1 October 1958 for the qualifiers of the 1960 European Nations' Cup in Paris by the organizer France of Kopa, Fontaine and Wisniewski, who tore apart the Greek defense[3] and 9 days later, under the weight of the outcry, Martini was fired.

[4][2] The then president of AEK Athens, Nikos Goumas, after their unsuccessful previous season, was determined to give his team back their competitive identity that allowed them to star and called the Italian coach who was now famous apart from his good defensive game and for his discipline.

The beginning of the 60's found him wandering and for three and a half seasons unemployed, until he was called to the Italian-Swiss border by the Swiss second division Chiasso to replace the technical duo of Carlo Rigotti and Tullio Grassi.