Martins made her senior international debut last October in Praia, where Cape Verde lost 1-0 to Mali in the first leg of their Wafcon qualifier.
She traveled to Bamako for the return fixture but, sidelined by illness, missed a wild encounter that the Blue Sharks won 4-2 after a second-half floodlight outage.
“When the final whistle blew, it was incredible,” she said. “Everyone was ecstatic, shouting with joy. We’ve built a real sisterhood.
“When we returned to Praia, crowds of locals came to the airport to celebrate what we’d accomplished.”
It’s been a landmark year for football across the Atlantic archipelago, with Cape Verde’s men making their Fifa World Cup debut.
They became the tournament’s surprise package, capturing global attention by reaching the last 32 and pushing defending champions Argentina to extra time before a 3-2 defeat.
Martins hopes the women’s first Wafcon appearance will further lift the sport at home.
“Women’s football is definitely more popular now,” she said. “We’ve carried momentum from the men’s qualification.
“Whenever there’s a big sporting event, the country really gets behind the team. The support on social media has been amazing.
“I hope some fans can make it to Morocco, but even if they can’t, I know we’ll feel that energy from back home.”