Thiago Martins (born 4 September 1976) is a retired Brazilian

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played professionally in the United States and Norway.

Early life and education

Martins was born on the east side of

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, and came to the United States in 1996. He landed in Los Angeles, at 19 years old and with little money. He eventually made his way to

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara (, meaning ) is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States excepting A ...

, where he slept in hotels until his money ran out. He had to resort to sleeping on the beach. Fortunately, he awoke one morning to a group of people playing soccer on the beach and joined them. One of the players took Martins into their home, even though Martins spoke little English or Spanish and they spoke no

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

. He began to play soccer in Sunday leagues, where Tim Vom Steeg noticed his skill as he attempted to defend him in one game. Thiago agreed and started taking classes at

Santa Barbara City College Santa Barbara City College (SBCC) is a public community college in Santa Barbara, California. It opened in 1909 and is located on a campus. History Santa Barbara City College was established by the Santa Barbara High School District in 1909, m ...

, where he played soccer for two years from 1997 to 1998 under head coach Tim Vom Steeg. Vom Steeg soon moved to nearby

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an ...

to take up their head coaching position with Martins also transferring. In 1999, his first season with the

UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's soccer The UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's soccer team is an NCAA Division I college soccer team composed of student-athletes attending the University of California, Santa Barbara. The Gauchos play their home matches at Harder Stadium. Like most of th ...

team, he only played in 11 games due to a broken

metatarsal The metatarsal bones or metatarsus (: metatarsi) are a group of five long bones in the midfoot, located between the tarsal bones (which form the heel and the ankle) and the phalanges ( toes). Lacking individual names, the metatarsal bones are ...

, but still managed to score 6 goals. In his second season with UCSB, he scored 6 goals and assisted on 2 others for a point total of 14. He appeared in 18 matches and was named to the All-

Big West Conference The Big West Conference (BWC) is an American collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's NCAA Division I, Division I. The conference was origina ...

First Team.

Professional career

USL A-League

Martins left UC Santa Barbara after the 2000 season to play for the now-defunct

San Diego Flash The San Diego Flash were an amateur men's soccer team based in San Diego, California. Founded in 2010 as a phoenix club of the former San Diego Flash, it entered the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) in 2011, and most recently played in ...

of the

A-League A-League Men, also known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional soccer league in Australia and New Zealand and the highest level of the Australian soccer league system. Established in 2004 as the A-League by the ...

. He was drafted 56th overall in the 2001 A-League Draft, catching the eye of Colin Clarke, after putting in stellar performances with UC Santa Barbara and getting his

green card A green card, known officially as a permanent resident card, is an identity document which shows that a person has permanent residency in the United States. ("The term 'lawfully admitted for permanent residence' means the status of having been ...

during his senior year. After their demise at the end of the 2001 season, Martins joined fellow

team

Minnesota Thunder Minnesota Thunder was an American professional association football, soccer team based in Minnesota, United States. Founded in 1990, the team played in the USL First Division (USL-1), the second tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, until 2009. T ...

, where he scored 2 goals in 11 appearances. Martins was subsequently released and moved to his third

side in

Pittsburgh Riverhounds Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC is an American professional soccer team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1998 and beginning play in 1999, the club plays in the Eastern Conference of the USL Championship, the second tier of the American ...

. With Pittsburgh, Martins hit his stride, scoring 8 goals in only 576 minutes over 8 games. Martins shined in the 2003 season, during which he scored 22 goals and had 7 assists in 25 games for the Riverhounds. For his performances, he was named the

MVP. After the end of the

season, Martins joined

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

team

D.C. United D.C. United is an American professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Domestically, the club has won four MLS Cups (league championships), four Supp ...

Major League Soccer

With United, he played in five games before the end of the season. While training following the 2003 season, Martins tore his left ACL. After an extensive rehabilitation process which saw him close to returning to the team, he tore the ACL again. As a result, Martins missed all of United's 2004 season. After the season, Martins was selected 17th overall by

Club Deportivo Chivas USA Chivas USA (pronounced ''CHEE-vahs'') was an American professional soccer club based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The club competed in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. The team played from 2005 to 2014. It w ...

in the 2004 MLS Expansion Draft. He scored the first goal in club history in its second match, a 3–3 draw with

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional association football, soccer club based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Origin ...

. Martins went on to score two more goals during the season. Martins was traded to MetroStars, with a partial allocation, for

Ante Razov Ante Razov (born March 2, 1974) is an American soccer coach and former player who is an assistant coach for Los Angeles FC. A prolific forward, Razov is one of the leading goal scorers in the history of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the all- ...

in January 2006. He played just one game for the re-branded

New York Red Bulls The New York Red Bulls are an American professional association football, soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conferenc ...

before again being traded, this time to

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Founded in ...

, for Peguero Jean Philippe. At the conclusion of the season, he signed with

FK Bodø/Glimt Fotballklubben Bodø/Glimt (), also referred to as Bodø/Glimt or its former name Glimt, is a Norwegian professional football club from the town of Bodø in Bodø Municipality, Nordland county, Norway. The club currently plays in Eliteserien ...

of the

Adeccoligaen The Norwegian First Division, also called 1. divisjon () and OBOS-ligaen (due to sponsoring ties with OBOS), is the second-highest level of the Norwegian football league system. Each year, the top finishing teams in the 1. divisjon are promo ...

in Norway.

FK Bodø/Glimt

Against

Tippeligaen Eliteserien () is a professional association football league in Norway and the highest level of the Norwegian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Norwegian First Division ...

side

Tromsø IL Tromsø Idrettslag () is a Norwegian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Tromsø. They play their home games at the Romssa Arena which has a seating capacity of 6,801. Tromsø play in the Eliteserien. Despi ...

, he scored two goals in

's 3–1 away win in the last game before the 2007 campaign. Martins suffered a knee injury in this game and was not 100% when he made his Bodø/Glimt debut in an obligatory match on 9 April 2007, away to

Hønefoss BK Hønefoss Ballklubb is a Norwegian football club from Hønefoss, founded in 1895. The club was a part of the multi-sports club L/F Hønefoss, which folded in 2008. After 11 years in 1. divisjon, the second tier of Norwegian football, Hønefoss ...

. Martins contributed greatly for his new club becoming top-scorer as well as scoring in the play-offs. As a result, Martins and

gained promotion back to the Norwegian

for the 2008 season. Martins had a good year with

in 2008, and finished fourth even though he was injured for most of the season. However, the success did not last long and Glimt were relegated at the end of the 2009 after a very poor season in

. 2010 started promising for

, but their initial good form declined, and they ultimately ended up in sixth place. Martins' contract expired at the end of 2010, and

decided to not offer him a new deal. He subsequently retired from professional soccer.

Personal life

In 2016, Martins was teaching special-needs children and coaching a semi-professional Norwegian soccer team. When not teaching or coaching, he surfs and in October 2016 participated in the Lofoten Masters surfing competition in Unstad in the Lofoten Islands of Norway

Career statistics

Awards and honors

Individual

Top Scorer: 2003 A-League season, 2003

References

External links

FK Bodø/Glimt player profile
* * * * * * *

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martins, Thiago 1976 births Living people Brazilian men's footballers Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Men's association football forwards UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's soccer players San Diego Flash players USL First Division players Minnesota Thunder players Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC players D.C. United players Major League Soccer players Chivas USA players New York Red Bulls players Colorado Rapids players FK Bodø/Glimt players Eliteserien players Norwegian First Division players Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's footballers in Norway Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Norway Footballers from São Paulo