André Bahia

André Bahia
Personal information
Full name André Luiz Bahia dos Santos Viana
Date of birth 24 November 1983 (1983-11-24) (age 28)
Place of birth Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Height 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position Defender
Club information
Current club Samsunspor
Number 3
Youth career
Escolinha Júlio César
Flamengo
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2001–2004 Flamengo 81 (3)
2004 Palmeiras (loan) 0 (0)
2004–2011 Feyenoord 179 (17)
2011- Samsunspor 1 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 2 May 2010.
† Appearances (Goals).

André Luiz Bahia dos Santos Viana (born 24 November 1983 in Rio de Janeiro) is a Brazilian footballer. He currently plays for Turkish club Samsunspor.[1]

Contents

Early life

André Bahia was born and raised in the Tijuca area of Rio de Janeiro. He has four brothers from his father's side from a previous marriage and one sister.[2] His father was a professional boxer in one of the lightest classes available. He was a six time Rio State champion.[2]

Club career

Escolinha Júlio César

Bahia started his football career at the Escolinha Júlio César, a football school run by the former Flamengo player. After daily visiting the escolinha for two years he was asked to do a trial at Flamengo Categories of Base in 1994.[2]

Flamengo

At the time he joined Flamengo he played as a left winger; only later he became a left defender and eventually he was positioned in central defence.[2] It was this central defence position that meant his breakthrough in professional football. In 2001 he made his professional debut for Flamengo and became a first team regular shortly after.

Palmeiras

In the first half of the 2004 season he lost his position in the first team at Flamengo and was sent on loan to Palmeiras for 1.5 months, but did not play any games with the team.[2]

Flamengo

With his return at Flamengo after the loan period things improved and he fought himself back into the team.[2] During that period in a Fla-Flu derby Feyenoord director Mark Wotte got interested in the player and shortly after Flamengo allowed him to have a trial in Rotterdam.[2]

At Feyenoord during his trial he impressed the staff members and he was offered a contract in October 2004. Feyenoord and Bahia both agreed on the terms in the contract and Bahia already posed in his new Feyenoord jersey, something that was not appreciated by all members at Flamengo.[2] When he returned to Brazil he was punished and was told to train just with the fitness coach for several weeks. He was only allowed back into the team when they ran out of central defenders due to injuries and suspensions.[2] The Flamengo fans had always supported Bahia even in these darker days at the club. In his final match for the club he scored two goals against Cruzeiro. The goals were important because Flamengo was in relegation trouble and due to these goals the club remained in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A.[2]

Feyenoord

After the Brazilian season he joined his new club Feyenoord and played five matches during the second half of the 2004–05 season. He made his Eredivisie debut on 13 March 2005 in a 4–1 home win over Roda JC. From then on, at the start of the 2005–06 season he became a first team regular and played all matches that season. Also in the disappointing 2006–07 season in which Feyenoord became seventh in the Eredivisie, Bahia played nearly every match.

In the 2007–08 season, Andre lost his starting place to Kevin Hofland, who was signed from VfL Wolfsburg. However, due to the injury of Ron Vlaar, Bahia returned in Feyenoord's central defence for the rest of the season. His excellent defending sparked the interest of FC Porto.[3]

During the 2009–2010 season Ron Vlaar returned from his long injury. He started playing along with Bahia, who regained his started place from Hofland under coach Mario Been.

Samsunspor

On 4 July 2011, he moved to Turkish Süper Lig side Samsunspor after seven-year spell in Feyenoord.[4]

International career

In 2000 he was called up by Mário Zagallo to represent Brazil at the under 20 level, and some time later he even became the captain of this team.[2]

Statistics

Club performance League Cup Continental Total
Season Club League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Brazil League Copa do Brasil South America Total
2001 Flamengo Campeonato Brasileiro Série A 10 1 0 0 0 0 10 1
2002 22 0 0 0 0 0 22 0
2003 28 1 0 0 0 0 28 1
2004 Palmeiras Campeonato Brasileiro Série A 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2004 Flamengo Campeonato Brasileiro Série A 21 1 0 0 0 0 21 1
Netherlands League KNVB Cup Europe Total
2004–05 Feyenoord Eredivisie 5 2 0 0 0 0 5 2
2005–06 34 3 0 0 0 0 34 3
2006–07 29 2 0 0 0 0 29 2
2007–08 29 3 0 0 0 0 29 3
2008–09 30 2 3 0 0 0 33 2
2009–10 32 3 6 1 0 0 38 4
2010–11 20 2 1 0 0 0 21 2
Total Brazil 81 3 0 0 0 0 81 3
Netherlands 179 17 10 1 0 0 189 18
Career total 260 20 10 1 0 0 270 21

Statistics accurate as of last match played on 28 June 2011.

Honours

References

External links