From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Thiago Martins
Personal information
Full name	Thiago Martins
Date of birth	September 4, 1976 (age 30)
Place of birth	São Paulo, Brazil
Height	6'0
Nickname	Thiba
Playing position	forward
Club information
Current club	Bodø/Glimt
Number	30
Youth clubs
1997-98 1999-00	Santa Barbara City College UC Santa Barbara
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
2001 2001-02 2002 2003 2005 2006 2006 2007–	San Diego Flash Minnesota Thunder Pittsburgh Riverhounds D.C. United C.D. Chivas USA Red Bull New York Colorado Rapids Bodø/Glimt	? (?) 11 (2) 8 (8) 5 (0) 22 (3) 1 (0) 25 (3) 0 (0)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 2 December 2006. 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 2 December 2006. * Appearances (Goals)

Thiago Martins (born September 4, 1976) is a Brazilian soccer player who currently plays striker for the Bodø/Glimt of Adeccoligaen (2nd division) in Norway.

Martins was born in São Paulo, Brazil, and came to the United States in 1999, ending up in Santa Barbara, California. However, he soon ran out of money and was forced to sleep on the beach. Fortuitously, he came upon a group of people playing soccer in a park and asked to join them. One of them took Martins into his home. He started taking classes at Santa Barbara City College, where he also played soccer, before transferring to the University of California, Santa Barbara. In his first season with the UCSB Soccer team, he only played in 11 games due to a foot injury, but still managed to score 6 goals. In his second season, he again scored 6 goals in 18 matches, and was named to the All-Big West Conference first team.

Martins left UCSB in 2001 to play for the defunct San Diego Flash of the A-League. After their demise at the end of the 2001 season, Martins joined the Minnesota Thunder, where he scored 2 goals in 11 appearances. Martins was released, and moved to the Pittsburgh Riverhounds, also of the A-League, where he hit his stride, scoring 8 goals in only 576 minutes over 8 games. Martins truly emerged in the 2003 season, during which he scored 22 goals and 7 assists in 25 games for the Riverhounds, and was named A-League MVP. After the end of the A-League season, Martins joined D.C. United, where 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, he tore the ACL again soon before returning to the team, and in the end missed all of United's 2004 season because of his injuries. After the season, Martins was selected 17th overall by C.D. Chivas USA in the 2004 MLS Expansion Draft. He scored the first goal in club history in its second match, a 3-3 tie with the San Jose Earthquakes. Martins scored two more goals the rest of the season.

Martins was traded to the MetroStars, with a partial allocation, for Ante Razov in January 2006. He played just one game for the re-branded Red Bull New York, before a trade to the Colorado Rapids for Jean Philippe Peguero. He signed with Bodø/Glimt after the season.

• "HOME MAKER—After living on the beach for a time with little money, Chivas USA's Martins finally found success in U.S.", Los Angeles Times, July 20, 2005.