André Bahia

André Bahia

Personal information
Full name	André Luiz Bahia dos Santos Viana
Date of birth	24 November 1983 (1983-11-24)
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	18	(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.

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. His father was a professional boxer in one of the lightest classes available. He was a six time Rio State champion.

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.

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. 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.

Flamengo

With his return at Flamengo after the loan period things improved and he fought himself back into the team. 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.

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. 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. 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.

Feyenoord

After the Brazilian season he joined his new club Feyenoord and played five matches with 2 goals 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. 30 days later on 13 April 2005, Andre scored his first for Feyenoord in a 4-1 win over Den Bosch.The following week on 24 April 2005, Andre scored his second goal in a 2-0 win over Groningen.

From then on, at the start of the 2005–06 season he became a first team regular and played all matches that season scoring 3 against Roda JC and Vitesse which he scored a winner 1-0. Also in the start of 2005-06 season, Andre made his debut in the UEFA Cup which he played two matches against Rapid București which lost 1-0 on aggregates. Also in the disappointing 2006–07 season in which Feyenoord became seventh in the Eredivisie, Bahia played nearly every match and Feyenoord returned to the UEFA Cup at the First Round 1st Leg against the Bulgarian side Lokomotiv Sofia in a 2-2 draw and in the 2nd Leg was 0-0 so eventually, Feyenoord go through to the Group stage of the UEFA Cup by away goal. Andre made 6 appearance in the UEFA Cup. On Matchday 4, Andre scored an own goal in a 3-0 loss against AS Nancy on 30 November 2006. Unfortunely, Feyenoord was automatically out of the from European competition following hooliganism prior and never played a match in the UEFA Cup. On 2 December 2006, Andre got a assist to let Jonathan de Guzmán to score a winner in a 4-3 win over Heerenveen.

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. Andre was involved in the squad for the final of KNVB Xup as Feyenoord were champions by beating Roda JC 2-0 His excellent defending sparked the interest of FC Porto.

In the 2008-09 season, Feyenoord once again returned to the UEFA Cup.After beating Kalmar on a UEFA Cup first round in a 2-2 draw on aggregates by away goal and go through to the Group Stage. Andre played all of the match in the cup and unfortunely Feyenoord was winless and out of the group stage. 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.

In 2009-10 season, Andre scored his first goal of the season against Sparta Rotterdam in a 2-1 loss on 18 October 2010.Andre gave assist to veteran striker Roy Makaay to score a winner against Vitesse in a 2-1 win on 31 March 2011.

In 2010-2011 season and last season for Andre Bahia at Feyenoord, Andre (along with Tim de Cler and Stefan de Vrij was in the defence squad as Feyenoord lost 0–10 to PSV, the club's heaviest defeat ever.

Samsunspor

On 4 July 2011, he moved to Turkish Süper Lig side Samsunspor after seven-year spell in Feyenoord. Following his move to Samsunspor, Andre told Feyenoord's official website that "he admits he is sorry to be leaving and says sorely miss this club and this city" He also told Feyenoord's official website that "It will take time to get used to being Samsunspor after all those years at Feyenoord". Two months after signing for the club due to pre match friendly, Andre made his debut in the Samsunspor shirt in a 3-2 win over Gençlerbirliği on 10 September 2011.

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.

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

• Flamengo
  • Taça Guanabara: 2001, 2004
  • Campeonato Carioca: 2001, 2004
  • Copa dos Campeões: 2001

• Feyenoord
  • KNVB Cup: 2007–08

External links

• (Dutch) Voetbal International – André Bahia
• (Dutch) Official André Bahia Feyenoord.nl profile