André Bahia

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.

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. Also in 2001, Bahia scored his first goal for the club in a 2-2 draw against Botafogo.

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. Andre scored his first goal on his Eredivisie debut for Feyenoord in a 4-1 win over Den Bosch on 13 March 2005. The following week on 24 April 2005, Andre scored his second goal in a 2-0 win over Groningen. In his first and half season, Andre made 5 appearance and scoring 2, having not been included in the starting line-up regularly in the first team.

From then on, at the start of the 2005–06 season he became a first team regular and played all matches that season which he played full in his second season and also scoring 3 against Heerenveen, Roda JC and Vitesse Arnhem 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. However, Andre soon suffered an concussion during a match against Excelsior after colliding with Serginho Greene, that left him out for three weeks. 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. However, Feyenoord was automatically out of the European competition following hooliganism prior and never played a match in the UEFA Cup against Nancy. On 2 December 2006, Andre got an assist to let Jonathan de Guzmán score the winner in a 4-3 win over Heerenveen. In his third season, Andre made 29 appearances and scored 2 against Vitesse and RKC Waalwijk.

In the 2007–08 season, Andre lost his starting place to Kevin Hofland, who was signed from VfL Wolfsburg and Ron Vlaar who formed a partnership in centre defence. However, due to the injury of 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 Cup as Feyenoord were champions by beating Roda JC 2-0. His excellent defending sparked the interest of Portuguese side Porto. In his fourth season, Andre made 29 appearance and scoring 3 against AZ, Heracles Almelo and Willem II.

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 unfortunately, Feyenoord was win less and out of the group stage. In mid-November, Bahia signed a new contract, that will keep him until 2012. Upon signing a contract, Bahia says signing a contract makes him feel more home at Feyenoord.

During the 2009–2010 season, Ron Vlaar returned from his long injury. He started playing along with Andre, who regained his started place from Hofland under coach Mario Been. In his fifth season, Andre made 30 appearance, scoring 2 against Heracles Almelo and FC Groningen.

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

In 2010-2011 season and last season for Andre Bahia at Feyenoord, Andre made the first two appearance for the club before suffering a knee injury Two weeks after his return, Andre scored his first goal of the season against Ajax in a 2-1 loss on 19 September 2010. Andre (along with Tim de Cler and Stefan de Vrij was in the defence squad when Andre see Feyenoord lost 0–10 to PSV, the club's heaviest defeat ever. The next game after losing to PSV was against VVV-Venlo in a 3-0 win which he scored on 27 October 2010. After the criticism on the club's performance, Bahia says to Metro "As an excuse for the poor performances it's often said the team is young and therefore prone to making mistakes. When you keep hearing that excuse, the incentive of having to perform fades." Bahia, himself, was receiving criticism from Willem van Hanegem, due to his actions, making the players very nervous and pressure. He barely since make less appearance, having come on as a substitute.

Towards the end of the season, Andre was linked with a move to Russian side Terek Grozny; in which it was denied by Andre. At the end of the season, it announced on the club's website that Andre has given a free transfer.

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. At the start of the 2012-13 season, Andre left Samsunspor by mutual consent after one season. His release was explained as Andre sued the club over allegedly owing him four months of unpaid wages.

Return to Brazil

After his released, Andre return to Brazil by joining Botafogo on trial, with a view of permanent contract After training with the club, Andre signed for the club on one season. After several appearance, the club started talks over Andre on signing a new two-year deal.

In his first season at Botafogo, Bahia made eleven appearance for the club. His second season at Botafogo saw him make twenty-six appearance and scoring once against São Paulo on 11 September 2014, which Botafogo lost 4-2. At the end of the season, Bahia started negotiating with Botafogo to stay at the club for next season. After his move to Japan, Bahia made a farewell speech to Botafogo's supporters and felt moving abroad was something he can't turn down.

Shonan Bellmare

It was announced on 19 December 2014 that Bahia left Brazil for Japan to join J1 League side Shonan Bellmare.

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. After five years at Netherlands since joining Feyenoord, Bahia was granted a Netherlands citizenship.

Club statistics

Statistics accurate as of last match played on 1 March 2015.

Honours