Martin Chrien

Martin Chrien (Slovak pronunciation: [ˈmaɾtiŋ ˈxɾien];[lower-alpha 1] born 8 September 1995) is a Slovak professional footballer who plays for Portuguese club Benfica B and the Slovakia national team as a midfielder.

Martin Chrien
Chrien with Dukla Banská Bystrica in 2013
Personal information
Full name Martin Chrien
Date of birth (1995-09-08) 8 September 1995
Place of birth Banská Bystrica, Slovakia
Height 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Benfica B
Number 44
Youth career
Dukla Banská Bystrica
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2012–2014 Dukla Banská Bystrica 29 (5)
2014–2017 Viktoria Plzeň 3 (0)
2015 → Dynamo České Budějovice (loan) 8 (0)
2015–2016 → Zbrojovka Brno (loan) 24 (3)
2016 → Ružomberok (loan) 17 (5)
2017 Benfica 1 (0)
2017– Benfica B 21 (0)
2018–2019 → Santa Clara (loan) 18 (1)
National team‡
2013–2014 Slovakia U19 3 (0)
2014–2018 Slovakia U21 21 (6)
2019– Slovakia 1 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 9 January 2020
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 7 June 2019

Club career

Born in Banská Bystrica, Chrien made his professional debut for the local hegemon, Dukla Banská Bystrica[1] against Košice on 1 December 2012. On 14 May 2014, he signed a four-year contract with Czech club Viktoria Plzeň, joining the senior team at the start of the 2014–15 season.[2] He was then loaned to Dynamo České Budějovice and Zbrojovka Brno in the Czech Republic, and Ružomberok in Slovakia, respectively.

On 29 June 2017, he moved to Portugal and signed a five-year contract with defending champions Benfica Lisbon.[3] He made his debut on 20 August 2017, in a league fixture against Belenenses, in a 5-0 win, coming on in the 71st minute of the match.[4] Later in autumn he was relegated to the B-team, playing 16 games in LigaPro. During the winter transfer window he was initially linked with a loan to Croatian clubs Hajduk Split[5] or Osijek,[6] as he did not get sufficient play time at Benfica, but neither of the moves took place.

Chrien spent the 2018–19 season with Santa Clara, who returned to the top division after 15 years of wait.[7] His position in the squad was contested, playing 18 of 34 league games and 1 cup fixture. He scored 1 goal in the season. During this campaign, he was first nominated into Slovakia's senior national team.

International career

Chrien was first called up to the senior national team by Pavel Hapal, who coached him for the majority of his U-21 international career. Hapal cited strong physical play in midfield and improved play time at Santa Clara as the primary reasons for the nomination for the double UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying fixture against Hungary and Wales.[8] Chrien however failed to make the appearance, not even making it to the match sheet of either of the fixtures.

Chrien made his senior debut for Slovakia on 7 June 2019 in a friendly match against Jordan, as a starter, and scored the second goal in a 5–1 victory.[9]

International goals
As of 7 June 2019 (Slovakia score listed first, score column indicates score after each Chrien goal)
No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.7 June 2019Anton Malatinský Stadium, Trnava, Slovakia Jordan2–15–1Friendly

Notes and references
  1. In isolation, Martin is pronounced [ˈmaɾtin].
  1. DUKLA VS. KOŠICE 1 - 2 01.12.2012, soccerway.com
  2. Chrien odchádza z Banskej Bystrice a bude ďalším Slovákom v Plzni 14.05.2014, profutbal.sk
  3. "Martin Chrien assina por cinco épocas" [Martin Chrien signs for five seasons]. S.L. Benfica (in Portuguese). 29 June 2017. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
  4. Teraz.sk (1970-01-01). "Chrien debutoval za Benficu pro vysokom triumfe nad Belenenses". TERAZ.sk (in Slovak). Retrieved 2018-02-18.
  5. "Slovák v chorvátskej lige? Chriena lanári Hajduk Split". ProFutbal.sk (in Slovak). Retrieved 2018-02-18.
  6. "Ništa od dolaska mladog slovačkog reprezentativca Chriena u NK Osijek!". republika.eu. Retrieved 2018-02-18.
  7. "Martin Chrien odišiel na ročné hosťovanie z Lisabonu do portugalského klubu C.D. Santa Clara". Webnoviny.sk (in Slovak). 2018-08-17. Retrieved 2019-05-19.
  8. "Hapal oznámil nomináciu bez Škrtela a spol. Kapitánsku pásku prevzal Hamšík". Pravda.sk (in Slovak). 2019-03-12. Retrieved 2019-03-12.
  9. "Slovakia v Jordan game report". ESPN. 7 June 2019. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
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