Rolando Maximiliano "Bruno" Martins Indi (born 8 February 1992) is a Dutch professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a defender for

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

club AZ and the Netherlands national team. Martins Indi began his career with Dutch club

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Netherlands, Dutch professional association football, football club based in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football league system, Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the ...

, after progressing through the club's youth teams. He spent four seasons at

De Kuip Stadion Feijenoord (), more commonly known by its nickname De Kuip (, the Tub), is a stadium in Rotterdam, Netherlands. It was completed in 1937. The name is derived from the Feijenoord district in Rotterdam, and from the club with the same na ...

, making 120 appearances before moving to Portugal in July 2014 to play for

Porto Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Portugal, second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto c ...

for a fee of €7.7 million. In August 2016 Martins Indi joined

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

side Stoke City on loan for the 2016–17 season. A year later, he signed for Stoke permanently for a fee of £7 million. After 137 games for Stoke, he returned to the Eredivisie with AZ in 2021, initially on loan. A full international for the Netherlands since 2012, he has gained over 30 caps and was part of their squad which finished third at the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...

Early life

Born in Barreiro, Portugal, to parents from

Guinea-Bissau Guinea-Bissau, officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, is a country in West Africa that covers with an estimated population of 2,026,778. It borders Senegal to Guinea-Bissau–Senegal border, its north and Guinea to Guinea–Guinea-Bissau b ...

, Martins Indi moved to

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

, Netherlands, with his family, at the age of three months. He began playing football with youth teams at amateur club Spartaan '20 before joining the Feyenoord Academy at the age of 13.

Club career

Feyenoord

Martins Indi joined

's first team squad as an

academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

graduate at the start of the 2010–11 season. He made his professional debut for Feyenoord on 19 August 2010, when he was part of the starting line-up in the Europa League home match against Gent (1–0). Three days later, on 22 August 2010, he also made his

debut in the 1–1 draw against

Heracles Almelo Heracles Almelo is a Dutch professional football club based in Almelo, founded in 1903. The club has won the Dutch national title twice, in 1927 and 1941. Heracles won the Eerste Divisie title during the 2004–05 season, gaining promotion to t ...

. On 12 September 2010, Martins Indi received a red card for the first time in his club career in stoppage time in a 2–0 loss against

NAC Breda NAC Breda (), often simply known as NAC, is a Dutch professional football club, based in Breda, Netherlands. NAC Breda play in the Rat Verlegh Stadium, named after their most important player, Antoon 'Rat' Verlegh. They play in the Eredivisi ...

. On 17 April 2011, Martins Indi scored his first

goal for Feyenoord in a 6–1 win over Willem II, He, along with Ryo Miyaichi and Georginio Wijnaldum, made headlines after the match having done a sound job defensively and having capped a promising performance with a header goal from a corner kick. In the 2011–12 season, Martins Indi became a regular starter under Feyenoord's new manager

Ronald Koeman Ronald Koeman (; born 21 March 1963) is a Dutch professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who is the manager of the Netherlands national football team, Netherlands national team. Koeman scor ...

. On 22 October 2011, Martins Indi scored his first league goal of the season in a 2–1 loss against

VVV-Venlo VVV-Venlo (, ''VVV'' stands for ''Venlose Voetbal Vereniging'' meaning "Venlo Football Club") is a Dutch association football, football club from Venlo, a city on the border with Germany. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutc ...

. On 22 February 2012, Martins Indi signed a new contract that would keep him contracted at

until the summer of 2016. He played 31 times in 2011–12 as Feyenoord finished in 2nd position behind

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...

. He remained a key player under Koeman in the 2012–13 and 2013–14 campaigns, playing in 39 and 31 games respectively.

Porto

On 15 July 2014, Martins Indi transferred to

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

side

for €7.7 million. He scored his first goal for Porto in a 2–1 home win over

Braga Braga (; ) is a cities of Portugal, city and a Municipalities of Portugal, municipality, capital of the northwestern Portugal, Portuguese Braga (district), district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality ...

on 5 October 2014. Martins Indi played 37 times in the for Porto as they finished runners-up to Benfica in the league whilst they were also eliminated by Bayern Munich at the quarter-final stage of the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

. In 2015–16, he made 33 appearances as the side finished third and at the end of the campaign he was told by new manager

Nuno Espírito Santo Nuno Herlander Simões Espírito Santo (born 25 January 1974), known as Nuno Espírito Santo or simply Nuno, is a Portuguese-São Toméan Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who played as a Goalkee ...

he was free to leave the

Estádio do Dragão The Estádio do Dragão (; ') is an all-seater football stadium in Porto, Portugal, and the home ground of FC Porto since 2003. It has a seating capacity of 50,033, making it the third-largest football stadium in Portugal. Designed by Portugue ...

Stoke City

On 31 August 2016, Martins Indi joined

side Stoke City on loan for the 2016–17 season. He made his debut for Stoke on 10 September 2016 against

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

. Martins Indi formed a defensive partnership with Ryan Shawcross which helped Stoke make a recovery from a poor start to the season. On 31 December 2016, Martins Indi scored this first goal in English football in a 4–2 defeat away at Chelsea. In May 2017 Martins Indi stated that he wants to turn his loan move into a permanent transfer in the summer. However

Mark Hughes Leslie Mark Hughes (born 1 November 1963) is a Welsh association football, football coach and former player who is the head coach of club Carlisle United F.C., Carlisle United. During his playing career he usually operated as a Forward (asso ...

admitted that a deal with Porto for Martins Indi had hit an "impasse" and at the end of the season he returned to Porto. After lengthy negotiations between Stoke and Porto, Martins Indi eventually joined Stoke on 11 August 2017, signing a five-year contract for a fee of £7 million. Martins Indi struggled with injuries in 2017–18, making 19 appearances as Stoke suffered relegation to the

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, it is the highest divi ...

. He remained with Stoke in the second tier in 2018–19 playing 41 times as the side finished in 16th position. He scored a rare goal in a 2–0 win against

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

on 2 October 2018. During the season Martins Indi was played out of position at left back by both Gary Rowett and Nathan Jones. Towards the end of the season with Stoke having failed to mount a promotion challenge, Martins Indi admitted that he was contemplating leaving as he looks for a return to the top level. Martins Indi was linked with a move away from the club in the summer of 2019 but a transfer failed to happen and he remained with Stoke. Stoke began the season a poor form which saw Jones replaced by Michael O'Neill in November and he moved Martins Indi to left back again. He kept his place in the team for the rest of the 2019–20 season, making 35 appearances helping Stoke avoid relegation and finish in 15th position.

AZ Alkmaar

On 6 October 2020 Martins Indi joined

AZ Alkmaar Alkmaar Zaanstreek (), better known internationally as AZ Alkmaar, or simply and most commonly as AZ () in the Netherlands, is a Dutch professional Association football, football club from Alkmaar and the Zaan#The Zaan district, Zaan district. ...

on loan for the 2020–21 season. Martins Indi played 33 times for AZ helping them finish in 3rd place, qualifying for the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

. He made his move to AZ permanent on 5 July 2021. In 2021–22, Martins Indi played 45 games in all competitions, scoring twice, as AZ came fifth. The team reached the last 16 of the

UEFA Europa Conference League The UEFA Conference League (UECL), usually known simply as the Conference League, is an annual association football, football competition organised since 2021 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European foot ...

and beat Vitesse in a playoff to qualify for the next season's edition.

International career

Martins Indi was eligible to play for either

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

or the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

as he has a dual passport; additionally, he was also eligible for

, his parents' nationality. Martins Indi favoured the Dutch team. On 25 October 2009, Martins Indi made his debut for the Netherlands under-17 squad in a 2–1 loss to

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

at the 2009 U-17 World Cup before coming off for Ouasim Bouy in the 79th minute. This was his only appearance for the Dutch U17 team. On 23 May 2010, Martins Indi was called up to the Netherlands under-19 squad and played the full 90 minutes in a 3–0 victory over

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. On 15 August 2012, he played his first full international game against

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. Despite the Netherlands losing 4–2, Martins Indi made an impressive debut and helped create both Dutch goals. He became a regular player during

qualification Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

for the

, scoring his first international goals in 4–1 defeats of

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

and

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. In 2013, Martins Indi represented the Netherlands under-21 team at the UEFA Under-21 Championship. His performances saw him included in

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

's all-star squad for the tournament. On 13 June 2014, Martins Indi made his World Cup debut in a 5–1 victory over reigning champions

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. On 18 June, in his second World Cup game against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, he was knocked unconscious by Tim Cahill and taken to hospital with a suspected concussion. He recovered faster than expected and he missed only the final group stage fixture against

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

. The Netherlands eventually finished third in the tournament. Martins Indi was sent off after 10 minutes of an eventual 2–0 friendly defeat away to Italy on 4 September 2014 after conceding a penalty by fouling Simone Zaza and denying him a goalscoring opportunity. In a UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying match on 3 September the following year, he was again dismissed for striking Kolbeinn Sigþórsson, as the Dutch lost 1–0 at the

Amsterdam Arena The Johan Cruyff Arena ( ; officially stylised as Johan Cruijff ArenA) is the main stadium of the Dutch capital city of Amsterdam and the home stadium of association football, football club AFC Ajax, Ajax since its opening. Built from 1993 to ...

in Danny Blind's first game in charge. After five years away, Martins Indi was recalled for

UEFA Nations League The UEFA Nations League is an international European football competition played by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA, the sport's European governing body. The competition was devised to minimise friendlies a ...

games against

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

in June 2022.

Personal life

On 23 March 2012, Martins Indi became a father after his girlfriend Mecia gave birth to a daughter. Martins Indi is fluent in Portuguese and still speaks it with his parents. He is an observant Muslim.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list the Netherlands' goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Martins Indi goal.''

Honours

Netherlands *

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

third place:

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

References

External links

*
Bruno Martins Indi
at ''Voetbal International'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Martins Indi, Bruno 1992 births Living people Portuguese emigrants to the Netherlands Naturalised citizens of the Netherlands Dutch people of Bissau-Guinean descent Footballers from Barreiro, Portugal Portuguese sportspeople of Bissau-Guinean descent Dutch men's footballers Portuguese men's footballers Footballers from Rotterdam Men's association football defenders Netherlands men's international footballers Netherlands men's under-21 international footballers Netherlands men's youth international footballers 2014 FIFA World Cup players Eredivisie players Primeira Liga players Premier League players English Football League players Feyenoord players FC Porto players Stoke City F.C. players AZ Alkmaar players Dutch Muslims Portuguese Muslims Black Portuguese sportspeople Dutch expatriate men's footballers Dutch expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England 21st-century Dutch sportsmen 21st-century Portuguese sportsmen