Javier Sylvester Martina (born 1 February 1987) is a Curaçaoan former 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 played as a winger. He has represented the

Curaçao Curaçao, officially the Country of Curaçao, is a constituent island country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located in the southern Caribbean Sea (specifically the Dutch Caribbean region), about north of Venezuela. Curaçao includ ...

national team.

Club career

Netherlands

Born in

Willemstad Willemstad ( ; ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of Curaçao, an island in the southern Caribbean Sea that is a Countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It was the cap ...

, Netherlands Antilles (now known as Curaçao), Martina began his career with SV Bijlmer (

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

, Netherlands). After two years, he joined Amstelveen Heemraad in the summer of 2001. In July 2003, he left Amsteleen Heemraad to sign for FC Omniworld, from where he was scouted by Jong AFC Ajax in the summer of 2005. He played three years for the

AFC Ajax Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (), also known as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam, or commonly Ajax, is a Dutch professional Association football, football Football team, club based in Amsterdam, that plays in the , the top tier in Dutch football. ...

youth team, before he was promoted to the

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 ...

team in June 2008. The highly rated right winger made his official Ajax debut in the 2008 season in a 2–0

win against Twente. Martina started the match and assisted on his club's first goal of the match. In Summer 2009, he was linked with a move to Italian side

Bari Bari ( ; ; ; ) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia Regions of Italy, region, on the Adriatic Sea in southern Italy. It is the first most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy. It is a port and ...

. In January 2010 he was sent on loan to HFC Haarlem playing only one game before the team went bankrupt. He returned to

Jong Ajax Jong Ajax (; ), also referred to as Ajax II or Ajax 2, is a Dutch association football team. It is based in Amsterdam and competes in the Dutch Eerste Divisie. Jong Ajax is the only reserve team to have won a title in Dutch professional foot ...

before he was released in the summer of 2010. After being released by Ajax, Martina continued to train with Ajax and went on trial with

Zwolle Zwolle () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Northeastern Netherlands. It is the Capital city, capital of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Overijssel ...

after manager Art Langeler saw Martina can play in wings and was keen to sign him. Martina went on trial with Willem II, hoping to win a contract. But on 4 January, Martina ended a trial with Willem II.

Canada

In January 2011, Martina joined Canadian club

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matc ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

on trial for their pre-season in

Antalya Antalya is the fifth-most populous city in Turkey and the capital of Antalya Province. Recognized as the "capital of tourism" in Turkey and a pivotal part of the Turkish Riviera, Antalya sits on Anatolia's southwest coast, flanked by the Tau ...

, Turkey. On 15 February 2011 it was reported that he had agreed to terms with the Canadian club. However it was not officially announced by the Canadian club until 9 March 2011. Martina was one of three Dutch players signed by Toronto, both Nick Soolsma and Elbekay Bouchiba also joined the club. Martina made his debut for the team on 19 March 2011 versus

Vancouver Whitecaps FC Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Vancouver. The Whitecaps compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The MLS ite ...

in the first all Canadian match-up in the league. One week later during the second game of the season Martina scored two goals against Portland, leading Toronto to a 2–0 home victory. Martina's second goal of the match was a one touch volley direct from goalkeeper

Stefan Frei Stefan Frei (born 20 April 1986) is a Swiss professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for Major League Soccer club Seattle Sounders FC. Born in Switzerland, Frei moved with his fam ...

, which earned him MLS Goal of the Week honours. Throughout the rest of the season, Martina was soon less successful and failed to make an impact as he went to make 21 appearances. Martina was waived by Toronto on 23 November 2011.

Return to Netherlands

Ahead of a new season in 2012–13, Martina desired to continue his career in

Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (; ) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as the Keuken Kampioen Divisie due to sponsorship reasons, while ...

, by playing for

Dordrecht Dordrecht (), historically known in English as Dordt (still colloquially used in Dutch, ) or Dort, is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Western Netherlands, lo ...

and was signed for them on 22 August 2012, with a one-year contract. Martina made his debut on 1 October 2012, coming on as a substitute, in a 3–0 win over

Helmond Sport Helmond Sport () is a Dutch professional football club based in Helmond, North Brabant. Founded in 1967 following the acquisition of the professional license of , the club achieved promotion to the top-tier Eredivisie in 1982. After two seasons ...

. He played amateur football between 2013 and 2020, ending his career with Zeeburgia.

International career

He was a member of the Netherlands U-20 team at the

2007 Toulon Tournament The 2007 Toulon Tournament was the 35th edition of the Toulon Tournament, and was held from 31 May to 9 June. It was won by France national football team, France, after they beat China national under-23 football team, China 3–1 in the final. Res ...

. Martina was called up by his country of birth,

for 2014 World Cup qualifying in September 2011

Personal life

His brother Cuco is also a footballer.

References

External links

*
AFC Ajax profileAjax Inside Profile
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Martina, Javier 1987 births Living people Curaçao men's footballers Curaçao expatriate men's footballers Curaçao men's international footballers Dutch men's footballers Dutch people of Curaçao descent Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players Derde Divisie players Major League Soccer players Almere City FC players AFC Ajax players HFC Haarlem players Toronto FC players FC Dordrecht players Footballers from Willemstad Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada Netherlands men's youth international footballers 21st-century Dutch sportsmen Men's association football midfielders Zuidoost United players AVV Zeeburgia players