Martin Fenin

Martin Fenin
Fenin playing for the Czech Republic in 2010
Personal information
Full name Martin Fenin[1]
Date of birth (1987-04-16) 16 April 1987 (age 36)
Place of birth Cheb, Czechoslovakia
Height 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s) Striker
Team information
Current team
 FK Řeporyje
Number 17
Youth career
1993–2003 FK Teplice
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2003–2007 FK Teplice 77 (15)
2008–2011 Eintracht Frankfurt 90 (14)
2011–2012 Energie Cottbus 14 (0)
2013 Slavia Prague 12 (0)
2014 FK Teplice 7 (1)
2014 Istres 8 (1)
2015–2016 Chemnitzer FC 2 (0)
2016–2017 Zbrojovka Brno U21 ? (?)
2017–2018 FK Varnsdorf 5 (1)
2020– FK Řeporyje 0 (0)
International career
2002–2003 Czech Republic U16 14 (3)
2003–2004 Czech Republic U17 15 (6)
2004–2006 Czech Republic U19 20 (6)
2006–2007 Czech Republic U20 12 (4)
2008 Czech Republic U21 1 (0)
2007–2011 Czech Republic 16 (3)
Managerial career
2017 1. FC Magdeburg (scout)[2]
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Martin Fenin (Czech pronunciation: [ˈmarcɪn ˈfɛɲɪn]; 16 April 1987) is a Czech professional footballer who plays as a striker for FK Řeporyje.[3] He has represented the Czech Republic national team and formerly played for the youth teams of the Czech Republic from the under-16 level.

Club career

Fenin started playing professional football for FK Teplice. In 2007, he won the Talent of the Year award at the Czech Footballer of the Year awards.[4] Following his performance at the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Canada, many large clubs expressed interest in him. Juventus was one of the teams in the scramble to sign the Czech forward from his home club.[5] The deal looked to be sealed but Fenin had a change of heart after claiming he would not be happy as Juventus would loan him out to Udinese Calcio or Genoa CFC for a season.[6] He then swiftly agreed to a deal with Eintracht Frankfurt worth €3.5 million, where he got to a good start, scoring a hat-trick in his first match. In the last day of transfer window 31 August 2011, he moved to Energie Cottbus.[7][8]

Since the summer break in 2016, he has been in touch with the Czech First League team FC Zbrojovka Brno. He went through a three-month fitness programme. On 3 November 2016, he started his trial there, with the goal to incorporate into U-21 squad in the rest of the autumn and to gain a place in preparing with the first team in the winter break.[9]

International career

Fenin played for several different youth national teams of the Czech Republic having the most starts for the Czech Republic U19 national team. He scored three goals for the Czechs in the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Canada, including one in the final against Argentina. After the tournament he won 16th place in a poll for best under-21 player.[10]

On 22 August 2007, Fenin made his international debut for senior national team against Austria. As of 2008, he was a part of the Czech national team and was nominated for the UEFA Euro 2008, but did not play in the tournament.[11]

After a 2009 defeat against Slovakia in the qualification for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, coach Petr Rada was dismissed along with several players. These players (Fenin among them) were suspended indefinitely from the team by the Football Association of the Czech Republic for an alleged disciplinary breach.[12] He returned to action for his country a year later, playing in the friendly match against Turkey on 22 May 2010.

Personal life

In June 2021, Fenin spoke about mental health in football and his struggles with alcoholism. Fenin, working for the FIFPRO's mental health awareness programme said that "[He] always fled into alcohol when [he] encountered problems", and added that "talking was his biggest problem", advising players struggling with mental health to reach out to someone.[13]

Career statistics

Scores and results list the Czech Republic's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Fenin goal.
List of international goals scored by Martin Fenin[14]
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 11 October 2008 Silesian Stadium, Chorzów, Poland  Poland 1–2 1–2 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
2 25 May 2010 Rentschler Field, East Hartford, United States  United States 3–2 4–2 Friendly
3 11 August 2010 Stadion u Nisy, Liberec, Czech Republic  Latvia 2–0 4–1 Friendly

Honours

Czech Republic U21

References

  1. ^ "FIFA U-20 World Cup Canada 2007 – List of Players" (PDF). FIFA. 5 July 2007. p. 8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 December 2013.
  2. ^ Martin Fenin Noch ein Ex-Star für den FCM, mz-web.de, 6 December 2016
  3. ^ "Fenin má po dvou letech angažmá. Bude hrát I. A. třídu za Řeporyje" (in Czech). 24 August 2020. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
  4. ^ "Historie ankety Fotbalista roku" (in Czech). ČMFS. Retrieved 27 April 2011.
  5. ^ "Frankfurt signs Czech forward Martin Fenin from Teplice". International Herald Tribune. 28 December 2007. Retrieved 2 June 2008.
  6. ^ Kadlec, Vasek; Nadia Carminati (22 December 2007). "Frankfurt pip Juve to Fenin". Sky Sports. Retrieved 26 June 2008.
  7. ^ Ebert, Michael (2 January 2008). "Fenin unterschreibt bis 2012" (in German). Retrieved 27 April 2011.
  8. ^ Townsend, Walter (11 February 2008). "Martin Fenin: Finding His Feet In Frankfurt". Goal.com. Retrieved 2 June 2008.
  9. ^ "S juniorkou trénuje Martin Fenin". 4 November 2016. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
  10. ^ "V klubovém dresu. Martin jako jediný Čech figuruje v anketě Zlatý chlapec" (in Czech). Thomas. 11 December 2007. Archived from the original on 15 January 2008. Retrieved 15 June 2008.
  11. ^ "Bruckner Finalises Squad". Sporting Life UK. Retrieved 2 June 2008.
  12. ^ Bouc, František (16 April 2009). "Postgame Party Leads to Sanctions". Retrieved 2 May 2009.
  13. ^ a b "Martin Fenin: "Look for someone you trust, and talk"". FIFPRO. 1 June 2021. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
  14. ^ "Fenin, Martin". National Football Teams. Retrieved 16 April 2017.

External links