Martin Chrien

Martin Chrien
Chrien with Dukla Banská Bystrica in 2013
Personal information
Full name Martin Chrien
Date of birth (1995-09-08) 8 September 1995 (age 31)
Place of birth Banská Bystrica, Slovakia
Height 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Podbrezová
Number 9
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)
2017–2020 Benfica B 29 (1)
2018–2019 → Santa Clara (loan) 18 (1)
2021 Mezőkövesd 25 (1)
2022 Pohronie 7 (0)
2022–2026 Ružomberok 96 (12)
2026– Podbrezová 9 (2)
International career‡
2013–2014 Slovakia U19 3 (0)
2014–2018 Slovakia U21 21 (6)
2019 Slovakia 1 (1)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 21 September 2026
‡ National team caps and goals as of 7 June 2019

Martin Chrien (Slovak pronunciation: [ˈmartiŋ ˈxrɪen]; born 8 September 1995) is a Slovak professional footballer who plays for Podbrezová as a midfielder.

Club career

Born in Banská Bystrica, Chrien made his professional debut for the local club Dukla Banská Bystrica 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 Czech First League.

On 29 June 2017, Chrien moved to Portugal and signed a five-year contract with defending champions Benfica Lisbon. The same year on 20 August, he made his 2017–18 Primeira Liga debut against Belenenses in a 5–0 victory, coming on in the 71st minute of the match. Due to lack of enough playing time, Chrien was linked with a loan move to Croatian clubs Hajduk Split and Osijek.

Chrien spent the 2018–19 season with Santa Clara, who returned to the top division after 15 years of absence.

In January 2020, Chrien signed with Mezőkövesd as a free agent, following low play in Benfica in 2020.

International career

Chrien received his first call-up to the Slovak senior squad by Pavel Hapal for UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying fixture against Hungary and Wales. On 7 June 2019, Chrien debuted in a friendly match against Jordan as a starter, scoring the second goal which ended in a 5–1 victory for the Slovaks.

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. ↑ https://sportnet.sme.sk/spravy/futbal-chrien-odchadza-z-ruzomberka-do-podbrezovej-nike-liga-2025-2026/
  2. ↑ "Dukla Banská Bystrica 1–2 Košice". Soccerway. 1 December 2012.
  3. ↑ "FK Dukla Banská Bystrica - FC VSS Košice | Detail zápasu". Niké liga. Retrieved 7 May 2026.
  4. ↑ "Chrien odchádza z Banskej Bystrice a bude ďalším Slovákom v Plzni". Profutbal (in Slovak). 14 May 2014. Archived from the original on 17 May 2014.
  5. ↑ "Martin Chrien assina por cinco épocas" [Martin Chrien signs for five seasons]. S.L. Benfica (in Portuguese). 29 June 2017.
  6. ↑ "Chrien debutoval za Benficu pro vysokom triumfe nad Belenenses". Teraz.sk (in Slovak). Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  7. ↑ "Slovák v chorvátskej lige? Chriena lanári Hajduk Split". ProFutbal (in Slovak). Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  8. ↑ "Ništa od dolaska mladog slovačkog reprezentativca Chriena u NK Osijek!". Republika (in Croatian). Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  9. ↑ "Martin Chrien odišiel na ročné hosťovanie z Lisabonu do portugalského klubu C.D. Santa Clara". Webnoviny.sk (in Slovak). 17 August 2018. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
  10. ↑ "Középpályások érkeztek | Mezőkövesd Zsóry | Hivatalos Oldal". Mezőkövesd SE (in Hungarian). Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  11. ↑ "Hapal oznámil nomináciu bez Škrtela a spol. Kapitánsku pásku prevzal Hamšík". Pravda. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  12. ↑ "Slováci v príprave porazili Jordánsko 5–1". Postoj (in Slovak). 7 June 2019.