“Those Days Will Never Come Back”: Felipe Martins Ready for New Post-Playing Journey
We are just five weeks away from the start of the 2026 Major League Soccer season, which will feature a number of breathtaking fixtures across North America. Inter Miami will kick off its MLS Cup title defense with a trip to Los Angeles FC, reigning finalists Vancouver Whitecaps will host Real Salt Lake, and Columbus Crew will kick off the Henrik Rydstrom era by traveling to Colorado Rapids. Over in North Florida, Orlando City will be taking on New York Red Bulls in a rematch of the 2024 MLS Eastern Conference final, which saw New York prevail 1-0 before losing to LA Galaxy in the final, and one man who will be watching closely is Felipe Campanholi Martins.
“I think Orlando’s in a tough spot because they are competing against the best team in Major League Soccer (Inter Miami). Orlando fans deserve to be successful, and I think they’re very close. They have the right structure and the right things around them to do well, but it’s all about having the right mindset and way of doing things,” stated Martins in an exclusive R.Org interview. “They’ve got very good, exciting young players, and I really want them to do very well, but I truly hope that they use more academy players, more players from the reserves, because I believe that Orlando has one of the best academies in MLS. There are many players who haven’t been used, and they need more opportunities to develop and play. I think they’re going to have a good year, and at some point, they should start to use a lot of their academy players.”
Transitioning from Brazil to Europe
Born on September 30, 1990, Martins was raised in Engenheiro Beltrão, Brazil, but left his home and family at 10 years old to kickstart his soccer career. He traded Paraná for Santa Catarina before eventually moving to Rio de Janeiro, where he bounced around various small clubs like Campo Grande, before deciding to head across the Atlantic and try his luck at Italian side Calcio Padova in 2008. Unfortunately for him, Martins would make just five appearances for I Biancoscudati before being released after being diagnosed with a minor heart defect: hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Similar to Christian Eriksen in 2021, he was forced to leave Italy and continue his career elsewhere due to these cardiac issues.
“I had to stop playing for almost seven months so they could try to figure out what was wrong with me. I was coming off a five-game streak where I was starting at 17 or 18, when we were first in the Italian third division. All of a sudden, you hear the news that you have a heart problem. It was really difficult because it took six months. I did a lot of research and tests, and they found that a small piece of my left ventricle is bigger than it’s supposed to be. They were worried that I could never play again, and the rules in Italy didn’t allow players with my condition to play. I didn’t fear for my life, but it’s more the fear of losing everything you’ve worked for. My dream was finally starting to come true, and all of a sudden, it was disappearing and getting away from me. I had already done so much work, and it was just frustrating to accept that reality, but I was really happy to overcome it.”
Instead of returning home to Brazil, Martins headed west for England, where he enjoyed a successful trial with League One side AFC Bournemouth. His impressive displays prompted current Newcastle manager Eddie Howe to offer him a contract, remarking, “He’s got great talent and great feet and can certainly cross a ball. I’ve taken a long-term view, and you’ve got to look to the future.” Martins, however, would decline the Cherries’ offer and instead join Swiss outfit FC Winterthur in January 2009, scoring 2 goals in 10 appearances and eventually earning a move to FC Lugano. He emerged as a key figure in midfield for L’orgoglio del Ticino across the next three years (save for a brief loan spell at FC Wohlen), scoring eight goals in 57 appearances before deciding to leave Switzerland and start a new journey in Canada. On December 21, 2011, Martins signed a contract with MLS expansion side Montreal Impact (now CF Montréal), where he learned from rookie manager Jesse Marsch (now Canada coach) and absorbed information from one of the greatest defenders of all time, Alessandro Nesta.
Martins quickly established himself as a fan favorite at Saputo Stadium, combining aggressive tackling and brilliant vision with a willingness to cover every blade of grass for his team. In 2013, he won the first trophy of his professional career, helping Montréal erase a 2-0 deficit from the first leg and demolish Toronto FC 6-0 to advance to the Canadian Championship final. After drawing 0-0 in the first leg at Vancouver Whitecaps, Montréal would end up equalizing after the break via Martins and securing a 2-2 draw. It was enough to see them win on away goals and secure their first trophy since 2008, and their first as an MLS club. They returned to the final in 2014, where, after drawing the first leg 1-1 in Toronto, they escaped with a 1-0 second-leg victory thanks to Martins’ extra-time winner. After a legendary spell in Quebec, during which he scored 14 goals and 21 assists in 107 appearances, Martins moved to the New York Red Bulls, where he played alongside future USMNT captain and Bournemouth midfielder Tyler Adams.
“You got the sense that Adams was going to be a top player because of his mindset and the way he carried himself. Even at 16, he showed a lot of personality. Every day in training, you could see how competitive, how fearless, and how focused he was. I was not surprised to see him playing in the Premier League and so many other good clubs. My time at New York was amazing; the Red Bulls are an amazing organization with so many good people around it. Red Bull Arena is one of the best stadiums in the league, but more importantly, the fans are very passionate. They’re a team that deserves a lot better than the results they’re getting. I believe they are truly one of the top organizations that I played in this league with, alongside Austin FC.”
Making His Mark in MLS
Reuniting with Marsch in the Big Apple, Martins proved essential as New York achieved the 2015 Supporters’ Shield before losing to Columbus in the conference finals. The following season, meanwhile, would see the Red Bulls finish first in the East (third overall) before losing to Montréal in the conference semifinals. New York reached the 2017 U.S. Open Cup final (losing to Sporting Kansas City) and finished sixth in the East before losing to Toronto in the first round of the playoffs.
Having racked up 10 goals and 10 assists in 125 appearances, Martins decided to head west for British Columbia and join the Vancouver Whitecaps ahead of the 2018 campaign. Martins scored two goals and two assists in 50 appearances before heading to the nation’s capital midway through the 2019 season, where he emerged as the team’s midfield linchpin until tearing his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in training on September 1, 2020.
At nearly 30, it looked set to be a killer blow to his career. Instead, Martins battled back and reasserted himself as a leader in midfield for the Black and Red, registering one goal and three assists in 44 appearances before taking his talents to Austin FC for the 2022 campaign. Having missed out on a playoff spot in their maiden season, Martins proved integral as Austin finished second in the West (fourth overall) before losing to LAFC in the conference finals, scoring one goal and three assists in 32 appearances during his lone season in Texas. He then moved east and joined Orlando City, where he found playing time increasingly hard to come by, appearing just 37 times across his two seasons in the Sunshine State.
“If I could redo one moment, it would be the decision to leave Austin and go to Orlando. I loved Austin; I made a decision not based on what I wanted, but on what my family wanted. I don’t regret those decisions, but if I could go back in time, I’d have chosen to stay. They had been there since 2021, and when I left D.C. United and moved to Austin, they stayed in Orlando.”
“It was just difficult to move the whole family for a year because I had a one-year contract in Austin. I ended up getting offers from Austin and Orlando, and in the end, for the kids, for the family, I decided to go to Orlando. They were two very difficult years in my career. Looking back as a retired player, I’m thankful for a lot of what Orlando did, but it kind of hurt me how I was treated. The people around there know what I gave to the club; they know what I did, and they are very aware of what certain people did to me. I don’t want to talk about it; it’s something that happens in soccer, and I just trusted the wrong people.”
Launching His Post-Playing Career
After a turbulent 2024, which saw him starved of regular playing time and also go through a divorce, Martins opted to return to Paraná to be closer to his mother as she underwent chemotherapy. He was able to close the loop and play in front of his grandmother for the first time ever, racking up 11 appearances for FC Cascavel in the Brazilian fourth division before deciding to hang up his boots on June 15, 2025, and eventually head back to Orlando, where he has remained ever since.
While Martins has established a rich playing legacy in Switzerland, the United States, and Canada, he’s also ensured that he isn’t defined by his playing exploits. Back in June 2016, he became the first athlete to ring the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange. In December 2021, he earned a National B coaching license from the U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF). Three years later, he finished his two-year master’s degree in sports directorship.
He recently attended classes at Harvard Business School, and this year, he will attend three different four-day coaching courses in Kansas City to secure his USSF A License. Today, he balances his time between holding private coaching and mentoring sessions with promising young players, studying for his A License, and spending time with his two sons, Noah and Liam, whenever he can. At 35 years of age, he’s more than ready for the next opportunity, whatever that may be.
“My main goal for 2026 is to find a job with the right organization or right league. I know my knowledge, I know my value, and I know what I can do to help. Getting to work at a place where I’d really love to be a part of, where there is room for me to grow and be myself, and at the same time help those around me, that’s what I want. It’s just about coming back, overcoming the past few years, and understanding and building myself back to who I am instead of living life feeling sorry for myself. It’s about finding peace with myself and what I’ve done as a player because those days will never come back.”