Mauricinho (beach soccer)

Mauricinho
Mauricinho at the 2019 South American Beach Games.
Personal information
Full name Mauricio Pereira Braz de Oliveira
Date of birth (1989-12-09) 9 December 1989 (age 35)
Place of birth Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s) Forward
International career‡
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2012– Brazil 137 (166)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 19 November 2023

Mauricio Pereira Braz de Oliveira (born 9 December 1989), known better as Mauricinho, is a Brazilian beach soccer player who plays as a forward. He won the 2017 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup representing Brazil and claimed the Silver Ball (second best player) award at the competition; he has also appeared at three other World Cups (2015, 2019, 2021). In addition, he was named the best player in the world at the 2017 Beach Soccer Stars awards.

Career

Mauricinho began playing beach soccer competitively in 2010;[1] he was spotted by Brazilian beach soccer legend, Júnior Negão, playing with friends on Copacabana Beach and was subsequently invited to play for Vasco da Gama.[2]

He was first called up to the Brazilian national team in 2012.[3] Mauricinho began to thrive under the leadership of coach Gilberto Costa, post-2015.[4] This rise peaked in 2017 when he was voted by fellow players and coaches as the best player in the world; this followed being declared the second best player of that year's World Cup in the Bahamas in which he scored a brace in Brazil's win in the final over Tahiti. He was also the top scorer in Beach Soccer Worldwide competitions that year, with 54 goals.[5]

He made his 100th appearance for Brazil in an 8–2 win against Oman at the 2019 World Cup.[6]

As well as continuing to play for Vasco da Gama and winning the Copa Libertadores with the club,[2] outside of Brazil, as is typical of top beach soccer players,[7] Mauricinho has played for numerous clubs in Europe.[2] In 2017, he joined top Portuguese side, Braga, and immediately won the Euro Winners Cup (EWC).[8] In 2018, he switched to Russian rivals Kristall.[1] Reaching the 2018 EWC final against his former Iberian club, he missed the crucial attempt in the penalty shootout, handing Braga the victory.[9] He redeemed himself in the 2020 edition when, in a repeat of the 2018 final, Mauricinho scored to help Kristall become European champions.[10]

In the immediate aftermath of Brazil's quarter-final defeat to Senegal at the 2021 World Cup, Mauricinho announced that he would be retiring from the national team, claiming that it "needs some new blood".[11] However, the decision proved short-lived, as he took his place in new coach Marco Octavio's first call-up in May 2022.[12]

Statistics

Note: Some of the sources of these statistics may have counted an appearance when the player was actually an unused substitute.

Honours

The following is a selection, not an exhaustive list, of the major international honours Mauricinho has achieved:

References

  1. ^ a b MAURICINHO PEREIRA BRAZ DE OLIVEIRA (in Russian). BSC Kristall. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  2. ^ a b c Beach Soccer: Melhor jogador do mundo, Mauricinho é a arma do Vasco para conseguir o bi da Libertadores (in Portuguese). NetVasco. 11 November 2017. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  3. ^ Novidades da seleção, Mauricinho e Rafinha comemoram a convocação (in Portuguese). Rede Globo. 10 April 2012. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  4. ^ Best Player of the Year: The three nominees. Beach Soccer Worldwide. 27 October 2017. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  5. ^ BAREFOOT: The Beach Soccer Mag - ISSUE 05. Beach Soccer Worldwide. 1 December 2017. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  6. ^ Holders entertain, while debutants play like veterans. FIFA.com. 23 December 2019. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  7. ^ FIFA Beach Soccer Workshop held in Dubai. Beach Soccer Worldwide. 3 November 2017. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  8. ^ Braga lift Euro Winners Cup with victory over Artur Music. Beach Soccer Worldwide. 4 June 2017. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  9. ^ Braga retain Euro Winners title. Beach Soccer Worldwide. 3 June 2018. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  10. ^ Kristall reclaim the European throne!. Beach Soccer Worldwide. 13 September 2020. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  11. ^ "Senegal and the hosts party on". FIFA. 26 August 2021. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  12. ^ "Marco Octavio convoca seleção pela primeira vez para disputa da Final da Liga Sul-Americana". CBSB - Confederação de Beach Soccer do Brasil (in Portuguese). 29 April 2022. Retrieved 28 January 2024.