Mauro Cichero (footballer, born 1995)

Mauro Cichero
Personal information
Full name Mauro Cichero
Date of birth (1995-08-01) August 1, 1995 (age 29)
Place of birth Caracas, Venezuela[1]
Height 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)[1]
Position(s) Midfield, Forward
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014–2017 SMU Mustangs 68 (24)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016 OKC Energy U-23 4 (4)
2020–2022 Charleston Battery 37 (5)
2023–2024 Forward Madison 33 (2)
Total 74 (11)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of November 22, 2024

Mauro Cichero is a Venezuelan former professional footballer.

Early life

Cichero was born in Venezuela[1] and grew up in Norman, Oklahoma from preschool age until third grade, where his father worked as a soccer coach.[2] He then moved to Spain, where he played at soccer academies in Valencia,[3] before returning to the United States in 2011, following his mother's death.[4] He attended Norman North High School[5] and in 2013, he was named as the Oklahoman All-City Player of the Year.[4] He was named the Gatorade Oklahoma Boys Soccer Player of the Year in 2013 and 2014.[6] In 2014, he scored a bicycle kick goal to give his high school a double overtime victory, with video of the goal going viral.[7]

College career

Coming out of high school, he was considered Oklahoma's top prospect from the 2014 graduating class.[3] He had originally committed to attend Tulsa University, but later decommitted[8] and decided to attend Southern Methodist University and join their soccer program. Cichero was a standout performer for SMU during his four-year college career. As a freshman, he was named to the ACC Second Team and the All-Rookie Team.[9]

In his sophomore season in 2015, he was named the AAC Offensive Player of the Year,[10] was named to the NCAA Division I First-Team All-America,[11] and was a semi-finalist for the MAC Hermann Trophy, which is awarded to the top college soccer player of the year.[9]

In his senior season in 2017, he was named the AAC Midfielder of the Year[12] and was again named to the NCAA Division I First-Team All-America.[13] Late in the season, he suffered a serious torn ACL injury.[14]

Professional career

After his sophomore year at SMU, Cichero joined the OKC Energy U-23 of the Premier Development League for the summer.[15] He scored 4 goals in 4 games for OKC.[16]

In the 2018 MLS SuperDraft, he was selected 29th overall by FC Dallas.[17] He fell in the draft due to an ACL injury suffered in his senior season at SMU.[18] He would not play that season, but spent the year rehabbing with the club with the hope that he would join the roster the following year.[19]

After not playing in 2018 due to rehabbing his ACL injury,[20] he went on trial with FC Dallas's USL League One affiliate North Texas SC, in the third tier.[21] However, due to continued injury struggles,[22] he did not make the club's roster for 2019.[23]

In 2020, he signed with Charleston Battery of the second tier USL Championship.[9] He made his debut on July 19, 2020, coming on as a substitute against Birmingham Legion FC.[24] His first goal came on August 5, when he scored in stoppage time against Atlanta United 2 to tie the game at 1-1.[25] He re-signed with the club for the 2021 season.[26] Early in the 2021 season, he tore his ACL, forcing him to miss the remainder of the season.[27] After recovering from his injury, he re-signed with the club for the 2022 season.[28][29] Following the 2022 season, the Battery declined his club option for 2023.[30]

In January 2023, Cichero signed with USL League One side Forward Madison.[31][32] After the season, he re-signed with the club for the 2024 season.[33][34] After the 2024 season, he announced his retirement.[citation needed]

Personal

He is the son of Mauro Cichero, who was a professional soccer player and represented Venezuela in the 1980 Summer Olympics.[35] His brothers, Alejandro and Gabriel, are also professional soccer players who have represented the Venezuela national team.[36] In 2018, he stated it is a dream of his to represent the national team like his father and brothers.[36] Born in Venezuela, Cichero is of Italian and Polish descent.[37]

Career statistics

As of October 20, 2024[38]
Club statistics
Club Season League Playoffs Domestic Cup League Cup Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
OKC Energy U23[16] 2016 Premier Development League 4 4 0 0 — — 4 4
Charleston Battery 2020 USL Championship 11 2 2 0 — — 13 2
2021 1 0 0 0 — — 1 0
2022 25 3 — 1 0 — 26 3
Total 37 5 2 0 1 0 0 0 40 5
Forward Madison FC 2023 USL League One 27 2 0 0 1 0 — 28 2
2024 6 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 8 0
Total 33 2 0 0 3 0 0 0 36 2
Career total 74 11 2 0 4 0 0 0 80 11

References

  1. ^ a b c "Mauro Cichero Profile". USL Championship.
  2. ^ Godfrey, Ed (May 2, 2013). "High school soccer: Mauro Cichero leads Norman North into quarterfinals". The Oklahoman.
  3. ^ a b "Mauro Cichero". Southern Methodist University.
  4. ^ a b Godfrey, Ed (June 1, 2013). "Boys soccer: Norman North's Mauro Cichero is All-City Player of the Year". The Oklahoman.
  5. ^ Rohrbach, Ben (April 9, 2014). "Oklahoma's Mauro Cichero unleashes bicycle kick that rivals any prep goal ever". Yahoo Sports.
  6. ^ Wright, Scott (May 13, 2014). "Norman North's Mauro Cichero wins state's Gatorade soccer award". The Oklahoman.
  7. ^ Horning, Clay (April 11, 2014). "Cichero's amazing, game-winning goal goes viral". The Norman Transcript.
  8. ^ Warwick, Evan (June 6, 2023). "Behind the 'Mingos: With Mauro Cichero". Forward Madison FC.
  9. ^ a b c "Battery Add Attacking Option, Mauro Cichero, to Roster". Charleston Battery. February 27, 2020.
  10. ^ "Men's Soccer Regular Season Awards Announced". American Athletic Conference. November 12, 2015.
  11. ^ "NSCAA Names the 2015 NCAA Division I Men All-America Teams". National Soccer Coaches Association of America. December 11, 2015. Retrieved January 6, 2017.
  12. ^ "Men's Soccer Regular Season Awards Announced". American Athletic Conference. November 8, 2017.
  13. ^ "NCAA DI Men's All-America Teams Announced by United Soccer Coaches". United Soccer Coaches. Archived from the original on June 24, 2018. Retrieved July 6, 2018.
  14. ^ Epperley, Drew (January 19, 2018). "MLS Draft 2018: FC Dallas selects two in second round". Big D Soccer.
  15. ^ Brannick, Chris (April 14, 2016). "Mauro Cichero signs with OKC Energy U23 team". The Oklahoman.
  16. ^ a b "Mauro Cichero 2016 PDL Stats". USL League Two.
  17. ^ "FC Dallas Adds Four Players in Opening Rounds of 2018 MLS SuperDraft". FC Dallas. January 19, 2018.
  18. ^ Murphy, Pat (January 19, 2018). "How to Watch: MLS SuperDraft; live stream, time, date, analysis". Massive Report.
  19. ^ Carrick, Buzz (June 3, 2018). "Crossing the gulf - the FC Dallas roster divide". The Dallas Morning News.
  20. ^ Carrick, Buzz (January 2, 2019). "2019 FC Dallas Roster Update - First Week of January". The Dallas Morning News.
  21. ^ Carmona, El Chico (February 6, 2019). "North Texas SC: Roster and Trialists Breakdown". Big D Soccer.
  22. ^ "Battery sign Mauro Cichero". Black Yellow Post. February 27, 2020.
  23. ^ Carrick, Buzz (January 15, 2020). "Twenty players – the SMU to FC Dallas connection". 3rd Degree.
  24. ^ "Charleston Battery vs Birmingham Legion". USL Championship. July 19, 2020.
  25. ^ "Battery Earn Draw in Stoppage Time in Atlanta". WCSC-TV. August 6, 2020.
  26. ^ "Cichero Back for 2021 Season". Charleston Battery. December 4, 2020.
  27. ^ @MLSVenezuela (May 31, 2021). "Nuevamente una lesión se presenta en la carrera de Mauro Cichero" [Again an injury appears in the career of Mauro Cichero] (Tweet) (in Spanish) – via Twitter.
  28. ^ "Charleston Re-Signs Forward Mauro Cichero for New Season". USL Championship. March 8, 2022.
  29. ^ "Charleston Battery renueva contrato de Mauro Cichero" [Charleston Battery renews contract for Mauro Cichero]. El Informador. March 8, 2022.
  30. ^ "Battery announce initial returning players for 2023". Charleston Battery. November 22, 2022.
  31. ^ Warwick, Evan (19 January 2023). "6'5" Forward Mauro Cichero Signs With Forward Madison FC". Forward Madison FC.
  32. ^ Chappell, Robert (January 19, 2023). "Forward Madison signs 6'5" Venezuelan striker Mauro Cichero". Madison365.
  33. ^ Wunschel, Kylee (December 8, 2023). "Forward Madison FC Re-Sign Forward Mauro Cichero". Forward Madison FC.
  34. ^ Chappell, Robert (December 8, 2023). "Cichero, Payne will return to Forward Madison". Madison365.
  35. ^ De Simone, Fioravante (15 March 2018). "Mauro Cichero, uno dei pilastri della vinotinto olimpionica" [Mauro Cichero, one of the pillars of the olympic vinotinto]. La Voce d'Italia (in Italian). Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  36. ^ a b Parra Peña, Javier (January 22, 2018). "Mauro Cichero: "Es un sueño mio ir a la selección"" [Mauro Cichero: "It's a dream of mine to go to the national team"]. Vavel (in Spanish).
  37. ^ Borzęcki, Marcin (26 April 2021). "Od potomka "Witkacego" po Dybalę. Egzotycznymi śladami Polaków" [From the descendant of "Witkacy" to Paulo Dybala. In the exotic footsteps of Poles]. TVP Sport.
  38. ^ Mauro Cichero at Soccerway