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Mauricinho (beach soccer)

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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 34)
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

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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

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

Honours

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

References

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  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.
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