Alexandre da Silva Mariano (born 28 February 1973), best known as Amaral, is a retired Brazilian

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a

defensive midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. An international for

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, he participated in the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

, winning a bronze metal. During his club career, he passes through numerous clubs, winning league titles at

Palmeiras Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras (), commonly known as Palmeiras, is a Brazilian professional football club based in the city of São Paulo, in the district of Perdizes. Palmeiras is one of the most popular clubs in South America, with around ...

Corinthians The First Epistle to the Corinthians ( grc, Α΄ ᾽Επιστολὴ πρὸς Κορινθίους) is one of the Pauline epistles, part of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The epistle is attributed to Paul the Apostle and a co-aut ...

Vasco da Gama Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira (; ; c. 1460s – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and the first European to reach India by sea. His initial voyage to India by way of Cape of Good Hope (1497–1499) was the first to link E ...

and

Beşiktaş Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul, Turkey, located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and Şişli, on the west by Kağıthane and Şişli, on the south by Beyoğlu, and ...

Club career

Born in

Capivari Capivari is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil. The population is 56,379 (2020 est.) in an area of 323 km². People *Tarsila do Amaral (1886–1973), painter, born in the area of ''Fazenda São Bernardo'', currently located ...

, during his youth, and before he turned professional, he worked at a funeral parlor. Developed at

, for which he made his debut in 1992. He appeared in 244 matches for Palmeiras, and helped them win the

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

and

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

Brasileirão, as well two

Campeonato Paulista The Campeonato Paulista Série A1, commonly known as Campeonato Paulista, nicknamed Paulistão, is the top-flight professional association football, football league in the Brazilian States of Brazil, state of São Paulo (state), São Paulo. Run b ...

in the same years. He scored his only goal for Palmeiras in a 5–1 win against Grêmio in the quarter-finals of the

1995 Copa Libertadores The 1995 edition of the Copa Libertadores saw Grêmio of Brazil as the champions after they defeated Atlético Nacional of Colombia in the finals. Group stage Velez Sársfield gets a bye to second round as current champions. Group 1 Group 2 ...

. With his performances, Palmeiras sold him to

Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmigiano-Reggiano, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 ...

in 1996. The Italians had Buffon,

Hernán Crespo Hernán Jorge Crespo (; born 5 July 1975) is an Argentine professional football coach and former player. He is the current manager of Qatari club Al-Duhail. A prolific striker, Crespo scored over 300 goals in a career spanning 19 years. At in ...

Dino Baggio Dino Baggio (born 24 July 1971) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. Throughout his career, he played for several Italian clubs, and won the UEFA Cup three times, twice with Parma and once with Juven ...

and

Lilian Thuram Ruddy Lilian Thuram-Ulien (; born 1 January 1972) is a French former professional footballer who played as a defender. He began playing football professionally in his homeland with Monaco and played in the top flight in France, Italy and Spai ...

, with Amaral struggled to perform, only making four appearances, before being loaned to Benfica in December 1996. He made his debut on a home draw against Marítimo on 22 December 1996, and quickly earned his place in the starting XI, in favour of Bruno Caires and Jamir Gomes. He returned to Palmeiras for the remaining Brazilian league, helping the São Paulo-side finish second. In December 1997, Amaral moved back to Benfica on a permanent deal, as an election promise from

João Vale e Azevedo João António de Araújo Vale e Azevedo (born 17 May 1957) is a Portuguese former lawyer who was the 31st president of sports club S.L. Benfica. In relation to his three-year club presidency, he was convicted of embezzlement, document forge ...

. However, he appeared only sporadically, as

Graeme Souness Graeme James Souness (; born 6 May 1953) is a Scottish former professional football player and manager, and current TV pundit. A midfielder, Souness was the captain of the successful Liverpool team of the early 1980s, player-manager of Ranger ...

opted for Kandaurov in 1997–98, and then signed

Michael Thomas Michael or Mike Thomas may refer to: Entertainment * Michael M. Thomas (born 1936), American novelist of financial thrillers * Michael Tilson Thomas (born 1944), American conductor, pianist, and composer * Michael Thomas (actor) (1952–2019), Bri ...

in the following

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

. In July 1998, he was loaned to

for one year. There, he was part of the squad that won two consecutive league titles, in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

and

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

, as well another State Championship. A year later, he moved to

on the same predicament. He continued to bag league titles, winning his fifth title in

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

, as well two other titles, the Torneio Rio – São Paulo and the

Copa Mercosur The Copa Mercosur (, pt, Copa Mercosul , "Mercosur Cup") was a football competition played from 1998 to 2001 by the traditional top clubs from Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Chile. The competition was created by CONMEBOL to generate TV m ...

. On 28 June 2000, Amaral signed with

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional football club based in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while the actual club was refounded in August 2002 fo ...

for a fee of 7.35 billion lire (€3.796 million). He reunited with

Nuno Gomes Nuno Miguel Soares Pereira Ribeiro (born 5 July 1976), known as Nuno Gomes, is a Portuguese former professional footballer who played as a striker. He was given the nickname ''Gomes'' during childhood after Fernando Gomes, and was regarded ...

, who also signed with the Italians, and during his first

, he help the team win the

Coppa Italia The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since. History The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...

. After a complicated second

, which ended in bankruptcy. The 29-year-old moved to

but stayed just six months, being released in January due to the lack of opportunities "I did not have many first-team chances, I could not play as much as I wanted to." After leaving Turkey, Amaral became a constant journeyman, moving from club to club on a yearly basis. In 2008, he moved to Australia, to play for

Perth Glory Perth Glory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Perth, Western Australia. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues. Founded in 19 ...

who scored a major recruiting coup after snaring the services of the

ian international midfielder for the 2008/09 Hyundai A-League season. He brought a wealth of experience to the Glory and become a fan favourite, but he was ruled out for the rest of the season after aggravating a hamstring injury. Amaral was released by Perth on 2 May 2009. In August 2009, he rejoined the Glory after signing a nine-match guest contract. The stint was rather uneventful, with Amaral only having featured for the side a few times off the bench, but despite this Amaral enjoyed his return to Perth and thanked the club for giving him another chance. Already at the age of 40 years, he had brief spells with

Poços de Caldas Poços de Caldas is a municipality in the south of Minas Gerais state, Brazil, in the microregion of the same name. Its estimated population in 2020 was 168,641 inhabitants. The city is known for its hot springs. History Poços was founded in 1 ...

and

Itumbiara Itumbiara is a Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in the extreme south of the state of Goiás, Brazil. Its population in 2020 was of 105,809 in a total area of 2,461,3 km2 (2020). Itumbiara is one of the most prosperous cities in Goi� ...

during 2013, making only one official appearance for Itumbiara.

International career

He made his debut for the

national National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

team on 27 September 1995, in a 2–1 win against

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

. In January 1996, he participated in the

1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the third edition of the Gold Cup, the soccer championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF). The tournament returned to the United States and California; the games were hosted by Los ...

, won by

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

against Brazil, and six months later played the

alongside

Roberto Carlos Roberto Carlos da Silva Rocha (born 10 April 1973), commonly known as Roberto Carlos, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who now works as a football ambassador. He started his career in Brazil as a forward but spent most of his care ...

Bebeto José Roberto Gama de Oliveira (born 16 February 1964), known as Bebeto (), is a Brazilian former professional football player who played as a forward. He entered politics in the 2010 Brazilian General Elections and was elected to the Legi ...

Ronaldo Ronaldo is a Portuguese given name equivalent to the English Ronald. It became a common name in all Portuguese-speaking countries, being also prevalent in Italy and Spanish-speaking countries. People Notable people known as Ronaldo include: As ...

and

Rivaldo Rivaldo Vítor Borba Ferreira (born 19 April 1972), known simply as Rivaldo (), is a Brazilian former footballer who played mainly as an attacking midfielder but also as a second striker, and on occasion deployed as a wide midfielder or as a w ...

, finishing with the bronze medal. His last game was on 31 August 1996, in a friendly against

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Other works

In 2015, Amaral participated as a contestant in the reality television series ''

A Fazenda 8 ''A Fazenda 8'' (in English: ''The Farm 8'') is the eighth season of the Brazilian reality television series ''A Fazenda'', which premiered September 23, 2015, on the Record television network. This season is part of a millionaire contract signe ...

''. In 2022, he performed cosplayed as a

dog The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from the extinct Pleistocene wolf, and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relative. Do ...

in the reality singing competition ''

The Masked Singer Brasil ''The Masked Singer Brasil'' is a Brazilian reality singing competition television series based on the South Korean television series ''King of Mask Singer''. The series premiered on August 10, 2021, on TV Globo. The series features celebrities s ...

''.

Honours

Palmeiras *

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

, *

: 1993, 1994, 1996 * Rio-São Paulo Tournament: 1993 Corinthians *

: 1999 Vasco da Gama *

* Rio-São Paulo Tournament: 1999 * Guanabara Cup: 2000 * Mercosul Cup: 2000 Fiorentina *

: 2000–01 Beşiktaş *

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), officially known as Spor Toto Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system and is run by the ...

: 2002–03

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Amaral 1973 births Living people People from Capivari Brazilian footballers Brazil international footballers Association football midfielders Footballers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for Brazil Olympic footballers of Brazil Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players A-League Men players Primeira Liga players Serie A players Süper Lig players Ekstraklasa players Brazilian expatriate footballers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate footballers in Turkey Expatriate footballers in Indonesia Expatriate footballers in Portugal Expatriate footballers in Italy Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Poland Expatriate footballers in Poland Expatriate soccer players in Australia Olympic medalists in football Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras players Parma Calcio 1913 players S.L. Benfica footballers Sport Club Corinthians Paulista players CR Vasco da Gama players ACF Fiorentina players Beşiktaş J.K. footballers Grêmio Foot-Ball Porto Alegrense players Al-Gharafa SC players Esporte Clube Vitória players Clube Atlético Mineiro players Pogoń Szczecin players Santa Cruz Futebol Clube players Grêmio Barueri Futebol players Perth Glory FC players Itumbiara Esporte Clube players Capivariano Futebol Clube players Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics The Farm (TV series) contestants Qatar Stars League players 1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Footballers from São Paulo (state)