Antônio Carlos Cunha Capocasali Júnior (born 7 March 1993), known as Antônio Carlos, is a 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 plays as a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for Orlando City in

MLS Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

Club career

Early years

Growing up in the Coelho Neto neighbourhood of northern

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, Antônio Carlos began his youth career at

Fluminense Fluminense Football Club (), known as Fluminense, is a Brazilian sports club best known for its professional football team that competes in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, the first tier of Brazilian football and the Campeonato Carioca, ...

and won three youth Carioca titles before questions over his height meant he was released. In search of first team opportunities as a teenager, Carlos turned to non-league team Sendas, winning the Copa Rio in 2010.

Corinthians

In 2011, Carlos joined the youth setup at

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 ...

initially on a loan deal before Corinthians bought 40% of his economic rights from Audax. He first appeared in a friendly against

Osasco Osasco () is a Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in São Paulo State, Brazil, located in the Greater São Paulo and ranking 5th in population among São Paulo municipalities. According to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, ...

. Scoring twice in a 2–1 win over former-team Fluminense in the 2012 São Paulo Youth Cup final, he was promoted to the main squad a month later and made his professional debut on 10 March 2012, starting in a 1–1 home draw against Guarani for the

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 ...

championship. Antônio Carlos had subsequent loan spells with Série B teams Oeste and

Avaí Avaí is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in 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 milli ...

before being released at the end of 2014.

Tombense

Antônio Carlos signed as a free agent with Tombense, a Série C team owned by Eduardo Uram, one of the leading agents in Brazil. From Tombense, Carlos was loaned to multiple Série A teams, first back to Avaí and then

Flamengo Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (; English: ''Flamengo Rowing Club''), more commonly referred to as simply Flamengo, is a Brazilian sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, in the neighborhood of Gávea, best known for their professional football t ...

, Ponte Preta and

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 ...

Palmeiras

Antônio Carlos' one-year loan deal with Palmeiras in 2017 was initially extended by the club for the start of the 2018 season before they decided to permanently purchase 50% of his economic rights in July 2018, signed the defender until June 2023. Carlos made 22 appearances in Série A as Palmeiras won the title in

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

Loan to Orlando City

On 30 December 2019, Carlos joined

team Orlando City on loan ahead of the 2020 season. He made his debut for the team in the season opener on 29 February as the team kept clean sheet in a 0–0 draw against

Real Salt Lake Real Salt Lake, often shortened to RSL, is an American professional soccer franchise based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The club competes as a member club of Major League Soccer (MLS) in the Western Conference. RSL began play in 20 ...

. He scored his first goal for the team on 3 October 2020 in a 3–1 win over

New York Red Bulls The New York Red Bulls are an American professional soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The club was established in October 1994 and be ...

Orlando City

On 1 December 2020, Carlos made the move to Orlando City permanent ahead of the 2021 season.

International career

In March 2012, Antônio Carlos was called up to the Brazil U20s to compete in the International Mediterranean Cup in Barcelona, Spain. In March 2013, he was again called up, this time to play in the

2013 South American Youth Football Championship The 2013 South American Youth Football Championship ( es, ''Campeonato Sudamericano Sub-20 ''Juventud de América'' Argentina 2013'', italic=unset, pt, ''Campeonato Sul-Americano Sub-20 ''Juventude da América'' Argentina 2013'', italic=unset, re ...

in Argentina but was a last minute cut after the coaching staff decided to add

Jordi Almeida Jordi Martins Almeida (born 3 September 1993), known simply as Jordi, is a Brazilian footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Novorizontino. Club career Born in Volta Redonda, Rio de Janeiro, Jordi joined Vasco da Gama's youth setup in 2009, a ...

, a third goalkeeper, to the squad instead.

Career statistics

Honours

Club

;Sendas * Copa Rio: 2010 ;Corinthians *

Copa São Paulo de Futebol Júnior The Copa São Paulo de Futebol Júnior (or ''São Paulo Youth Football Cup'', in English), also known as Copa São Paulo de Juniores (''São Paulo Youth Cup'') and Copinha (''Little Cup''), is a cup competition played by Brazilian under-20 associ ...

: 2012 ;Palmeiras *

Campeonato Brasileiro Série A The Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (; English: "Brazilian Championship A Series"), commonly referred to as the Brasileirão (; English: "Big Brazilian"), and also known as Brasileirão Assaí due to sponsorship with Assaí Atacadista, is a Br ...

;Orlando City *

U.S. Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in men's Soccer in the United States, soccer in the United States of America. It is the oldest ongoing nati ...

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

Individual

Team of the year:

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Antonio Carlos 1993 births Living people Footballers from Rio de Janeiro (city) Brazilian footballers Men's association football central defenders Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Campeonato Brasileiro Série B players Sport Club Corinthians Paulista players Oeste Futebol Clube players Avaí FC players CR Flamengo footballers Associação Atlética Ponte Preta players Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras players Orlando City SC players Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Major League Soccer players