Mauricio Salles de Alencar (born 1 March 1978) is a Brazilian professional

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 ...

. On 20 January 2010, he was ranked 25th in the

USL First Division The USL First Division (usually referred to as USL-1) was a professional men's soccer league in the United States and Canada from 2005 to 2010. During its existence, it formed the second tier of soccer in the United States soccer league system ...

Top 25 of the Decade, which announced a list of the best and most influential players of the previous decade.

Career

South America

Salles turned professional in 1997, and has played with Brazilian sides Vitória,

Atlético Paranaense Club Athletico Paranaense (commonly known as Athletico and formerly known as Atlético Paranaense) is a Brazilian football team from the city of Curitiba, capital city of the Brazilian state of Paraná, founded on March 26, 1924. The team ...

and

Botafogo Botafogo (local/standard alternative Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation: ) is a beachfront neighborhood ('' bairro'') in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is a mostly upper middle class and small commerce community, and is located between the hills of ...

, as well as in Ecuador for Olmedo.

North America

Salles began his professional career in the United States in 2004 with the

Puerto Rico Islanders Puerto, a Spanish word meaning ''seaport'', may refer to: Places *El Puerto de Santa María, Andalusia, Spain *Puerto, a seaport town in Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines *Puerto Colombia, Colombia *Puerto Cumarebo, Venezuela *Puerto Galera, Orient ...

where he is all time highest goal scorer. He later left for the Montreal Impact in 2006, and then to the Atlanta Silverbacks in January 2007. That same season he moved to Japan with

Omiya Ardija is a professional association football club based in Ōmiya in Saitama, Japan. Its "hometown" as designated by the league is the whole of Saitama city, which is shared with neighbours Urawa Red Diamonds. Omiya competed in the J1 League follow ...

, where he scored one goal in eight appearances, before returning to the United States with the Rochester Rhinos in 2008. In February 2015, the Rochester Lancers named team captain Salles as Team MVP for the 2014–15 season. In March 2015, the

Major Arena Soccer League The Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) is a North American professional indoor soccer league. The MASL features teams playing coast-to-coast in the United States and Mexico. MASL is the highest level of arena soccer in North America. MASL players ...

named Salles to the 2014-15 MASL All-League Second Team.

Asia

Salles signed for

Kazma Kazma () is an ancient city in Kuwait. It is located in Al Jahra Governorate, north of Kuwait City, the capital of Kuwait. It is an ancient city with a long history, known to Persians and Arabs since the Sassanid, Jahiliyyah and the early Isla ...

in the

Kuwaiti Premier League The Kuwait Premier League (), known as STC Premier League due to sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Kuwait football pyramid system. Formed in 1961, Al-Arabi, Qadsia and Kuwait both hold the best record in the competition, having won ...

in the summer of 2009.

References

External links

*
Player profile at Rochester Lancers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Salles, Mauricio 1978 births Living people Atlanta Silverbacks players Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas players Brazilian expatriate footballers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Canada Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Japan Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Puerto Rico Brazilian footballers Club Athletico Paranaense players Charlotte Eagles players Esporte Clube Vitória players Expatriate footballers in Japan Expatriate footballers in Puerto Rico Expatriate soccer players in Canada Expatriate soccer players in the United States Association football forwards Montreal Impact (1992–2011) players Omiya Ardija players J1 League players Sportspeople from Salvador, Bahia Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Kuwait Puerto Rico Islanders players Rochester New York FC players USL First Division players Expatriate footballers in Kuwait USL Championship players VSI Tampa Bay FC players Florida Tropics SC players Major Arena Soccer League players Utica City FC players Ontario Fury players Kazma SC players Kuwait Premier League players