Mauro Antunes Eustáquio (born 10 February 1993) is a Canadian

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

coach and former professional player who played as a

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 ...

. He is as an assistant coach with

York United York United Football Club (formerly known as York9 FC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto, Ontario. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League and plays its home games at York University's York Lions Stadium. History ...

of the Canadian Premier League. Born in Portugal, he represented Canada at international level.

Early life

Eustáquio was born in Nazaré,

Leiria District The District of Leiria ( pt, Distrito de Leiria ) is a district located in Centro region of Portugal, divided between the traditional provinces of Beira Litoral and Estremadura. It borders on the north with district of Coimbra, on the east with ...

, and moved to

Leamington, Ontario Leamington ( ) is a municipality in Essex County, Ontario, Canada. With a population of 27,595 in the Canada 2016 Census, it forms the second largest urban centre in Windsor-Essex County after Windsor, Ontario. It includes Point Pelee National P ...

when he was 13 months old. He returned to Portugal at the age of 11, and spent time in the youth academies of Grupo Desportivo Os Nazarenos and

U.D. Leiria União Desportiva de Leiria, commonly known as União de Leiria (), is a Portuguese football club based in Leiria, central Portugal. Founded on 6 June 1966, it currently plays in the Campeonato de Portugal, holding home matches at Estádio Dr. M ...

. Eustáquio started his senior career in 2012, with

fourth division Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

club Sporting Clube Pombal.

Club career

Ottawa Fury

On 20 December 2013, Eustáquio signed with

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...

club Ottawa Fury FC. He made his debut on 2 August 2014 as a replacement starter for injured

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Richie Ryan in a 2–1 away loss against

Minnesota United FC Minnesota United FC is an American professional soccer club based in Saint Paul, Minnesota that plays in the Western Conference of Major League Soccer. The club began play in 2017 as the league's 22nd club, and replaced the North American Socc ...

, and finished the season with eight appearances. Eustáquio featured significantly the following campaign, playing 23 times across all competitions including twice in the team's

run Run(s) or RUN may refer to: Places * Run (island), one of the Banda Islands in Indonesia * Run (stream), a stream in the Dutch province of North Brabant People * Run (rapper), Joseph Simmons, now known as "Reverend Run", from the hip-hop group ...

in the

Soccer Bowl The Soccer Bowl was the annual championship game of the North American Soccer League, which ran from 1968 to 1984. The two top teams from the playoffs faced off in the final to determine the winner of the NASL Trophy. From the league's founding ...

. He scored his first goal for them on 8 August 2015 in a 4–1 win over the Indy Eleven on 8 August 2015, earning a place on the league's Team of the Week; he added a second on 18 October, helping the hosts defeat the

San Antonio Scorpions The San Antonio Scorpions were an American professional soccer team based in San Antonio, Texas. Founded in 2010, the team made its debut in the North American Soccer League in 2012. The Scorpions played at Toyota Field, a soccer specific stadiu ...

1–0, and later in the year he agreed to a contract extension. Eustáquio nearly went on loan to FC Edmonton during the 2016 season in exchange for

Mallan Roberts Mallan Roberts (born 6 June 1992) is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a centre back for Heidelberg United FC in the NPL Victoria. Career Youth Born in Freetown, Sierra Leone, Roberts began playing soccer in Sierra Leone befor ...

, however the move fell through. In December, the Fury announced that the former would not return to the club as it was due to move to the

United Soccer League United Soccer League (USL), formerly known as United Soccer Leagues, is a Association football, soccer league in the United States and Canada. It organizes several men's and women's leagues, both professional and amateur. Men's leagues curren ...

FC Edmonton

On 14 February 2017, Eustáquio joined FC Edmonton. On 24 November, after the club ceased operations, he left.

Penn FC

In February 2018, Eustáquio signed with Penn FC of the USL. In June, he suffered a knee injury that would sideline him for the rest of the season.

Cavalry FC

On 20 March 2019, Eustáquio moved to the Canadian Premier League after agreeing to a contract at Cavalry FC. He played ten league matches for the side in the inaugural campaign of the competition.

Caldas

Eustáquio joined

Caldas S.C. Caldas Sport Clube is a Portuguese professional football team based in Caldas da Rainha. Founded on 15 May 1916, the club competes in the Campeonato de Portugal. History Between 1956 and 1959, Caldas participated in the Portuguese Liga, the to ...

of the Portuguese third tier on 21 July 2020. He announced his retirement on 7 April 2021 at the age of 28.

Coaching career

Immediately after his retirement, Eustáquio joined the coaching staff of

Calgary Foothills FC Calgary Foothills Football Club (CFFC) is a Canadian soccer club based in Calgary, Alberta, that competes in USL League Two (USL2). The club was founded as a youth club in 1972 and joined as a USL2 franchise in 2015. The team plays its home gam ...

as development phase boys manager. In February 2022, he was named assistant at Canadian Premier League club

York United FC York United Football Club (formerly known as York9 FC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto, Ontario. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League and plays its home games at York University's York Lions Stadium. History ...

Personal life

Eustáquio's younger brother, Stephen, is also a footballer. A midfielder as well, he represented

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

at under-21 level and the Canadian senior team.

Career statistics

Honours

Ottawa Fury *

: 2015 Fall Championship

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Eustaquio, Mauro 1993 births Living people People from Nazaré, Portugal People from Leamington, Ontario Canadian people of Portuguese descent Portuguese emigrants to Canada Naturalized citizens of Canada Sportspeople from Leiria District Soccer people from Ontario Canadian soccer players Portuguese footballers Association football midfielders North American Soccer League players USL Championship players Ottawa Fury FC players FC Edmonton players Penn FC players Canadian Premier League players Cavalry FC players Campeonato de Portugal (league) players S.C. Pombal players U.D. Leiria players Caldas S.C. players Canada men's youth international soccer players Canada men's under-23 international soccer players Canadian expatriate soccer players Portuguese expatriate footballers Expatriate soccer players in the United States Canadian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in the United States York United FC non-playing staff