Maurício Fernandes (born 5 July 1976), known simply as Maurício, is a Brazilian former

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

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 ...

. Possessing a powerful shot which allowed him to score several goals from free kicks, he spent the vast majority of his professional career in Portugal, representing four clubs and amassing

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal, ...

totals of 141 games and 13 goals over the course of eight seasons.

Club career

Born in

Passo Fundo Passo Fundo is a municipality in the north of the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. It is named after its river. It's the twelfth largest city in the state with an estimated population of 204,722 inhabitants living in a total municipa ...

Rio Grande do Sul Rio Grande do Sul (, , ; "Great River of the South") is a Federative units of Brazil, state in the South Region, Brazil, southern region of Brazil. It is the Federative_units_of_Brazil#List, fifth-most-populous state and the List of Brazilian st ...

, Maurício did not start playing organised football until well into his 20s. He represented mainly modest sides in his country, with the exception of

Fluminense FC 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, ...

in 2002, helping the

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 ...

team to the

Campeonato Carioca The Campeonato Carioca (Carioca Championship), officially known as Campeonato Estadual do Rio de Janeiro (Port., Rio de Janeiro State Championship), was started in 1906 and is the annual football championship in the state of Rio de Janeiro, B ...

. In August 2003, shortly after being released by

Esporte Clube Juventude Esporte Clube Juventude, also known as Juventude, is a Brazilian football team in Caxias do Sul, Rio Grande do Sul. The club currently competes in the top tier of Brazilian football, the Série A, as well as in Campeonato Gaúcho Série ...

, Maurício signed with

S.C. Braga Sporting Clube de Braga () (), commonly known as Sporting de Braga or just Braga, is a Portuguese sports club from the city of Braga. It is best known for the professional football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese ...

in Portugal, being rarely used by the Minho side in three years (he was inclusively demoted to the reserves) and also being loaned to fellow

club C.F. Estrela da Amadora, where he excelled, scoring four goals as the team finished in mid-table in the 2005–06 season. Subsequently returned to Braga, Maurício left for the

Pohang Steelers The Pohang Steelers (Hangul: 포항 스틸러스) are a South Korean professional football club based in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province that compete in the K League 1, the top flight of South Korean football. The Steelers were founded on 1 A ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

in the 2007 January

transfer window A transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club can transfer players from other playing staff into their playing staff. Such a transfer is completed by registering the player into the new club through FIFA. "Transfer win ...

. After appearing rarely in the

K League 1 The K League 1 (Hangul: K리그1) is the men's top professional football division of the South Korean football league system. The league is contested by twelve clubs. History The South Korean professional football league was founded in 1 ...

he returned to Portugal and former club Estrela, netting another four goals as it again managed to retain top-division status after finishing 13th, notably in a 2–2 home draw against eventual champions

FC Porto Futebol Clube do Porto, MHIH, OM (), commonly known as FC Porto or simply Porto, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Porto. It is best known for the professional football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portu ...

. After

one year ''One Year'' is the debut solo studio album by English singer-songwriter Colin Blunstone, a member of the Zombies. It was released by Epic Records in 1971. It includes "Say You Don't Mind", which peaked at number 15 on the UK Singles Chart. Prod ...

in Greece with

Ergotelis FC The Gymnastics Club «Ergotelis» Heraklion Crete ( el, Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος «O Εργοτέλης» Ηρακλείου Κρήτης, Γ.Σ. Εργοτέλης), commonly known simply as Ergotelis ( el, Εργοτέλης), ...

, the 33-year-old Maurício returned once again to Portugal, joining C.D. Feirense of the Segunda Liga on a one-year contract. For the following campaign he returned to the top flight, with

S.C. Olhanense Sporting Clube Olhanense () is a Portuguese sports club from Olhão, Algarve. Its football team was founded on 27 April 1912 and currently plays in the Campeonato de Portugal, the fourth tier of Portuguese football. It holds home matches at the ...

Honours

Bahia *

Campeonato Baiano The Campeonato Baiano is the football league of the state of Bahia, Brazil. The championship has been played since 1905 without interruption. 2020 format First stage: 10 teams are included in one group, playing once only against all teams in ...

: 2001 *

Campeonato do Nordeste Copa do Nordeste (''Cup of the North-East''), also known as Campeonato do Nordeste (''Championship of the North-East'') or Copa Nordeste (''Northeastern Cup''), and sometimes informally referred as Lampions League – in reference to the UEFA Ch ...

: 2001 Fluminense *

: 2002

References

External links

*
Futebol de Goyaz profile
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mauricio Fernandes 1976 births Living people People from Passo Fundo Footballers from Rio Grande do Sul Brazilian men's footballers Men's association football defenders Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Campeonato Brasileiro Série B players Campeonato Brasileiro Série C players Itumbiara Esporte Clube players Sociedade Esportiva Recreativa e Cultural Brasil players Grêmio Esportivo Brasil players Associação Chapecoense de Futebol players Vila Nova Futebol Clube players Esporte Clube Bahia players Fluminense FC players Esporte Clube Juventude players Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Segunda Divisão players S.C. Braga players S.C. Braga B players C.F. Estrela da Amadora players C.D. Feirense players S.C. Olhanense players K League 1 players Pohang Steelers players Super League Greece players Ergotelis F.C. players Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in South Korea Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in South Korea Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Greece