Maxwell Scherrer Cabelino Andrade (born 27 August 1981), known as Maxwell, is a Brazilian former 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 le ...

who played as a

left-back 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 ...

. He is currently employed by

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. As Fr ...

as assistant sporting director. Maxwell came through the ranks at Cruzeiro and played for

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Greek ...

Internazionale Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter is ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

and

, winning trophies for each of these clubs. He was the most decorated active footballer in Europe at the time of his retirement, with 33 official titles. He made his international debut with

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 ...

in 2013 and appeared at the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

Club career

Early career

Born in

Cachoeiro de Itapemirim Cachoeiro de Itapemirim (local ) is a municipality and a major town, located in the south of Espírito Santo, Brazil, on the banks of the Itapemirim River. It is the economic hub of southern Espírito Santo, being the most important producer of m ...

Espírito Santo Espírito Santo (, , ; ) is a state in southeastern Brazil. Its capital is Vitória, and its largest city is Serra. With an extensive coastline, the state hosts some of the country's main ports, and its beaches are significant tourist attra ...

, Maxwell started his career at Cruzeiro. In June 2001, he signed a five-year contract with

AFC Ajax Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (), also known as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam, or simply Ajax, is a Dutch professional football club based in Amsterdam, that plays in the , the top tier in Dutch football. Historically, Ajax (named after the l ...

. Maxwell played his best season for Ajax in the 2003–04 season, only missing three games for the

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

champions that season due to international duty, and becoming the

Dutch Footballer of the Year The title Dutch Footballer of the Year (Dutch: ''Voetballer van het Jaar'') has been awarded in the Netherlands since 1984. The award is determined by a poll of Dutch professional footballers playing in the First (Eredivisie) and Second (Eerste Divi ...

. He was seriously injured in April 2005 and never played again for Ajax.

Internazionale

Maxwell's contract with Ajax was restructured to expire early, on 2 January 2006, in order to facilitate his move to

on a free transfer. Due to non- EU player registration quota per year, however, he was signed by

Empoli Empoli () is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Florence, Tuscany, Italy, about southwest of Florence, to the south of the Arno in a plain formed by the river. The plain has been usable for agriculture since Roman times. The comm ...

until the end of season before being officially transferred to Inter, a deal similar to that of Júlio César's move to

Chievo Chievo (4,500 inhabitants) is a frazione of Verona located to the west of the city, around from the historic city centre, on the shores of the river Adige. It is best known for its football team, A.C. ChievoVerona, which competes in the second ...

. Maxwell, however, did not make any appearances for Empoli. In July 2006, Inter officially announced the signing of Maxwell on a four-year contract as a domestic transfer. Maxwell impressed during his first season in

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 ...

, most notably against

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 ...

San Siro Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, commonly known as San Siro, is a football stadium in the San Siro district of Milan, Italy, which is the home of A.C. Milan and Inter Milan. It has a seating capacity of 80,018, making it one of the largest stadiums in ...

when he scored a fine solo effort after a defender struck him which was voted Inter's thunder goal of the season by Inter channel viewers. Initially playing at left-back, the 2007–08 season saw him move further up the field, with

Cristian Chivu Cristian Eugen Chivu (; born 26 October 1980) is a Romanian professional football manager and former player who is the head coach of Inter Milan's under-19 side. A defender, he began his career with hometown club CSM Reșița before moving to ...

replacing him at left-back while Maxwell played a left midfield role. This became very effective as Maxwell adapted well to the winger role which made use of his blistering pace. In that season, he won his second consecutive ''

Scudetto The ''scudetto'' (Italian language, Italian for: "little shield") is a decoration having the colors of the flag of Italy which is sewn onto the jersey of the Italian sports clubs that won the highest level championship of their respective sport in ...

'' with Inter. In the 2008–09 season, he suffered a serious injury that took him out of competition for six weeks. He returned to action and was a constant fixture in the starting XI and showed his impressive old form before the injury. He scored his second goal for Inter on 14 December against Chievo, which Inter won 4–2, after an assist from

Dejan Stanković Dejan Stanković ( sr-Cyrl, Дејан Станковић, , born 11 September 1978) is a Serbian professional manager and former player. He currently manages Italian club Sampdoria. He captained the Serbia national team from 2007 until 201 ...

Barcelona

On 15 July 2009, it was announced that

and Inter had reached an agreement, with Maxwell joining the

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...

club for €4.5 million plus €500,000. Two days later, Maxwell signed a five-year contract and was presented as a new Barça player. He made his debut for the club in the second leg of the

2009 Supercopa de España The 2009 Supercopa de España was two-legged Spanish football match-up played on 16 August and 23 August 2009. It was contested by Athletic Bilbao, the 2008–09 Copa del Rey runners-up, and Barcelona, the 2008–09 La Liga and 2008–09 Copa del R ...

, playing all 90 minutes. He had an important role in the second part of the season when

Eric Abidal Eric Sylvain Abidal (; born 11 September 1979) is a French former professional footballer who played as a left-back or centre-back. In his career, he played mainly for Lyon and Barcelona, winning 18 trophies with both teams combined, including t ...

was injured and helped Barcelona win

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

. Maxwell started Barcelona's first competitive match of the 2010–11 season, the first leg of the

2010 Supercopa de España The 2010 Supercopa de España was a two-legged Spanish football match-up played on 14 August and 21 August 2010. It was contested by Sevilla, the 2009–10 Copa del Rey winners, and Barcelona, the 2009–10 La Liga The 2009–10 La Liga seaso ...

, in an advanced left-wing position; he assisted the opening goal for

Zlatan Ibrahimović Zlatan Ibrahimović (, ; born 3 October 1981) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a striker for club AC Milan and the Sweden national team. Ibrahimović is renowned for his acrobatic strikes and volleys, powerful long-range sho ...

.Sevilla 3–1 Barcelona: Rojiblancos Blitz Blaugrana With Second-Half Super Cup Comeback

Paris Saint-Germain

On 12 January 2012, Maxwell penned a three-year deal at

after passing his medical examination. PSG paid €3.5 million for the player. For the 2013–14 season, he was the starting left-back, replacing

Siaka Tiéné Siaka Tiéné (born 22 February 1982) is an Ivorian former professional footballer who primarily played as a left-back. Having begun at ASEC Mimosas in his native Ivory Coast and Mamelodi Sundowns in South Africa, he went on to spend most of his ...

, who left the club for

Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...

. On 28 February 2014, Maxwell extended his contract until June 2015. On 4 February 2015, Maxwell scored the only goal as PSG defeated

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Pref ...

away to reach the Coupe de la Ligue Final.

Passport controversy

It was alleged that Maxwell registered as an EU player during 2006 to 2009 with Inter, but he was signed by Barcelona as a non-EU player (Brazil), as Maxwell did not present a passport from a European country.

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

started to investigate the case in August 2010, but in fact Inter signed him as a domestic transfer and he arrived in Italy as a non-EU player for Empoli, and had not violated

Italian Football Federation The Italian Football Federation ( it, Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio; FIGC), known colloquially as ''Federcalcio'', is the governing body of football in Italy. It is based in Rome and the technical department is in Coverciano, Florence. It ...

(FIGC) regulations. FIGC only restricted Italian football clubs from signing non-EU players from abroad, except 1 quota (2 as of the 2011–2012 season) is given to Serie A clubs per season if the club released or sold abroad the non-EU player, or the player himself got an EU nationality. On 25 August 2010, Inter declared that Maxwell was always a non-EU player with the club.

International career

Maxwell was capped for the

2004 CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament The 2004 CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament began on 7 January 2004, and is the 12th CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament. This was the 4th tournament is open to players under the age of 23 without any other restriction. There is no qualification stage and ...

with the Brazil under-23 squad in January 2004. In October 2004, he received his first call-up to the senior team for the 2006 World Cup qualifying matches, but did not make any appearances. Maxwell earned his first full senior international cap on 14 August 2013, coming on as a substitute in a 1–0 friendly defeat to

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

in Basel. On 7 May 2014, Maxwell was included in

Luiz Felipe Scolari Luiz Felipe Scolari (; born 9 November 1948), also known as Felipão ("Big Phil"), is a Brazilian football manager and former player. He is the current manager of Athletico Paranaense. Scolari was a defender during his playing days, and notab ...

's 23-man Brazil squad for the

2014 World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting righ ...

, which was held on home soil. He made his only appearance in the tournament in the third-place play-off, held in Brasília, starting at left-back as Brazil were defeated 3–0 by the

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 ...

; he played the full 90 minutes in his final international match. Following the tournament, Maxwell was no longer called up by manager

Dunga Carlos Caetano Bledorn Verri (born 31 October 1963), known as Dunga (), is a Brazilian football manager and former professional player who played as a defensive midfielder. Under his captaincy, Brazil won the 1994 FIFA World Cup and he lifted ...

, and announced his retirement from international football in October 2014.

Post-playing career

After his retirement from playing, Maxwell was appointed assistant

sporting director A sporting director, or director of sport, is an executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many types of sports. The sport ...

at Paris Saint-Germain, working with sporting director Antero Henrique.

Style of play

A world-class, diminutive attacking left-back, Maxwell made a name for himself as an excellent, dependable, intelligent, experienced, successful, and largely underrated defender throughout his career, who was known above all for his consistency and longevity at the top level. While being a good ball-winner, and naturally solid defensively, he was also extremely classy and elegant on the ball, confident in possession, and reliable in his distribution, rarely relinquishing the ball; his wide range of skills thus enabled him to bring balance to his teams in the full-back or wing-back position. A versatile player, he was also extremely effective going forward due to his skill and pace; indeed, during the course of a match, he often pushed further up the pitch with his offensive runs down the left flank, in order to get into good positions from which he could deliver crosses to teammates in the area, or help to stretch the play, and was also capable of playing in a more advanced role as a left-winger, either in

midfield Midfield is the part of a sports field that lies approximately in the center. In American football, association football (soccer) and field hockey, it is the area in and around the center circle, as well as the players who occupy that region. In ...

, or in a three-man attack. Off the pitch, Maxwell was an introverted yet highly respected and likeable figure with his teammates, who was often cited as a key dressing room personality, in spite of his calm, gentle nature and reserved character; he has been described by his close friend and former teammate Ibrahimović as "incredibly sensitive", and a "nice guy".

Personal life

Maxwell is known to be one of

's closest friends; they were teammates at Ajax, Internazionale, Barcelona and PSG. There are several anecdotes about him in Ibrahimović's autobiography, '' I Am Zlatan Ibrahimović''. Ibrahimović states that Maxwell will be remembered for his calm nature and gentle style of play.

Career statistics

Club

:Source:

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year

Honours

Ajax *

: 2001–02, 2003–04 *

KNVB Cup The KNVB Beker (; en, KNVB Cup), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organized by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Ou ...

: 2001–02 *

Johan Cruyff Shield The Johan Cruyff Shield (, ) is a football trophy in the Netherlands named after Dutch footballer Johan Cruyff, also often referred to as the Dutch Super Cup. The winner is decided in one match only, played by the winner of the national footbal ...

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

Internazionale *

: 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09 *

Supercoppa Italiana The Supercoppa Italiana ( en, Italian Super Cup) is an annual football match contested by the winners of the Serie A and the Coppa Italia in the previous season. If the same team wins both the Serie A and Coppa Italia titles in the previous seaso ...

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

Barcelona *

: 2009–10,

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...

: 2011–12 *

Supercopa de España The Supercopa de España or the ''Spanish Super Cup'' is a super cup tournament in Spanish football. Founded in 1982 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2019–20 by four teams: the winners and runners-up of ...

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions; the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's official name was originall ...

FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The competition was first contested in 200 ...

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

Paris Saint-Germain *

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16 *

Coupe de France The Coupe de France, formerly known as the Coupe Charles Simon, is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation (FFF). It was first held in 1917 and is open to all amateur and profession ...

: 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17 *

Coupe de la Ligue The Coupe de la Ligue (), known outside France as the French League Cup, was a Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in Football in France, French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel. The tournament was est ...

: 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17 *

Trophée des Champions The Trophée des Champions (, ) is a French association football trophy contested in an annual match between the champions of Ligue 1 and the winners of the Coupe de France. It is equivalent to the super cups found in many other countries. His ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

Individual * Ajax Talent of the Year (Marco van Basten Award): 2001–02 * Ajax Player of the Year (Rinus Michels Award): 2003–04 *

: 2003–04 * Dutch Golden Shoe: 2003–04 * Ligue 1 Team of the Year:

, 2014–15, 2015–16

References

External links

FC Barcelona profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Maxwell 1981 births Living people Sportspeople from Espírito Santo Brazilian Baptists Brazilian footballers Association football fullbacks Cruzeiro Esporte Clube players Eredivisie players AFC Ajax players Serie A players Inter Milan players Empoli F.C. players La Liga players FC Barcelona players Ligue 1 players Paris Saint-Germain F.C. players Brazilian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in France Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in France Brazil international footballers 2014 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Champions League winning players Paris Saint-Germain F.C. non-playing staff