Michael Araujo is a retired South African soccer player who played professionally in South Africa, the United States, Canada and Ireland.

Player

Club career

Araujo's parents moved from Portugal to South Africa where he was born. In 1986, Araujo entered the College of Boca Raton, now known as Lynn University. He played two seasons of NAIA soccer at Boca Raton, winning the 1987

NAIA national men's soccer championship The NAIA Men's Soccer Championship is the annual tournament to determine the national champions of NAIA men's collegiate soccer in the United States and Canada. It has been held annually since 1959. The most successful program is Quincy (IL), ...

. Araujo was also a 1987 NAIA Second Team All American. He finished his degree at

Florida Atlantic University Florida Atlantic University (Florida Atlantic or FAU) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus in Boca Raton, Florida, and satellite campuses in Dania Beach, Florida, Dania Beach, Davie, Florida, Davie, Fort Lauderd ...

. In 1990, Roy Wiggemansen, former coach of Boca Raton, brought Araujo into the

Montreal Supra Montreal Supra was a Canadian professional soccer club based in Montreal, Quebec that played in the Canadian Soccer League from 1988 to 1992. History Montreal Supra joined the Canadian Soccer League as an expansion franchise for the league's se ...

which Wiggemansen now coached. Araujo was a

Canadian Soccer League The Canadian Soccer League (CSL; french: Ligue canadienne de soccer — LCS) is a semi-professional league for Canadian soccer clubs primarily located in the province of Ontario, and claims the history of the Canadian National Soccer League (C ...

All League midfielder that year. In 1991, he returned to Florida where he played for Holly FC in the Gold Coast League In 1992, he played a single season for the Boca Raton Sabres in the

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

. On 30 March 1993, Araujo became one of the first players signed by the

Coral Springs Kicks Coral Springs Kicks were an American soccer team based in Coral Springs, Florida, that played in the USISL. The Kicks were led by Michael Araujo, whose 11 assists were the most in the USISL. Year-by-year 1993 Standings

Defunct soccer club ...

. He led the USISL in assists that season. In the fall of 1993, Araujo moved to

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

to play for

Glenavon F.C. Glenavon Football Club is a Northern Irish semi-professional football club that competes in the NIFL Premiership. Founded in 1889, the club hails from Lurgan and plays its home matches at Mourneview Park. Club colours are blue and white. Ga ...

In 1995, he played for the

Atlanta Ruckus Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 li ...

in the

A-League A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...

. He moved indoors in the fall of 1995 with the

Cincinnati Silverbacks The Cincinnati Silverbacks was an indoor soccer club based in Cincinnati, Ohio that competed in the National Professional Soccer League. History They performed under the leadership of All-Star goalkeeper Carlos Pena. Other star players include ...

of the National Professional Soccer League, playing three seasons with the Silverbacks. In the spring of 1997, Araujo played four games for the

Orlando Sundogs The Orlando Sundogs were an American soccer club created by Orlando Soccer pioneer Mark Dillon that played in the A-League in 1997. The team nearly folded before the end of the season, but were purchased by the Atlanta Ruckus. During the off season ...

of the USISL before signing with the

Sacramento Knights Sacramento Knights were an indoor soccer team that played from 1993 to 2001 in ARCO Arena and were owned by the NBA's Sacramento Kings. The team played in the Continental Indoor Soccer League from 1993 to 1997. The team then moved to the Wo ...

of the

Continental Indoor Soccer League The Continental Indoor Soccer League (CISL) was a professional indoor soccer league that played from 1993 to 1997. History In the summer of 1989 Dr Jerry Buss, the owner of the Los Angeles Lakers and California Sports, told his executive Vice Pre ...

for the summer indoor season. In 1998, Araujo moved back to South Africa to join

SuperSport United SuperSport United Football Club (often known as SuperSport) is a South African professional football club based in Atteridgeville in Pretoria in the Gauteng province. The team currently plays in the Dstv Premiership. United is known as ''Matsats ...

. In 1999, the team won the

Nedbank Cup The Nedbank Cup is the current name of South Africa's Premier Soccer League, premier club association football, soccer knockout tournament. While many formats have been used over the years, the tournament has always been based on the idea of givi ...

. Araujo lives and plays for amateur and division four clubs in the United States. In 2007, he played for the Fox and Hounds in the Gold Coast Soccer League Over 30 Division. In 2008, he was with Fort Lauderdale in the Florida Elite Soccer League.

International

Araujo played/captained the South African youth national team(1983&1984).

Coach

Director of coaching for Teamboca boys soccer program (2002–present)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Araujo, Michael Living people 1969 births South African people of Portuguese descent Atlanta Silverbacks players American Professional Soccer League players Boca Raton Sabres players Cincinnati Silverbacks players Continental Indoor Soccer League players Expatriate association footballers in Northern Ireland Expatriate soccer players in Canada Expatriate soccer players in the United States Glenavon F.C. players Canadian Soccer League (1987–1992) players Lynn Fighting Knights men's soccer players Montreal Supra players National Professional Soccer League (1984–2001) players Orlando Sundogs players Sacramento Knights players South African expatriate sportspeople in Canada South African expatriate sportspeople in the United States South African soccer players South African expatriate soccer players SuperSport United F.C. players USISL players A-League (1995–2004) players Association football forwards