Maicon Douglas Sisenando (born 26 July 1981), known as Maicon (), is a Brazilian retired

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 ...

who played as a

right-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 ...

. Maicon began his career in his native country with Cruzeiro, after initially playing for Grêmio and

Criciúma Criciúma is a city in the Brazilian state of Santa Catarina. At , it is located 180 km south of Florianópolis, the state capital and around 900 km south of São Paulo. The city is the center of Brazil's flooring and home materials in ...

at youth level. He played 125 times for Cruzeiro between 2000 and 2004, earning one

national league The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

title and several other domestic competitions, before moving to

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

when he signed for Ligue 1 side

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

. After two years in Monaco, he signed for

Inter Milan 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 ...

in 2006, where he became an established first team player, going on to win the

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 competi ...

in 2010, four

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 Cop ...

titles, the FIFA Club World Cup and various domestic competitions. In August 2012, he signed for Manchester City. Maicon failed to secure a regular place in the team, moving back to Italy to play for Roma the following season. He returned to Brazil in 2017, playing for

Avaí Avaí is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in 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 milli ...

, Criciúma and Villa Nova. In January 2021, he joined Italian Serie D side Sona, before finishing his career in July of the same year following a brief spell at Sammarinese side Tre Penne. As a

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 ...

international, Maicon made his debut in 2003 and represented his nation on 76 occasions, scoring seven goals. He won a runners-up medal at the

2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the seventh edition of the Gold Cup, the association football championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean ( CONCACAF). For the first time since 1993, the tournament was held in more than one ...

, and took part in three Copa América tournaments (winning the competition in 2004 and 2007) and two

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

s (finishing in fourth-place in

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

on home soil). He was also a member of the teams that won consecutive FIFA Confederations Cup titles in 2005 and 2009.

Club career

Early career

A talented right-sided wingback, Maicon debuted for Cruzeiro in 2001 and after two successful seasons in Brazil, which included winning a championship and being called up for the Brazil national team in 2003. In June 2004, he was signed by

for £2.1 million.

Inter Milan

2006–2009

In July 2006,

officially announced the signing of Maicon for a fee of £4.8 million and a five-year contract, along with fellow Brazilian fullback Maxwell and French midfielder

Olivier Dacourt Olivier Yohan Dacourt (born 25 September 1974) is a French former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He is also a former French international and is best known for his spells at English side Leeds United and Italian clubs Roma a ...

. During his time at Inter, he established himself as a reliable wing-back, solid defensively with an ability of making emphatic runs down the right wing, often setting up goals or scoring himself with his powerful right foot. He overtook Inter captain Javier Zanetti as the first choice right back, with the Argentine moving in midfield. He was generally considered one of the best wing-backs in the game. During a

match on 6 March 2007, Maicon was involved in a brawl with

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...

defender David Navarro. Maicon was originally banned for six matches, but the ban was reduced to three. A regular under former coach José Mourinho, he contributed his fair share of assists and goals as Inter won a fourth consecutive title in the 2008–09 season, including a match-winning brace against

Siena Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena. The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centur ...

2009–10 season

Maicon continued the good form he displayed in previous seasons during the 2009–10 season; he started the season by scoring a goal against

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

in the 4–0 ''

Derby della Madonnina The Derby della Madonnina, also known as the Derby di Milano (Milan Derby, in English), is a derby football match between the two prominent Milanese clubs, Internazionale and A.C. Milan. It is called ''Derby della Madonnina'' in honour of one ...

'' victory, and then playing well against

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 ...

in a 0–0 draw at the

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 i ...

. He subsequently set up

Diego Milito Diego Alberto Milito (born 12 June 1979) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a striker. He is currently a sports manager. Milito began his club career in Argentina with Racing Club in 1999, and later moved to Italian ...

on matchday five in

against

Napoli Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

, as Inter defeated Napoli 3–1. Maicon continued with his solid performances, notably scoring the last goal in a 5–0 win over

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...

on 17 October and making a fantastic byline run which resulted in Milito's match killing goal in a 5–3 home victory over Palermo two weeks later. In the very next match, he scored a goal against Livorno, where the match ended 2–0 for Inter. During Inter's home leg of the ''

Derby d'Italia The Derby d'Italia ( English: Derby of Italy) is the name of the football derby between Internazionale of Milan and Juventus of Turin. The term was coined back in 1967 by Italian sports journalist Gianni Brera. It is the equivalent of Spain's ...

'', the right back opened the scoring against Juventus with one of the most spectacular goals of the season, juggling a loose ball over the onrushing defender at the top of the penalty box and volleying it into the opposite corner. Later that month, Maicon scored his first Champions League goal against reigning champions Barcelona when Inter registered a famous victory over the

Catalans Catalans (Catalan, French and Occitan: ''catalans''; es, catalanes, Italian: ''catalani'', sc, cadelanos) are a Romance ethnic group native to Catalonia, who speak Catalan. The current official category of "Catalans" is that of the citize ...

. He reportedly knocked out a tooth after he collided with

Lionel Messi Lionel Andrés Messi (; born 24 June 1987), also known as Leo Messi, is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Paris Saint-Germain and captains the Argentina national team. Widely regarded as one of the ...

. Having overtaken Roma at the summit of the Serie A and winning the league title, Inter went on to eliminate Barcelona from the Champions League in the

semi-finals A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

, with Maicon earning praise. On 22 May 2010, after beating Roma in the Coppa Italia final weeks earlier, Inter won the Champions League, thus obtaining the treble, with a 2–0 victory over Bayern Munich in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

at the

Santiago Bernabéu Stadium The Santiago Bernabéu Stadium ( es, Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, ) is a football stadium in Madrid, Spain. With a current seating capacity of 81,044, it has been the home stadium of Real Madrid since its completion in 1947. It is the second-larg ...

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

. He was named the 2009–10 UEFA Club Defender of the Year and his performances earned him a nomination for the

Ballon d'Or The Ballon d'Or (; ) is an annual association football, football award presented by French news magazine ''France Football'' since 1956. Between 2010 and 2015, in an agreement with FIFA, the award was temporarily merged with the FIFA World Pl ...

trophy as Europe's top player.

2011–12 season

In the 2011–12 season, Maicon played just 23 games in

. In his 23 appearances Maicon scored two goals, the first in a 2–1 defeat to Juventus at the San Siro on 29 October 2011, and the second in the ''Derby della Madonnina'' against Milan in a 4–2 win, on 6 May 2012. He scored from outside the penalty box with a belting shot into the top left corner of

Marco Amelia Marco may refer to: People * Marco (given name), people with the given name Marco * Marco (actor) (born 1977), South Korean model and actor * Georg Marco (1863–1923), Romanian chess player of German origin * Tomás Marco (born 1942), Spanish c ...

's goal, in a game in which teammate Diego Milito scored a hat-trick.

Manchester City

On 31 August 2012, Maicon signed for Manchester City in a £3 million transfer deal, taking the number 3 shirt. He made his City debut on 15 September in a 1–1 draw against Stoke City. He made his home debut in a 2–1 win against

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

on 11 November, replacing centre-back

Matija Nastasić Matija Nastasić ( sr-cyr, Матија Настасић; born 28 March 1993) is a Serbian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Spanish La Liga club Mallorca and the Serbia national team. He began his career at Partizan, a ...

in the second half. Maicon struggled with injury throughout the season, but when fit he found it a struggle to break into the City team, ultimately failing to dislodge

Pablo Zabaleta Pablo Javier Zabaleta Girod (; born 16 January 1985) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a right back. Zabaleta could operate on both sides of the pitch as a full-back and was known for his tenacious style of play, an ...

from the right back position and struggling to even supplant the injury-prone

Micah Richards Micah Lincoln Richards (born 24 June 1988) is an English former professional footballer, sports pundit for Sky Sports and BBC Sport, and as an ambassador of Manchester City. As a player, he was a right back who played in the Premier League and ...

for the substitute right-back role fit. Maicon therefore rarely made City's substitutes' bench. When manager

Roberto Mancini Roberto Mancini (; born 27 November 1964) is an Italian football manager and former player. He is currently the manager of the Italy national team. As a player, Mancini operated as a deep-lying forward, and was best known for his time at Sa ...

was sacked at the end of the season, his replacement

Manuel Pellegrini Manuel Lúis Pellegrini Ripamonti (; ; born 16 September 1953) is a Chilean professional football manager and former player who is the manager of Real Betis. As a coach, he has managed teams in Spain, England, Argentina, Chile, China and Ecuador. ...

was quick to move the player, omitting him from the club's pre-season tour of South Africa and commenting that he would not be in the squad this year.

Roma

On 18 July 2013, Maicon returned to Serie A after Manchester City allowed him to move on a free transfer to Roma. His transfer was made official by Roma on 26 July on his 32nd birthday, with Maicon signing a two-year deal. Roma started the 2013–14 season under manager

Rudi Garcia Rudi José Garcia (; ; born 20 February 1964) is a French professional football manager and former player who is the manager of Saudi Professional League club Al Nassr. Early life Rudi Garcia's father, José, was a Spanish expatriate who played ...

with ten wins in its first ten Serie A games. He was allocated squad number 13, and made his competitive debut on 25 August in the opening league week against Livorno, playing full-90 minutes in a 0–2 away win. On 25 September, during the away match against

Sampdoria Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional football club based in Genoa. The club was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the 1890s, ...

, Maicon suffered an muscular injury and was replaced in the 35th minute; following the match, it was reported he had a first degree lesion in the right thigh, and the recovery time was around 15 days. Maicon returned in action for the league match against

, helping the team to win 2–0 at home. Later on 8 December, Maicon scored his first goal for Roma in the 2–1 home win against

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional football club based in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while the actual club was refounded in August 2002 fol ...

, returning the team to the winning ways after four consecutive draws. He started 2014 by scoring his second goal of the season in Roma's 4–0 home defeat of

. Maicon made his

Coppa Italia The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since. History The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...

debut nine days later in the

quarter-final A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

against Juventus, contributing in a 1–0 home win and progression to the semi-final. On 13 October 2014, Maicon agreed a contract extension with Roma, extending his stay at Stadio Olimpico until June 2016.

Avaí

On 31 May 2017, Maicon signed with Brazilian side

on a one-year contract. After training for a few weeks with

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 ...

, he didn't sign with the Glorioso, instead going to the club from Santa Catarina. Maicon came back to Brazilian football after 13 years, after leaving Cruzeiro for

AS Monaco Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club SA, commonly referred to as AS Monaco () or Monaco, is a professional football club based in Monaco that is member of French Football Federation (FFF) and competes in Ligue 1, the top tier of Frenc ...

. In December 2017, Maicon announced his retirement after spending one season with

who were relegated to Série B.

Criciúma

On 22 December 2018, Maicon announced he had signed a one-year contract with Série B side

. Maicon cited his son as one of the reasons for his return to football and his previous history with the club as a youth player.

Villa Nova

In September 2020, Maicon joined

Campeonato Brasileiro Série D The Campeonato Brasileiro Série D (English: Brazilian Championship Serie D) is the fourth division of the Brazilian football league system, and was announced by the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) on April 9, 2008. The Campeonato Brasileir ...

side Villa Nova.

Sona

In January 2021, it was confirmed that Maicon had joined

Serie D The Serie D () is the top level of semi-professional football in the country. The fourth tier of the Italian league system, the competition sits beneath the third professional league, Serie C. It is administered by the Lega Nazionale Dilettant ...

side Sona on a six-month deal.

Tre Penne

On 14 June 2021, Maicon joined Sammarinese club Tre Penne. During his month-long stay at the club, he made two appearances in the 2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League first qualifying round.

International career

Brazil and Colombia match at the FIFA World Cup 2014-07-04 (23)

After appearing for Brazil's under-20 team at the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship, Maicon made his senior international debut in the team's opening game of the

against

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

on 12 July 2003. He was named in the team of the tournament as Brazil finished as runner-up. He went on to become the first choice right-back for the ''Seleção'', winning the Copa América in 2004 and 2007, and the FIFA Confederations Cup in 2005 and 2009. He appeared in his first

in 2010 and scored on his tournament debut, a 2–1 win over

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

. In June 2014, Maicon was selected in Brazil's 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 ...

. He replaced

Dani Alves Daniel Alves da Silva (born 6 May 1983), known simply as Dani Alves (), is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Liga MX club UNAM and the Brazil national team. Widely considered one of the greatest full-backs of ...

as the team's starting right-back for the 2–1

win against Colombia in Fortaleza and for the remainder of the tournament. On 7 September 2014, Maicon was dismissed from the Brazil squad for an unspecified "internal problem".

Style of play

Due to his work-rate and stamina, Maicon is known to be capable of aiding his team both offensively and defensively, and has been used both as a full-back and as an attacking wing-back or

wide 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 gifted with outstanding physical attributes, athleticism and excellent technical skills, as well as good vision, crossing ability and a powerful shot, which made him a dangerous attacking threat down the right flank in his prime. Due to his success, strength, pace and power, he earned the nickname "''Il Colosso''" ("The Colossus") during his time at Inter, where he developed into one of the best attacking full-backs in the world, forming a notable partnership with teammate Javier Zanetti.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

''Brazil score listed first, score column indicates score after each Maicon goal.''

Honours

Club

Cruzeiro * Campeonato Brasileiro Série A: 2003 *

Copa do Brasil The Copa do Brasil ( en, Brazil Cup) is a knockout football competition played by 92 teams, representing all 26 Brazilian states plus the Federal District. It is the Brazilian domestic cup and the Brazilian equivalent of the FA Cup, Taça de P ...

: 2003 * Campeonato Mineiro: 2002, 2003 Inter Milan *

: 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10 *

: 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. ...

* Supercoppa Italiana: 2006,

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; ...

, 2010 *

: 2009–10 * FIFA Club World Cup: 2010

International

Brazil * Copa América: 2004, 2007 * FIFA Confederations Cup: 2005, 2009 *

CONCACAF Gold Cup The CONCACAF Gold Cup ( es, Copa de Oro de la CONCACAF, french: Coupe D'or CONCACAF) is the main association football competition of the men's national football teams governed by CONCACAF, determining the continental champion of North Ameri ...

: Runner-up 2003

Individual

ESM Team of the Year The European Sports Media (ESM), formerly European Sports Magazines, is an association of football-related publications in Europe. Members European Sports Media was established in 1989 as an international body for football journalism. Its nine fo ...

: 2008–09, 2009–10 * 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup: FIFA.com Users' Top 11 *2010 FIFA World Cup Man of the Match: vs Korea DPR (GM) *

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

Dream Team Dream Team may refer to: Sport Basketball * Dream Team, the 1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team in Barcelona * Dream Team II, the 1994 U.S. men's national basketball team at the FIBA World Championship * Dream Team III, the 1996 ...

* UEFA Club Defender of the Year: 2009–10 * FIFA FIFPro World XI: 2010 *

UEFA Team of the Year The UEFA Fan's Team of the Year is a football award given by UEFA through a poll on its official website. This award started in 2001 and allows users of the organization's website to choose their own eleven players and a coach based on their ove ...

: 2010 * Samba d'Or: 2010 *

Best XI: 2003

Personal life

Maicon is a great-nephew of former Brazil international footballer Valdomiro.

References

External links

* * *
Profile at AS Roma website

Profile
at SoccerSurfer.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Maicon 1981 births Living people People from Novo Hamburgo Brazilian footballers Association football fullbacks Cruzeiro Esporte Clube players AS Monaco FC players Inter Milan players Manchester City F.C. players A.S. Roma players Avaí FC players Criciúma Esporte Clube players Villa Nova Atlético Clube players S.P. Tre Penne players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Campeonato Brasileiro Série B players Campeonato Brasileiro Série D players Ligue 1 players Serie A players Serie D players Premier League players Campionato Sammarinese di Calcio players Brazil under-20 international footballers Brazil international footballers 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2004 Copa América players 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2007 Copa América players 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2010 FIFA World Cup players 2011 Copa América players 2014 FIFA World Cup players Copa América-winning players FIFA Confederations Cup-winning players UEFA Champions League winning players Brazilian expatriate footballers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Monaco Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in England Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in San Marino Expatriate footballers in Monaco Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in San Marino Sportspeople from Rio Grande do Sul