Alexandre da Silva Mariano (born 28 February 1973), best known as Amaral, is a Brazilian retired 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 lea ...

who played as a

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

. An international for

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, he participated in the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

, winning a bronze metal. During his club career, he passes through numerous clubs, winning league titles at

Palmeiras The Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras (), commonly known as Palmeiras, is a Brazilian professional association football, football club based in the city of São Paulo, in the district of Perdizes (district of São Paulo), Perdizes. Palmeiras is ...

Corinthians The First Epistle to the Corinthians () is one of the Pauline epistles, part of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The epistle is attributed to Paul the Apostle and a co-author, Sosthenes, and is addressed to the Christian church in C ...

Vasco da Gama Vasco da Gama ( , ; – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and nobleman who was the Portuguese discovery of the sea route to India, first European to reach India by sea. Da Gama's first voyage (1497–1499) was the first to link ...

and

Beşiktaş Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 18 km2 and its population is 175,190 (2022). It is located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and ...

Club career

Born in

Capivari Capivari is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil. The population is 56,379 (2020 est.) in an area of 323 km2. Media In telecommunications, the city was served by Companhia Telefônica Brasileira until 1973, when it began to ...

, during his youth, and before he turned professional, he worked at a funeral parlor. Developed at

, for which he made his debut in 1992. He appeared in 244 matches for Palmeiras, and helped them win the

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

and

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

Brasileirão, as well two

Campeonato Paulista The Campeonato Paulista Série A1, commonly known as Campeonato Paulista, nicknamed Paulistão, is the top-flight professional state football league in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. Run by the São Paulo State Football Federation (FPF), ...

in the same years. He scored his only goal for Palmeiras in a 5–1 win against Grêmio in the quarter-finals of the 1995 Copa Libertadores. With his performances, Palmeiras sold him to

Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...

in 1996. The Italians had Buffon,

Hernán Crespo Hernán Jorge Crespo (; born 5 July 1975) is an Argentine professional football coach and former player. He was most recently the head coach of UAE Pro League club Al Ain. A prolific striker, Crespo scored over 300 goals in a career spanning ...

Dino Baggio Dino Baggio (born 24 July 1971) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. Throughout his career, he played for several Italian clubs, and won the UEFA Cup three times, twice with Parma and once with Juven ...

and

Lilian Thuram Ruddy Lilian Thuram-Ulien (; born 1 January 1972) is a French author, Philanthropy, philanthropist and former professional association football, footballer who played as a Defender (association football), defender. Widely regarded as one of the g ...

, with Amaral struggled to perform, only making four appearances, before being loaned to Benfica in December 1996. He made his debut on a home draw against Marítimo on 22 December 1996, and quickly earned his place in the starting XI, in favour of Bruno Caires and Jamir Gomes. He returned to Palmeiras for the remaining Brazilian league, helping the São Paulo-side finish second. In December 1997, Amaral moved back to Benfica on a permanent deal, as an election promise from

João Vale e Azevedo João António de Araújo Vale e Azevedo (born 17 May 1957) is a Portuguese former lawyer who was the 31st president of sports club S.L. Benfica. In relation to his three-year club presidency, he was convicted of embezzlement, document forge ...

. However, he appeared only sporadically, as

Graeme Souness Graeme James Souness (; born 6 May 1953) is a Scottish former professional football player, manager and television pundit. A midfielder, Souness achieved his greatest period of success as an integral part of the Liverpool team of the late 19 ...

opted for Kandaurov in 1997–98, and then signed

Michael Thomas Michael or Mike Thomas may refer to: Entertainment * Michael M. Thomas (1936–2021), American novelist of financial thrillers * Michael Tilson Thomas (born 1944), American conductor, pianist, and composer * Michael Thomas (actor) (1952–2019), B ...

in the following

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

. In July 1998, he was loaned to

for one year. There, he was part of the squad that won two consecutive league titles, in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

and

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

, as well another State Championship. A year later, he moved to

on the same predicament. He continued to bag league titles, winning his fifth title in

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

, as well two other titles, the Torneio Rio – São Paulo and the

Copa Mercosur The Copa Mercosur (, , "Mercosur Cup") was a Association football, football competition played from 1998 to 2001 by the traditional top clubs from Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Chile. The competition was created by CONMEBOL to generate ...

. On 28 June 2000, Amaral signed with

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Florence, Tuscany. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while ...

for a fee of 7.35 billion lire (€3.796 million). He reunited with Nuno Gomes, who also signed with the Italians, and during his first

, he help the team win the

Coppa Italia Coppa Italia () is the annual domestic cup of Italian football. The knockout competition was organized by the DDS and the Lega Calcio until the 2009–10 season and by Lega Serie A ever since. Juventus is the competition's most successf ...

. After a complicated second

, which ended in bankruptcy. The 29-year-old moved to

but stayed just six months, being released in January due to the lack of opportunities "I did not have many first-team chances, I could not play as much as I wanted to." After leaving Turkey, Amaral became a constant journeyman, moving from club to club on a yearly basis. In 2008, he moved to Australia, to play for

Perth Glory Perth Glory Football Club is an Australian professional Association football, soccer club based in Perth, Perth, Western Australia. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under Professional sports league organi ...

who scored a major recruiting coup after snaring the services of the

ian international midfielder for the 2008/09 Hyundai A-League season. He brought a wealth of experience to the Glory and become a fan favourite, but he was ruled out for the rest of the season after aggravating a hamstring injury. Amaral was released by Perth on 2 May 2009. In August 2009, he rejoined the Glory after signing a nine-match guest contract. The stint was rather uneventful, with Amaral only having featured for the side a few times off the bench, but despite this Amaral enjoyed his return to Perth and thanked the club for giving him another chance. Already at the age of 40 years, he had brief spells with

Poços de Caldas Poços de Caldas is a Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in the south of Minas Gerais state, Brazil, in the microregion of the same name. Its estimated population in 2020 was 168,641 inhabitants. The city is known for its hot springs. Histor ...

and

Itumbiara Itumbiara () is a municipality in Brazil, located in the southern part of the state of Goiás, on the border with Minas Gerais. It is a "sister city" to the Minas Gerais municipality of Araporã. The city lies south of the state capital, Goiâ ...

during 2013, making only one official appearance for Itumbiara.

International career

He made his debut for the

national National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

team on 27 September 1995, in a 2–1 win against

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. In January 1996, he participated in the

1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the third edition of the Gold Cup, the soccer championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF). The tournament returned to the United States and California; the games were hosted by Los ...

, won by

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

against Brazil, and six months later played the

alongside

Roberto Carlos Roberto Carlos da Silva Rocha (born 10 April 1973), often known as Roberto Carlos and sometimes ''RC3'', is a Brazilian former professional association football, footballer. He has been described as the "most offensive-minded left-back in the ...

Bebeto José Roberto Gama de Oliveira (born 16 February 1964), known as Bebeto (), is a Brazilian former professional football player who played as a forward. He entered politics in the 2010 Brazilian general elections and was elected to the Legis ...

, Ronaldo and

Rivaldo Rivaldo Vítor Borba Ferreira (; born 19 April 1972), known simply as Rivaldo, is a Brazilian former footballer who played mainly as an attacking midfielder but also as a second striker, and on occasion deployed as a wide midfielder or as ...

, finishing with the bronze medal. His last game was on 31 August 1996, in a friendly against

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

Other works

In 2015, Amaral participated as a contestant in the reality television series '' A Fazenda 8''. In 2022, he performed cosplayed as a

dog The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the gray wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it was selectively bred from a population of wolves during the Late Pleistocene by hunter-gatherers. ...

in the reality singing competition '' The Masked Singer Brasil''.

Honours

Palmeiras *

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

, *

: 1993, 1994, 1996 * Rio-São Paulo Tournament: 1993 *

Copa do Brasil The Copa do Brasil () 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 it is the Brazilian equivalent of the FA Cup, Taça de Portugal, ...

runner-up: 1996 Corinthians *

: 1999 Vasco da Gama *

* Rio-São Paulo Tournament: 1999 * Guanabara Cup: 2000 * Mercosul Cup: 2000 Fiorentina *

: 2000–01 Beşiktaş *

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), also known as Trendyol Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Turkey and the highest level of the Turkish football league system. In the 2023–2024 season, twen ...

: 2002–03

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Amaral 1973 births Living people People from Capivari Brazilian men's footballers Brazil men's international footballers Men's association football midfielders Footballers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for Brazil Olympic footballers for Brazil Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players A-League Men players Primeira Liga players Serie A players Süper Lig players Ekstraklasa players Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Indonesia Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Poland Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Australia Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in Indonesia Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Poland Expatriate men's soccer players in Australia Olympic medalists in football SE Palmeiras players Parma Calcio 1913 players S.L. Benfica footballers Sport Club Corinthians Paulista players CR Vasco da Gama players ACF Fiorentina players Beşiktaş J.K. footballers Grêmio FBPA players Al-Gharafa SC players Esporte Clube Vitória players Clube Atlético Mineiro players Pogoń Szczecin players Santa Cruz Futebol Clube players Grêmio Barueri Futebol players Perth Glory FC players Persebaya Surabaya players Itumbiara Esporte Clube players Capivariano Futebol Clube players Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Qatar Stars League players 1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Footballers from São Paulo (state) 20th-century Brazilian sportsmen