Mauro Cichero is a Venezuelan former professional footballer.

Early life

Cichero was born in

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

and grew up in

Norman, Oklahoma Norman () is the List of municipalities in Oklahoma, 3rd most populous city in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, with a population of 128,026 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the most populous city and the county seat of Clevel ...

from preschool age until third grade, where his

father A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. A biological fat ...

worked as a soccer coach. He then moved to Spain, where he played at soccer academies in

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

, before returning to the United States in 2011, following his mother's death. He attended

Norman North High School Norman North High School is a public, co-educational secondary school in Norman, Oklahoma. It was established on August 21, 1997, on the grounds of what had been Longfellow Middle School since 1972. Longfellow has now been relocated to the build ...

and in 2013, he was named as the Oklahoman All-City Player of the Year. He was named the Gatorade Oklahoma Boys Soccer Player of the Year in 2013 and 2014. In 2014, he scored a bicycle kick goal to give his high school a double overtime victory, with video of the goal going viral.

College career

Coming out of high school, he was considered Oklahoma's top prospect from the 2014 graduating class. He had originally committed to attend

Tulsa University The University of Tulsa (TU) is a private research university in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It has a historic affiliation with the Presbyterian Church, although it is now nondenominational, and the campus architectural style is predominantly Collegiate Go ...

, but later decommitted and decided to attend

Southern Methodist University Southern Methodist University (SMU) is a Private university, private research university in Dallas, Texas, United States, with a satellite campus in Taos County, New Mexico. SMU was founded on April 17, 1911, by the Methodist Episcopal Church, ...

and join their soccer program. Cichero was a standout performer for SMU during his four-year college career. As a freshman, he was named to the ACC Second Team and the All-Rookie Team. In his sophomore season in 2015, he was named the AAC Offensive Player of the Year, was named to the NCAA Division I First-Team All-America, and was a semi-finalist for the

MAC Hermann Trophy The Hermann Trophy is awarded annually by the Missouri Athletic Club to the United States's top men's and women's college soccer players. History In 1967, Bob Hermann, the president of the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) and the ...

, which is awarded to the top college soccer player of the year. In his senior season in 2017, he was named the AAC Midfielder of the Year and was again named to the NCAA Division I First-Team All-America. Late in the season, he suffered a serious torn ACL injury.

Professional career

After his sophomore year at SMU, Cichero joined the OKC Energy U-23 of the

Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States, forming part of the United States soccer league system. The league will featu ...

for the summer. He scored 4 goals in 4 games for OKC. In the

2018 MLS SuperDraft The 2018 MLS SuperDraft was the nineteenth SuperDraft conducted by Major League Soccer. As customary, the SuperDraft was held in conjunction with the annual United Soccer Coaches convention. The 2018 UCS was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania b ...

, he was selected 29th overall by

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The franchise be ...

. He fell in the draft due to an ACL injury suffered in his senior season at SMU. He would not play that season, but spent the year rehabbing with the club with the hope that he would join the roster the following year. After not playing in 2018 due to rehabbing his ACL injury, he went on trial with FC Dallas's

USL League One USL League One (USL1) is a professional men's association football, soccer league in the United States that had its inaugural season in 2019 USL League One season, 2019. The United States soccer league system, Division III league is operated ...

affiliate

North Texas SC North Texas Soccer Club is a professional soccer club that competes in MLS Next Pro, the third division of American soccer. The team is owned by, and operates as the reserve team of the Major League Soccer club FC Dallas. North Texas SC currently ...

, in the third tier. However, due to continued injury struggles, he did not make the club's roster for 2019. In 2020, he signed with

Charleston Battery The Charleston Battery are an American professional association football, soccer club based in Charleston, South Carolina, and member of the USL Championship. Founded in 1993, the Battery are the oldest continuously operating professional socc ...

of the second tier

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a men's professional association football, soccer league in the second tier of the United States soccer league system#Men's leagues, United States league system. It is organized by the United Soccer League (USL) a ...

. He made his debut on July 19, 2020, coming on as a substitute against

Birmingham Legion FC Birmingham Legion FC is an American professional soccer club based in Birmingham, Alabama, that competes in the USL Championship, the second division of American soccer. The team was established in August 2013 and played under the name Birming ...

. His first goal came on August 5, when he scored in stoppage time against

Atlanta United 2 Atlanta United 2 are the reserve team of the Major League Soccer club Atlanta United FC. The team plays in MLS Next Pro, the official reserve league of MLS. The team was established on November 14, 2017 and began their first professional seaso ...

to tie the game at 1-1. He re-signed with the club for the 2021 season. Early in the 2021 season, he tore his ACL, forcing him to miss the remainder of the season. After recovering from his injury, he re-signed with the club for the 2022 season. Following the 2022 season, the Battery declined his club option for 2023. In January 2023, Cichero signed with

side

Forward Madison Forward Madison FC is an American professional soccer team based in Madison, Wisconsin. The team was founded in 2018, and played its inaugural season in 2019. The team competes in USL League One, the third division of the United States soccer l ...

. After the season, he re-signed with the club for the 2024 season. After the 2024 season, he announced his retirement.

Personal

He is the son of Mauro Cichero, who was a professional soccer player and represented Venezuela in the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad () and officially branded as Moscow 1980 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1980 in Moscow, Soviet Union, in present-day Russ ...

. His brothers,

Alejandro Alejandro is the Spanish form of the name Alexander. Alejandro has multiple variations in different languages, including Aleksander ( Czech, Polish), Alexandre ( French), Alexandros ( Greek), Alsander ( Irish), Alessandro ( Italian), Aleksand ...

and

Gabriel In the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam), Gabriel ( ) is an archangel with the power to announce God's will to mankind, as the messenger of God. He is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament and the Quran. Many Chris ...

, are also professional soccer players who have represented the Venezuela national team. In 2018, he stated it is a dream of his to represent the national team like his father and brothers. Born in Venezuela, Cichero is of Italian and Polish descent.

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cichero, Mauro 1995 births Living people Footballers from Caracas Venezuelan men's footballers Venezuelan people of Italian descent Venezuelan people of Polish descent All-American college men's soccer players SMU Mustangs men's soccer players Charleston Battery players Forward Madison FC players FC Dallas draft picks Soccer players from Oklahoma USL League Two players USL Championship players USL League One players Venezuelan expatriate men's footballers Venezuelan expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Men's association football midfielders Sportspeople from Norman, Oklahoma Norman North High School alumni