Maurício Fernandes (born 5 July 1976), known simply as Maurício, is a Brazilian former

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

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

. Possessing a powerful shot which allowed him to score several goals from free kicks, he spent the vast majority of his professional career in Portugal, representing four clubs and amassing

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

totals of 141 games and 13 goals over the course of eight seasons.

Club career

Born in

Passo Fundo Passo Fundo is a Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in the north of the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. It is named after its river. It's the tenth largest city in the state with an estimated population of 204,722 inhabitants ...

Rio Grande do Sul Rio Grande do Sul (, ; ; "Great River of the South") is a Federative units of Brazil, state in the South Region, Brazil, southern region of Brazil. It is the Federative units of Brazil#List, fifth-most populous state and the List of Brazilian s ...

, Maurício did not start playing organised football until well into his 20s. He represented mainly modest sides in his country, with the exception of

Fluminense FC Fluminense Football Club () is a Brazilian sports club based in the neighbourhood of Laranjeiras, in Rio de Janeiro, being the oldest Association football, football club in the state since its foundation in 1902. It competes in the Campeonato B ...

in 2002, helping the

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

team to the

Campeonato Carioca The Campeonato Carioca (Carioca Championship), officially known as Campeonato Estadual do Rio de Janeiro (Rio de Janeiro State Championship), also commonly known as the Cariocão, is the top-flight professional state football league in the Br ...

. In August 2003, shortly after being released by

Esporte Clube Juventude Esporte Clube Juventude (), or simply Juventude, is a Brazilian football (soccer), football club in Caxias do Sul, Rio Grande do Sul. The club currently competes in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, the Brazilian football league system, fi ...

, Maurício signed with S.C. Braga in Portugal, being rarely used by the

Minho Minho or Miño may refer to: People * Miño (surname) * Choi Min-ho, South Korean singer and actor known mononymously as Minho Places * Minho (river) or Miño, in Portugal and Spain Jamaica * Rio Minho, a river Portugal * Minho Province ...

side in three years (he was inclusively demoted to the reserves) and also being loaned to fellow

club C.F. Estrela da Amadora, where he excelled, scoring four goals as the team finished in mid-table in the 2005–06 season. Subsequently returned to Braga, Maurício left for the

Pohang Steelers The Pohang Steelers (Hangul: 포항 스틸러스) are a South Korean professional Association football, football club based in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province that compete in the K League 1, the top flight of Football in South Korea, South Ko ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

in the 2007 January

transfer window In association football, a transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club, club can add players to their squad who were previously under contract with another club. Such a Transfer (association football), transfer is comp ...

. After appearing rarely in the

K League 1 The K League 1 () is a professional association football league in South Korea and the highest level of the South Korean football league system. The league is contested by twelve clubs. It is one of the most successful leagues in the Asian Foo ...

he returned to Portugal and former club Estrela, netting another four goals as it again managed to retain top-division status after finishing 13th, notably in a 2–2 home draw against eventual champions

FC Porto Futebol Clube do Porto, Order of Prince Henry, MHIH, Order of Merit (Portugal), OM (), commonly known as FC Porto or simply Porto, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Porto. It is best known for the professional association footbal ...

. After

one year ''One Year'' is the debut solo studio album by English singer-songwriter Colin Blunstone, a member of the Zombies. It was released by Epic Records in 1971. It includes " Say You Don't Mind", which peaked at number 15 on the UK Singles Chart. Pr ...

in Greece with Ergotelis FC, the 33-year-old Maurício returned once again to Portugal, joining

C.D. Feirense Clube Desportivo Feirense, commonly known as CD Feirense or just Feirense, is a Portuguese association football, football club based in Santa Maria da Feira. Founded on 18 March 1918, Feirense play in the LigaPro, the second tier of football in ...

of the Segunda Liga on a one-year contract. For the following campaign he returned to the top flight, with

S.C. Olhanense Sporting Clube Olhanense (), commonly known as Olhanense, is a Portuguese sports club from Olhão, Algarve. Its Association football, football team was founded on 27 April 1912 and currently plays in the Algarve Football Association Portuguese Di ...

Honours

Bahia *

Campeonato Baiano The Campeonato Baiano (), also known as the Baianão (), is the top-flight professional state football league in the Brazilian state of Bahia. Run by the Bahia Football Federation (FBF), it is the second-oldest state football championship o ...

: 2001 *

Campeonato do Nordeste Copa do Nordeste (English: ''Cup of the North-East''), also known as Campeonato do Nordeste (''English: Championship of the North-East'') or Copa Nordeste (English: ''Northeastern Cup'') is a Brazilian football competition among Northeastern re ...

: 2001 Fluminense *

: 2002

References

External links

*
Futebol de Goyaz profile
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fernandes, Mauricio 1976 births Living people Sportspeople from Passo Fundo Footballers from Rio Grande do Sul Brazilian men's footballers Men's association football defenders Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Campeonato Brasileiro Série B players Campeonato Brasileiro Série C players Itumbiara Esporte Clube players Sociedade Esportiva Recreativa e Cultural Brasil players Grêmio Esportivo Brasil players Associação Chapecoense de Futebol players Vila Nova Futebol Clube players Esporte Clube Bahia players Fluminense FC players Esporte Clube Juventude players Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Segunda Divisão players S.C. Braga players S.C. Braga B players C.F. Estrela da Amadora players C.D. Feirense players S.C. Olhanense players K League 1 players Pohang Steelers players Super League Greece players Ergotelis F.C. players Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in South Korea Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in South Korea Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Greece