Francelino Matuzalem da Silva

Infobox Football biography
playername = Matuzalem
fullname = Matuzalem Francelino da Silva
nickname = Matu
height = height|m=1.75
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1980|6|10
cityofbirth = Natal
countryofbirth = Brazil
currentclub = S.S. Lazio
clubnumber = 8
position = Attacking midfielder
years = 1997-1999 1999 1999-2001 2001-2003 2001-2002 2002-2003 2003-2004 2004-2007 2007- 2008-
clubs = Vitória Bahia AC Bellinzona Napoli Parma → Piacenza ("loan") → Brescia ("loan") Brescia Shakhtar Donetsk Real Zaragoza → Lazio (loan)
caps(goals) = 14 0(0) 00 0(0) 52 0(2) 00 0(0) 28 0(3) 30 0(0) 30 0(3) 68 (25) 14 0(1) 00 0(0)
pcupdate = 20 June 2007
nationalyears = 1997
1999
nationalteam = Brazil U17 Brazil U20
nationalcaps(goals) = 6 0(3) 4 0(1)
ntupdate =

Matuzalem Francelino da Silva, commonly known as simply Matuzalem (born June 10, 1980 in Natal, Brazil) is a Brazilian footballer. He plays for S.S. Lazio. He is hardworking, skillful and prolific midfielder.

Career

Early career

Known as a goalscoring midfielder, he first emerged in the 1997 FIFA U-17 World Championship in Egypt. There, he scored 3 goals in 6 games, including a critical goal in the final match.

Italy

In 1999, Matuzalem left Vitoria, and joined southern Italian club S.S.C. Napoli, where he remained for two seasons, the first spent in Serie B and the second season in what would be Napoli's last in Serie A for six years. Matuzalem was a regular at Napoli, but only scored twice during his time there.

Following his Napoli spell, Matuzalem was signed on a co-ownership deal by Parma and Piacenza in the summer of 2001.

He spent the 2001-02 season with Piacenza who finished 14^th. The second season of the loan spell saw Matuzalem switch to Brescia on loan, where he played nearly every match and the deal was made permanent at season's end. However, he only lasted one more year, before Ukrainian giants Shakhtar Donetsk signed him.

Ukraine

In 2004, Matuzalem moved from Brescia to Shakhtar Donetsk for a fee of around $18.75 million, a Ukrainian record at the time. After the transfer of Anatoliy Tymoschuk to Zenit Saint Petersburg, he became the new captain of the club for the 2006-07 season and was voted the club's player of the year.

pain

In July 2007 Matuzalem left the Shakhtar training facility without notice and returned home to Brazil, citing family issues. However, on July 18th he was presented as the latest signing of Real Zaragoza. [cite web|url=http://www.uefa.com/competitions/uefacup/news/kind=1/newsid=562072.html|title=Zaragoza get Pavón and Matuzalem|date=2007-07-18|accessdate=2008-02-21|publisher=UEFA.com] Shakhtar’s officials have claimed that this is illegal, as no agreement took place between the two clubs and Matuzalem is still under contract to Shakhtar, and that the club is planning a lawsuit against both Matuzalem and Zaragoza.Fact|date=February 2008

After played 4 games and scoring once, Matuzalem was injured since September 2007 and returned in March 2008. He finished the season with just fourteen appearances. [cite web|url=http://www.uefa.com/competitions/uefacup/news/kind=1/newsid=594172.html|title=Matuzalem signed off at Zaragoza|date=2007-09-27|accessdate=2008-02-21|publisher=UEFA.com]

Lazio

In July 2008, Real Zaragoza reached an agreement for a season-long loan. Matuzalem returned to Italy after four years, joining S.S. Lazio on a one-year loan deal worth an estimated 800,000 euro with an option to buy at the end of the season. [ [http://www.corrieredellosport.it/Notizie/Calcio/36900/Ufficiale%2C+Matuzalem+alla+Lazio Corriere dello Sport: Ufficiale - Matuzalem e` della Lazio] ]

Honours

Team
*Ukrainian Premier League: 2005 and 2006 with Shakhtar Donetsk

International
*FIFA Under-17 World Cup 1997

References

External limks

*pt icon [http://200.159.15.35/registro/registro.aspx?s=129466 CBF]
*pt icon [http://www.sambafoot.com.br/jogadores/957_Matuzalem.html Sambafoot.com Profile]
*es icon [http://www.lfp.es/historico/primera/plantillas/historial.asp?jug=7849]