Simão Mate Junior Explained

Simão Mate
Fullname:Simão Mate Junior
Height:1.80 m
Birth Date:1988 6, df=yes
Birth Place:Maputo, Mozambique
Position:Defensive midfielder
Youthyears1:2005–2007
Youthclubs1:Ferroviário Maputo
Years1:2007–2012
Clubs1:Panathinaikos
Caps1:118
Goals1:1
Years2:2012–2013
Clubs2:Shandong Luneng
Caps2:17
Goals2:1
Years3:2013–2016
Clubs3:Levante
Caps3:92
Goals3:3
Years4:2017–2018
Clubs4:Al Ahli SC
Caps4:19
Goals4:0
Years5:2019–2021
Clubs5:Vegalta Sendai
Caps5:48
Goals5:4
Nationalyears1:2007–2016
Nationalteam1:Mozambique
Nationalcaps1:42
Nationalgoals1:0
Club-Update:11 August 2021

Simão Mate Junior[1] (born 23 June 1988) is a Mozambican professional football player who plays as a defensive midfielder.

He is also a member of the Mozambique national football team, for which he has made 30 appearances since 2007.He represented the nation at the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations.[2]

Career

Simão Mate started his career at Mozambican club Clube Ferroviário de Maputo in 2005.[3] He was brought to Greece in August 2007 by José Peseiro, who was then the head coach of Panathinaikos, in order to be tested[4] and after a three-week trial, he signed a four-year deal with the Greek club.[5] [6]

Since then he has managed to surprise his coach and the team's fans with his solidness, strength and tenacity. Despite his young age, he has made some first-team appearances and has become a precious solution for his coach Henk ten Cate. Although he was signed in order to play as a defender, circumstances and teammates' injuries made the team's coach to use Simão as a defensive midfielder, actually the player is established at fans' minds as a midfielder rather than a defender.

Simão has been particularly impressive in the minds of many Panathinaikos supporters which came as a surprise, given his relative anonymity and small transfer cost. His debut season was a great success; Simão made 27 first-team appearances. In his second season, he scored a superb volley in Panathinaikos' UEFA Champions League 3rd round qualifying match, away to Sparta Prague. He continued to impress domestically and in the Champions League proper, notably marking Diego and nullifying his attacks in Panathinaikos' 3–0 victory against Werder Bremen.

Simão was also included in Tuttosport's list of the top-rated 40 young footballers in the world, becoming the first player of Mozambique to achieve this accolade. On 20 February 2009, Simão signed a new contract with Panathinaikos which included a higher release clause.[7] Simão also is among the Top-10 Rising Stars for the UEFA Champions League Competition for the season 2008–2009.[8] On 18 February he scored his first goal which came in an away match against Crete-based Ergotelis for the 2011–2012 season.

On 14 June 2012, 16 days before his contract ran out, Simao was released from the club.[9]

On 19 June 2012, Simão signed a contract with Chinese Super League side Shandong Luneng Taishan, rejoining former Panathinaikos manager Henk ten Cate.[10] He made his Super League debut 4 days later, in a 3–1 home victory against Shanghai Shenxin, ending Shandong's 7-league-match winless run. His position in the club became unstable after ten Cate was sacked in September 2012. Radomir Antić, new manager of the club preferred Roda Antar more in the defensive midfielder position. Simão was released by Shandong in early 2013.

Simão made a free move to La Liga club Levante UD in March 2013. On 20 April, Simão made his debut against FC Barcelona and put in an assured display alongside Pape Diop in the centre of midfield.

On 29 December 2018, Simão signed a contract with Vegalta Sendai.[11]

Club statistics

[3] [12]

Club performanceLeagueCupContinentalTotal
ClubSeasonLeagueAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Panathinaikos2007–08Super League Greece210210
2008–09Super League Greece290111401
2009–10Super League Greece18020120320
2010–11Super League Greece2202050280
2011–12Super League Greece2912030331
Total1181603111552
Shandong Luneng2012Chinese Super League17141212
Levante2012–13La Liga4040
2013–14La Liga31121332
2014–15La Liga27120291
2015–16La Liga30100301
Total9234100964
Al Ahli SC2017–18Qatar Stars League22131242
Vegalta Sendai2019J1 League24360303
2020J1 League13110141
Total3747000444
Career total2701022331133214

Honours

Panathinaikos

2009–10

2009–10Vegalta Sendai

2019 (June)

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Portuguese name . zerozero.pt . pt. 17 March 2008.
  2. News: CAN começa a aquecer. CAN starts heating up. Record. Hugo. Neves. pt. 15 January 2010. 20 October 2014. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20150924152214/http://www.record.xl.pt/futebol/internacional/can/interior.aspx?content_id=424830. 24 September 2015.
  3. Web site: Simão Junior profile. Footballzz.co.uk. 13 April 2012.
  4. Web site: Νέο θύμα της κακοδαιμονίας με τους τραυματισμούς στον Παναθηναϊκό ο Μάτος (Matos the new victim of Panathinaikos' bad luck with injuries). 12 August 2007. in.gr. Greek.
  5. Web site: Contract announcement . pao.gr . 17 March 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20071219030722/http://www.pao.gr/document.php?category_id=18&document_id=3029 . 19 December 2007.
  6. Web site: Επένδυση στο μέλλον για τον Παναθηναϊκό η απόκτηση του 19χρονου Σιμάο. Investment in Panathinaikos' future the signing of 19-year-old Simao. 30 August 2007. in.gr. Greek.
  7. Web site: Ανανεώνει και ο Σιμάο | ποδόσφαιρο, superleague, παναθηναϊκός | SentraGoal . www.goalday.gr . 3 February 2022 . https://archive.today/20120731071507/http://www.goalday.gr/article.asp?catid=10534&subid=2&tag=7738&pubid=1767885 . 31 July 2012 . dead.
  8. Web site: UEFA Champions League. UEFA.com. UEFA.com. en. 14 May 2018.
  9. Web site: ΠΑΟ: Τέλος ο Σιμάο (PAO: Simao gone). 14 June 2012. Ta Nea. Greek.
  10. Web site: http://www.lnts.com.cn/news/2012/6/19/201261954037876.htm. zh:俱乐部与西芒·梅特·儒尼奥尔签约. Simao signed for the club. 19 June 2012. lnts.com.cn. Chinese. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20120823114052/http://www.lnts.com.cn/news/2012/6/19/201261954037876.htm. 23 August 2012.
  11. Web site: シマオ マテ選手 加入内定のお知らせ. www.vegalta.co.jp. Japanese. 29 December 2018.
  12. Web site: Simao Mate Junior profile. Soccerway. 13 April 2012.