Simão Mate Junior

Simão Mate Junior

Personal information
Full name	Simão Mate Junior
Date of birth	July 23, 1988 (1988-07-23) (age 23)
Place of birth	Inhaca, Mozambique
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position	Defensive midfielder
Club information
Current club	Panathinaikos
Number	23
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2003–2007	Clube Ferroviário de Maputo
2007–	Panathinaikos	82	(0)
National team
2006–	Mozambique	27	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of November 29, 2010, 11:16 AM GMT. † Appearances (Goals).

Simão Mate Junior^[1] (born 23 July 1988) is a football player from Mozambique currently playing as a defensive midfielder or a central defender for Panathinaikos FC. He is known for his marking.

Career

The young footballer went to Greece in the summer of 2007, until then he played for Mozambique side Clube Ferroviário de Maputo.^[2] In which he joined at 2003. He underwent a two-weeks trial and eventually he signed a 4 year deal with Panathinaikos FC.^[3] 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. | image =

On 20 February 2009, Simão signed a new contract with Panathinaikos which included a higher release clause.^[4] Simão also is among the Top-10 Rising Stars for the UEFA Champions League Competition for the season 2008–2009. ^[5]

Honours

Panathinaikos

• Super League Greece: 2010
• Greek Football Cup: 2010

References

1. ^ "Portuguese name" (in Portuguese). zerozero.pt. http://www.zerozero.pt/jogador.php?id=46158. Retrieved 2008-03-17. 
2. ^ "Simão Mate Junior profile" (in Greek). sport.gr. http://www.sport.gr/default.asp?pid=97&sid=1&cid=15&scid=1&personID=804. Retrieved 2008-03-17. 
3. ^ "Contract announcement". pao.gr. Archived from the original on 2007-12-19. http://web.archive.org/web/20071219030722/http://www.pao.gr/document.php?category_id=18&document_id=3029. Retrieved 2008-03-17. 
4. ^ http://www.goalday.gr/article.asp?catid=10534&subid=2&tag=7738&pubid=1767885
5. ^ http://www.uefa.com/competitions/ucl/news/kind=1/newsid=806860.html

External links

• Mate Junior Simão at Panathinaikos FC
• Simão Mate Junior – FIFA competition record

Persondata
Name	Mate, Simao Junior
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1988-07-23
Place of birth	Inhaca, Mozambique
Date of death
Place of death