Matuzalém

Brazilian footballer
the Biblical figure

Matuzalém Francelino da Silva (born 10 June 1980), commonly known as just Matuzalém, is a Brazilian football manager and former player, who played as a midfielder.

Matuzalém began his career at Salvador based Vitória and quickly established his place in lower level of the Brazil national team. Described as a "goalscoring midfielder" by Eurosport, where he remained for two seasons, the first was spent in Serie B – during which he helped the team win promotion to the Italian top flight – and the second season in Serie A, in what would be Napoli's last in season in the Italian top flight for six years. The club signed Matuzalém in a co ownership deal for 5 billion lire in the summer of 2000. Matuzalém was a regular starter at Napoli, but only scored twice in 52 appearances during his tenure in Naples.) Matuzalém stayed at Piacenza alongside Amauri, Nicola Mora and Matteo Guardalben, all of which were also partly owned by Parma. With Piacenza during 2001–02 season, the team finished 14th in the league. In the opening round of the season, Matuzalém became the first foreigner to score for Piacenza in Serie A. In June 2002, Parma reacquired all of his rights again. The second season of the loan spell saw Matuzalém switch to Brescia on loan, where he had the opportunity to play alongside Roberto Baggio. He played nearly every match and the deal was made permanent at the end of the season. However, he only lasted one more year at the club, before Ukrainian giants Shakhtar Donetsk signed him in 2004. It was a Ukrainian record at the time. Shakhtar informed Zaragoza to request the club to pay the fee. and returned in March 2008. During his only season with the club, he featured scarcely, due to a ligament injury he sustained in September 2007; in total, he obtained 14 appearances, scoring a single goal in La Liga. Zaragoza were relegated at the end of the season. On 19 March 2008, however, Shakhtar appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), as the club perceived the fee set by FIFA DRC as too low. On 20 March, Matuzalém and Zaragoza also made an appeal to CAS for the compensation. On 19 May 2009, the CAS ordered Matuzalém to pay €11,858,934 to Shakhtar for breach of contract. The decision was upheld by the Swiss Federal Tribunal. Zaragoza also later paid €500,000 to Shakhtar on 1 September 2010.

In July 2008, Matuzalém returned to Italy after four years, joining Lazio on a season long loan with an option to buy at the end of the season for €13 million (plus VAT). On 14 March 2010, Matuzalém was injured and missed the remainder of the season. He became a backup of Ledesma and Cristian Brocchi in next season.

On 3 January 2013, Matuzalém was signed by Genoa on a temporary deal. On 24 August 2013 Matuzalém formally joined Genoa on free transfer in two year contract.

On 4 July 2014, Matuzalém was signed by Serie B club Bologna in another free transfer. He was assigned number 5 shirt.

On 19 September 2015, Matuzalém signed with Serie A side Hellas Verona. His contract with Verona was terminated on 8 January 2016. In January 2016, however, Matuzalém and Verona mutually agreed to cancel his contract with the club, after only five months with the team.

Matuzalém signed with Miami FC of the North American Soccer League (NASL) on 20 January 2016. He was released on 12 May 2016.

Following his spell in the United States, Matuzalém returned to Italy and was assigned by Nuova Monterosi in December 2016, a Serie D team based in Lazio, who were playing in group G at the time. He retired from professional football in June 2018 in order to pursue a coaching career. On 27 September, he obtained his UEFA A coaching licence, which allows him to serve as a head coach of youth teams and Serie C teams, or as an assistant coach for Serie B and Serie A sides.

Although he was never capped for Brazil at senior level, Matuzalém represented Brazil at youth level, playing alongside Ronaldinho. He was a member of the Brazil U17 team that won the 1997 FIFA U 17 World Championship in Brazil, and also took part at the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship with the U20 side; in the former tournament, he played a key role in his team's success, scoring three goals in six games, including the decisive goal in the final victory.