Simão Mate Junior (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 considered one of the best defensive midfielders in
the world. He is incredibly good at marking.The young
footballer went to Greece
in the
summer of 2007, until then he played for
Mozambique side Clube
Ferroviário de Maputo. In which he joined at 2003. He
underwent a two-weeks trial and eventually he signed a 4 year deal
with Panathinaikos FC. 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.Simão also is among the Top-10 Rising Stars
for the UEFA Champions League Competition for the season
2008-2009.
References
-
http://www.goalday.gr/article.asp?catid=10534&subid=2&tag=7738&pubid=1767885
-
http://www.uefa.com/competitions/ucl/news/kind=1/newsid=806860.html
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