Simão Mate Junior

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

Simão Mate
Simão with Vegalta Sendai in 2021
Personal information
Full name Simão Mate Junior
Date of birth (1988-06-23) 23 June 1988
Place of birth Maputo, Mozambique
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s) Defensive midfielder
Youth career
2005–2007 Ferroviário Maputo
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2007–2012 Panathinaikos 118 (1)
2012–2013 Shandong Luneng 17 (1)
2013–2016 Levante 92 (3)
2017–2018 Al Ahli SC 19 (0)
2019–2021 Vegalta Sendai 48 (4)
International career
2007–2016 Mozambique 42 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 11 August 2021

He is also a member of the Mozambique national football team, for which he has made 30 appearances since 2007.[2] He represented the nation at the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations.[3]

Career

Simão Mate started his career at Mozambican club Clube Ferroviário de Maputo in 2005.[4] He was brought to Greece in August 2007 by José Peseiro, who was then the head coach of Panathinaikos, in order to be tested[5] and after a three-week trial, he signed a four-year deal with the Greek club.[6][7]

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.[8] Simão also is among the Top-10 Rising Stars for the UEFA Champions League Competition for the season 2008–2009.[9] 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.[10]

On 19 June 2012, Simão signed a contract with Chinese Super League side Shandong Luneng Taishan, rejoining former Panathinaikos manager Henk ten Cate.[11] 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.[12]

Club statistics
As of 7 November 2020[4][13]
Club performanceLeagueCupContinentalTotal
ClubSeasonLeagueAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Panathinaikos 2007–08 Super League Greece 210––210
2008–09 Super League Greece 290–111401
2009–10 Super League Greece 18020120320
2010–11 Super League Greece 2202050280
2011–12 Super League Greece 2912030331
Total 1181603111552
Shandong Luneng 2012 Chinese Super League 17141–212
Levante 2012–13 La Liga 40–40
2013–14 La Liga 31121–332
2014–15 La Liga 27120–291
2015–16 La Liga 30100–301
Total 9234100964
Al Ahli SC 2017–18 Qatar Stars League 22131–242
Vegalta Sendai 2019 J1 League 24360–303
2020 J1 League 13110–141
Total 3747000444
Career total 2701022331133214

Honours

Panathinaikos

Vegalta Sendai

References
  1. "Portuguese name" (in Portuguese). zerozero.pt. Retrieved 17 March 2008.
  2. Simão Mate Junior at National-Football-Teams.com
  3. Neves, Hugo (15 January 2010). "CAN começa a aquecer" [CAN starts heating up]. Record (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  4. "Simão Junior profile". Footballzz.co.uk. Retrieved 13 April 2012.
  5. "Νέο θύμα της κακοδαιμονίας με τους τραυματισμούς στον Παναθηναϊκό ο Μάτος (Matos the new victim of Panathinaikos' bad luck with injuries)" (in Greek). in.gr. 12 August 2007.
  6. "Contract announcement". pao.gr. Archived from the original on 19 December 2007. Retrieved 17 March 2008.
  7. "Επένδυση στο μέλλον για τον Παναθηναϊκό η απόκτηση του 19χρονου Σιμάο" [Investment in Panathinaikos' future the signing of 19-year-old Simao] (in Greek). in.gr. 30 August 2007.
  8. "Ανανεώνει και ο Σιμάο | ποδόσφαιρο , superleague , παναθηναϊκός | SentraGoal". www.goalday.gr. Archived from the original on 31 July 2012. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
  9. UEFA.com. "UEFA Champions League". UEFA.com. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
  10. "ΠΑΟ: Τέλος ο Σιμάο (PAO: Simao gone)" (in Greek). Ta Nea. 14 June 2012.
  11. 俱乐部与西芒·梅特·儒尼奥尔签约 [Simao signed for the club] (in Chinese). lnts.com.cn. 19 June 2012. Archived from the original on 23 August 2012.
  12. "シマオ マテ選手 加入内定のお知らせ" (in Japanese). www.vegalta.co.jp. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  13. "Simao Mate Junior profile". Soccerway. Retrieved 13 April 2012.
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