Sinha (footballer)
File:Antônio Naelson.jpg | |||
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Antônio Naelson Matias | ||
Date of birth | May 23, 1976 | ||
Place of birth | Itajá, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil | ||
Height | 1.63 m (5 ft 4 in) | ||
Playing position | Attacking Midfielder, Central Midfielder |
||
Club information | |||
Current team
|
Querétaro | ||
Number | 10 | ||
Youth career | |||
1985–1993 | América-RN | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
1993–1998 | Saltillo Soccer | 35 | (1) |
1998–1999 | Monterrey | 17 | (1) |
1999–2014 | Toluca | 517 | (61) |
2014– | Querétaro | 40 | (1) |
National team | |||
2004–2013 | Mexico | 59 | (6) |
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 8 January 2016. |
Antônio Naelson Matias (born May 23, 1976), known as Sinha,[1] Zinha or Sinha, is a Brazilian midfielder nationalized as Mexican, that plays at Querétaro in the Mexican 1st Division.
Contents
Biography
Sinha was born in Itajá, a city located in the northwest of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Norte. He began his career playing for Rio Grande do Norte's capital city team América FC.
Sinha measures 163 cm (5 ft 4 in) and weighs 67 kg (147 lb).
Sinha arrived in 1998 to Mexico, when he joined CF Monterrey. On 1999, he moved to Toluca. Sinha is widely known for his dribbling skills, his accurate passing and his intelligence on the pitch as well as his leadership and long distance shot.
International career
He was part of the Mexican 2004 Olympic football team, who exited in the first round, having finished third in group A, below group winners Mali and South Korea.
He has also been called up to play for Mexico, although he is a Brazilian-born player, he became a naturalized Mexican citizen, after settling in Mexico for several years. During the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, Sinha became the first foreign-born player to score a goal for Mexico in a World Cup tournament, scoring against Iran. He was called up to play again for Mexico, thus making him the first naturalized to be called up by Hugo Sánchez.
In 2005, he played in the Confederations Cup scoring a goal against Japan that helped Mexico win the match. Mexico finished in fourth place in the tournament. He was also called up for the national team to play in the Gold Cup. On May 23, 2010 Sinha won his 5th championship on his birthday, but missed a penalty in the penalty kicks phase.
During the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup, Sinha, and four other members of the Mexico national team tested positive for the banned substance of Clenbuterol and were removed from the team's tournament squad.[2] However, all players were exonerated as FIFA determined that the accused had accidentally ingested the banned substance through contaminated meat that had been served during a pre-tournament training camp.[3]
However, World Anti-Doping Agency appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to request a ban.[4] But on 12 October 2011 WADA withdrew this request after the full file was available for them.[5]
Honours
- Toluca
- Primera División de México (5): Verano 2000, Apertura 2002, Apertura 2005, Apertura 2008, Bicentenario 2010,
- CONCACAF Champions Cup: 2003
- Mexican Supercup (Campeón de Campeones): 2003, 2006
Individual
- Best attacking midfielder of the tournament: Bicentenario 2010
- Best player of the tournament: Bicentenario 2010
- Best goal of FIFA Confederations Cup history:[6]
International goals
- Scores and results list Mexico's goal tally first.
Goal | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | October 13, 2004 | Estadio Cuauhtémoc, Puebla, Mexico | ![]() |
1–0 | 3–0 | 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification | |
2. | March 27, 2005 | Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico | ![]() |
2–0 | 2–1 | 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification | |
3. | June 4, 2005 | Estadio Mateo Flores, Guatemala City, Guatemala | ![]() |
1–0 | 2–0 | 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification | |
4. | June 16, 2005 | AWD-Arena, Hanover, Germany | ![]() |
1–1 | 2–1 | 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup | |
5. | June 11, 2006 | Frankenstadion, Nuremberg, Germany | ![]() |
3–1 | 3–1 | 2006 FIFA World Cup | |
6. | June 4, 2008 | Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, United States | ![]() |
1–3 | 1–4 | Friendly |
References
- ↑ "FIFA Player Statistics: Sinha". FIFA.com. Retrieved 15 November 2013.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ "Five Mexico Players Test Positive". ESPN Soccernet. June 9, 2011.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ "FMF absolvió a acusados de dopaje". ESPNDeportes Mexico. July 10, 2011.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ "FOOTBALL – THE CAS DISMISSES URGENT REQUEST FOR A STAY FILED BY OLYMPIAKOS VOLOU". The Court of Arbitration for Sport. 17 August 2011. Retrieved 18 August 2011.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ "WADA withdraws CAS appeal in case of Mexican footballers". World Anti-Doping Agency. 12 October 2011. Retrieved 23 October 2011.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ "Zinha: A goal to remember". FIFA.com. 14 June 2013. Retrieved 21 November 2013.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
External links
- Sinha at National-Football-Teams.com
- Football Database.com provides Antônio Naelson's profile and stats
- (Portuguese) CBF
- (Spanish) Antônio Naelson Article
- Sinha Liga MX stats at Medio Tiempo.com (Spanish)
- Pages with broken file links
- Articles with Portuguese-language external links
- Articles with Spanish-language external links
- 1976 births
- Living people
- People from Rio Grande do Norte
- Naturalized citizens of Mexico
- Brazilian emigrants to Mexico
- Mexican footballers
- Mexico international footballers
- América Futebol Clube (MG) players
- Liga MX players
- C.F. Monterrey players
- Deportivo Toluca F.C. players
- Olympic footballers of Mexico
- Footballers at the 2004 Summer Olympics
- 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup players
- 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup players
- 2006 FIFA World Cup players
- 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup players
- CONCACAF Gold Cup-winning players