Santos FC repatriates midfielder Mateus, who was at Boavista, from Portugal

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Santos Futebol Clube-SP repatriated the young athlete Mateus, who was at Boavista Futebol Clube, from Portugal, to reinforce the U17 team. The midfielder signed a training contract valid until December 31, 2024 on Monday (23), on the 3rd floor of Estádio Urbano Caldeira (Vila Belmiro), in Santos (SP). The businessman César Soler, who commanded the international transfer, accompanied the CSR Sports client in the act of signing. The bond was published in the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF)'s Daily News Bulletin (BID) on Tuesday (31).

"I could not be happier. Santos FC-SP is a club known around the world, highly respected, with an incredible history. Making this dream come true is for few and I will certainly enjoy every moment, every training session, every free time to prepare and improve and be able to repay all the trust placed in me on the field. I am really happy and fulfilled”, said Mateus.

One of the highlights of the Ivo10 Brazil Football Academy / AERC Juventus-RS - a project by football athlete Ivo in partnership with CSR Sports, with units in Macau and Teutônia (RS) -, Mateus caught the attention of the base categories of Boavista-POR , the club that hired him in July 2021 as a reinforcement for the 2021/2022 Under-17 National Championship. The matches in the South of Brazil are broadcast live, a fact that allowed the Portuguese team's scouts to analyze the midfielder from a distance, which generated interest and then the proposal for evaluation.

Starting in the second part of the competition, which ended for Boavista FC-POR in March 2022, he played in 17 matches, including classics against Porto-POR. Under the command of coach Germano Pires, Mateus began to play in the positions of defensive midfielder and second midfielder in addition to guard midfielder, his characteristic until he arrived in Portugal.

“It was a period of great learning. I owe a lot to DT Germano for all the teachings. I've always played more as a midfielder, closer to the goal. In training and games at Boavista-POR I was moved to the front of the defenders, playing as shirt 5 and 8. It was different from everything I had done so far, but I didn't give up and tried to improve myself as best as possible. I will certainly return to Brazil with more baggage, ready to play in the position that Professor Elder Campos needs me at Santos FC”, summarized Mateus.

The contract of the athlete with a career managed by CSR Sports with Boavista FC-POR was for three seasons, but, due to serious health problems of his mother, Mateus had to interrupt his trajectory in Europe at this time and return to Brazil. “It was not an easy decision. I was in Boavista, I had friends, I was playing as a starter, I had finished the season on a high and I already had a whole project to continue advancing in European football, but my mother needed me. Her serious health problem was decisive for my return to Brazil to be with her and my father. I couldn’t choose different,” he explained.

The decision to return to Brazil became easier when the possibility of playing for Santos FC-SP, now realized, became real. “When I heard that there was a chance to play for Santos FC, I was elated. I came in for an evaluation period giving my best and I am extremely happy to have passed and signed the contract. Playing in Europe is the dream of every player who is starting his career in football, but I can say that the same is true for playing in Santos FC's youth categories. It's a dream come true, a rare opportunity. Returning to Brazil to play for Peixe is the sequence of a dream that gets a little more real every day”, concluded the midfielder.

Mateus, who turns 17 on August 11, played great matches for Ivo10 Brazil / Juventus, winning titles in both the Under-15 and Under-17 teams. Before participating in the project in the South of Brazil, he had a remarkable experience in his career in Mato Grosso do Sul, in 2021. When defending CEU ABC-MS, he debuted in the 2021 Copa do Brasil Sub-20, when he entered the second half. in the two games valid for the second phase of the competition. At just 15 years old, he made history by acting at such a young age in a pro pre-team competition.

During the forced stop of football due to the serious pandemic of the new coronavirus, in 2020, Mateus started to train individually to improve his performance. In addition to technical classes with former athlete Ferdinando, who is currently the technical coordinator of the Ivo10 Brazil unit in Teutônia (RS), he was physically trained by the physiologist of the Brazilian Women's Team, José França. The efforts with the specialist made the midfielder gain seven kilos of muscle mass, improving his resistance and performance on the pitch.

Mateus Lourenço de Souza Soler was born in São Paulo (SP) on August 11, 2005. He is 1.80m tall and weighs 64 kg. Classic midfielder, with good vision of the game, assists and surprise arrival in the attack, and who since his experience in Europe started to act as a defensive midfielder and second midfielder, always playing from the front, he started in the basic categories of Portuguesa-SP in 2015 with just 11 years. He then played for Nacional-SP (2016-2018/2019/2020), Corinthians-SP (2018), Santos FC-SP (2019-2020), CEU ABC-MS (2021), Ivo10 Brazil Football Academy / AERC Juventus-RS (2020/2021) and Boavista FC-POR (2022). In his curriculum, he has the titles of the 2015 Sub-11 Gold Cup (Portuguese), 2018 Paulista Sub-13 Cup (National), 2020 Serrana Sub-15 League Championship (Ivo10 Brazil / Juventus), 2020 Serrano Sub-17 Regional Championship (Ivo10 Brazil / Juventus) and Gauchão Noligafi Sub-17 2021 (Ivo10 Brazil / Juventus).