After playing for the Selecao and against some of the biggest names in football history, including Lionel Messi, Carlos Luciano da Silva or 'Mineiro', decided to start a new challenge... in Australia.
The former football star left Germany, where he lived with his family for 13 years citizen, to start a new life and career in Australia, as the new coach for the Essendon Royals women's team.
When Mineiro came to Melbourne in January 2020, coaching a football team was not in his plans. He had visited the country before, as a guest coach at , when the opportunity with the Essendon Royals came.
"I worked with female athletes in Brazil and Germany but never as a coach. I ended up accepting it and I'm very happy with this opportunity."
Mineiro: "Quero contribuir com minha experiência para que o futebol possa ganhar ainda maior projeção na Austrália" Source: LUIS ACOSTA/AFP via Getty Images
The Essendon Royals women's team is part of the first Northern Victoria State League which currently has 10 teams. If the team finishes in the top two in 2021, they will be promoted to the National Women's Competition League in 2022.
"Our expectation is that, under the direction of Mineiro, the team will be able to grow even more," said Vaughan Coveny, Essendon Royals football director.
I want to contribute with my experience and career so that football can gain even greater prominence in Australia
With the coronavirus restrictions easing in Victoria, Mineiro is anxious to be on the field and start training. He says he is happy to work with women's football in a country where there is room to develop the ‘beautiful game’ even further.
"Football has evolved and gained respect in the country, look at the Matildas. The infrastructure and dedication of the athletes caught my attention. "
"Certainly Mineiro will bring the Brazilian way of playing to the Essendon Royals and we are very happy with that," said Vaughan Coveny, football director of Essendon Royals.
Vaughan Coveny, diretor do Essendon Royals: "Com certeza Mineiro vai trazer o jeito brasileiro de jogar ao Essendon Royals e estamos muito felizes com isso." Source: Essendon Royals
From Recklinighausen, in Germany to Melbourne, in Australia
After 13 years in the city of Recklinighausen, Germany, the player said the move to Melbourne came at a good time.
“We arrived in Melbourne at the right time, if I had been delayed two or three more weeks, with the bushfires and the coronavirus, I don't know if I wold be able to enter the country. But we are here, the children are fine at school, speaking English, and the adaptation has been much better than I imagined.”
Under the direction of coach Mineiro the players of Essendon Royals will have a series of tough matches in 2021 and the hope is that with the hiring of the respected ex-star the fan base will also grow. "I would like to invite everyone to watch the Essendon Royals matches and support us. Most certainly, the success of a Brazilian football player here in Australia is the success of all of us," he says.
Mineiro was champion of the world by São Paulo in 2005 - he even scored the decisive goal of the World Cup - and athlete of the Brazilian ‘seleção’ in the 2006 World Cup. He played for Hertha Berlin, Chelsea and Schalke 04 in Europe.
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