Antônio Naelson

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Antonio Naelson
Personal information
Full name	Antonio Naelson Matias
Date of birth	May 23, 1976 (1976-05-23) (age 32)
Place of birth	Itajá, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil
Height	1.63 m (5 ft 4 in)
Playing position	Centre Attacking Midfielder Centre Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Club Toluca
Number	10
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1995-1997 1998-99 1999-	América MG CF Monterrey Club Toluca	0 (0) 17 (1) 301 (29)
National team2
2004-	Mexico	40 (6)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 23 June, 2006. 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 6 June, 2008. * Appearances (Goals)

Antônio Naelson Matias (born May 23, 1976 in Itajá, Brazil), also known simply as Sinha, is a Brazilian-Mexican football player, who is currently playing as midfielder for Club Toluca, where he is often called "El Toñito".

Naelson stands at 163 cm (5 ft 4 in) and weighs 67 kg (147 lb) and is often the shortest player on the football pitch. 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 the Mexican national team, 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, Naelson became the first foreign-born player to score a goal for Mexico in a World Cup tournament. He was called up to play again for Mexico, thus making him the first naturalized to be called up by Hugo Sanchez

In 2005, he played in the Confederations Cup scoring a spectacular 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. Naelson represented Mexico in the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, scoring a goal in his first World Cup match against Iran.Antonio Naelson Sinha got his first call up for the Mexican national team by coach Hugo Sanchez for the friendly against United States on February 6 2008. He is Currently the team captain of Toluca.

FIFA refers to this player as "Zinha", which is wrong. His nickname is spelled "Sinha", since Antonio Naelson himself writes it with an S in his signature.

[edit] External links

• Antonio Naelson Article (In Spanish)
• Football Database.com provides Antonio Naelson's profile and stats
• Profile and Statistics (In Spanish)

v • d • e Mexico squad - 2006 FIFA World Cup 1 Sánchez • 2 Suárez • 3 Salcido • 4 Márquez • 5 Osorio • 6 Torrado • 7 Zinha • 8 Pardo • 9 Borgetti • 10 Franco • 11 Morales • 12 Corona • 13 Ochoa • 14 Pineda • 15 Castro • 16 Méndez • 17 Fonseca • 18 Guardado • 19 Bravo • 20 García • 21 Arellano • 22 Rodríguez • 23 Pérez • Coach: Lavolpe

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