Roberto Moreira Linck Junior (born 31 July 1988 in

Cachoeira do Sul Cachoeira do Sul () is a municipality in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, southernmost Brazil. Its Marian Catedral da Nossa Senhora da Conceição http://www.gcatholic.org/churches/brazil/2666.htm GCatholic is the episcopal see of the Roman Catholi ...

), nicknamed Betu, is a Brazilian-born American

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

and filmmaker. He is the owner of

Linck Group Linck Group Corporation is an American investment group that manages and invests in assets across multiple sectors, including films, sports, fashion, hospitality and technology. Linck Group runs American football (soccer), soccer club Miami Dade F ...

and

Miami Dade FC Miami Dade FC is an American soccer team based in Miami, Florida. The club was founded in 2014 and is currently competing in United Premier Soccer League. In November 2015, the club made international headlines by announcing that former Brazil ...

Youth and college

Linck grew up playing in the youth system of Gremio in Brazil, before moving to United States. He was a player for the Olympic Development Program, Region IV Team. He played for

Park City High School Park City High School is a public high school located at 1750 Kearns Boulevard in Park City, Utah, United States. It is one of eight public schools in the Park City School District and serves tenth, eleventh, and twelfth graders. The district's ...

in 2006 where he won a state title in his senior year. Linck joined the Irvine Valley College in 2007 and was the starting midfielder during his years with the school.

Career

Soccer

On 30 July 2010, Linck was signed by the New England Revolution of the

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

, a day prior to his 22nd birthday. He made his professional debut for the New England Revolution coming on for Khano Smith in the 80th minute in the team's 1–0 victory over DC United on 8 August 2010. He was released by New England on 28 February 2011. Due to an injury suffered to his hamstring he was forced to stop playing soccer in 2011. On 20 May 2014 Linck returned to play soccer and was signed by the

to play as a striker. He made his debut with

scoring 1 goal on the 83rd minute of the match.

Business

Linck is the owner of

, an American investment company that owns

, and

Ginga Scout Ginga Scout is a location-based soccer application owned by Linck Group that facilitates communication between mutually interested users allowing them to chat. Soccer players, Coaches and Scouts. The software was launched November 1, 2015.”. ...

. In 2014,

acquired the company Conttratta. Conttratta represents and is responsible for the image of artists and sports figures such as

Claudia Alende Claudia Manfrin Alende (born 9 October 1996) is a Brazilian/American actress, and singer, the owner of Blanc Media and founder of Burger Babes. Early life Alende was born in Francisco Beltrão, Paraná, and moved to Sao Paulo when she was 20. ...

, Naldo Benny, Laura Rizzotto,

Edgaras Jankauskas Edgaras Jankauskas (born 12 March 1975) is a Lithuanian football manager and former professional player. A powerful forward during his playing career, Jankauskas excelled in the physical side of the game. Other than in his native Lithuania, he ...

, Roberto Carlos da Silva, Fabio Simplicio and Emerson Ferreira da Rosa. Linck was the founder of Miami Dade FC, an American soccer club. In the first year of the club, they were crowned champions of the

NAL NAL or Nal may refer to: In organizations: * Nal Sarovar Bird Sanctuary, in India * National Aerospace Laboratories, India * National Aerospace Laboratory of Japan * National Alliance of Liberals, a political party in Ghana * United States Nation ...

. Played two international friendly matches against the Brazil champions Cruzeiro, competed in an international tournament in

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

and won an award from the United Nations. On 3 November 2015, former Brazil capitain Emerson Ferreira da Rosa announced that he was joining Miami Dade FC. On 1 November 2015, alongside his partner Roberto Carlos, they launched

, a soccer software application to help connect players with scouts from around the globe. On 22 February 2017

acquired the shoe factory Moeller Design. With over 250 employees, the shoe factory produces 2,700 pairs daily.

Film and TV career

In 2017 Linck wrote and directed his debut short film, Lock All Doors, the film stars model

. He was feature in the television show FIFA Football, episode 126, together with Louis Saha and Emerson Ferreira da Rosa. Linck directed the TV Series Camino Al Gol, in which soccer scouts travel through Colombia to pick 1 winner out of 5,000 trialists. In 2022, Linck played the role of the Doctor in the psychological thriller Unfelt along side

National Treasure The idea of national treasure, like national epics and national anthems, is part of the language of romantic nationalism, which arose in the late 18th century and 19th centuries. Nationalism is an ideology that supports the nation as the fundame ...

actor

Timothy V. Murphy Timothy Vincent Murphy (born 5 April 1960) is an Irish actor based in Los Angeles. His notable 2015 roles have been on ''The Bastard Executioner'', ''Grace and Frankie'', and ''True Detective''. He played Galen O'Shea for three seasons on the ...

Video Games

Linck is featured along with his

teammates in the EA Sport's FIFA video game series in FIFA 11. He was also feature in

Football Manager 2011 ''Football Manager 2011'' (often abbreviated to ''FM11'') is a football manager simulation video game. It was released for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X on 5 November 2010. It was also released for PlayStation Portable on 26 November 2010. A ve ...

Charitable work

Linck is a founding member of the Soccer Mission group. He helped launch the charity group in 2014. Their first work was on Thanksgiving Day with a half-dozen of the

team's players and staff, they spent an afternoon making pasta at the Fort Lauderdale factory of Spaghetto, which manufactures fresh pasta, to then cook and donate to over 150 homeless. On 5 July 2015, United Nations presented Linck with an award for peace against drugs and offense. The charity event was held in

Barranquilla Barranquilla () is the capital district of Atlántico Department in Colombia. It is located near the Caribbean Sea and is the largest city and third port in the Caribbean Coast region; as of 2018 it had a population of 1,206,319, making it Col ...

at Estadio Metropolitano in front of 15,000 fans. Linck is a board of director of Friends of Soccer Dreamers, a nonprofit corporation based in the Silicon Valley. Other known board members include Redpoint Ventures partner Tom Dyal and former Olympic medalist

André Luiz Moreira André — sometimes transliterated as Andre — is the French and Portuguese form of the name Andrew, and is now also used in the English-speaking world. It used in France, Quebec, Canada and other French-speaking countries. It is a variation ...

. On 20 December 2018 the nonprofit corporation donated 500 pairs of soccer shoes to low-income youth in Brazil.

Personal life

Linck has an unusual background for a MLS player having trained through the youth system of Brazil's Gremio Football Porto Alegrense which schooled Ronaldinho, and then playing college soccer in California, professional indoor soccer for the Chicago Storm, and a season with CSM Ramnicu Valcea in Romania. He is the son of former Rede Globo anchorwoman Alessandra Linck. He has a younger sister, Tatiana. He currently resides in Miami, Florida. His great-grandfather (Aurélio de Lima Py) was the founder of the Federacao Gaucha de Futebol and the founder, first patron and 9 times president of world champion Grêmio. Linck's family also created the Projeto Pescar, "The Fishing Project" (The name was inspired by the proverb: "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.") Is a non-profit initiative supported by companies with the intention to prepare low-income youth for social inclusion in the labor market. During the course young people learn about some professional area according to the branch that the company works as well as guidance on: Citizenship, environment, sex education, family and technology. The project began in 1976 in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, with the initiative of the entrepreneur Geraldo Tollens Linck (1927–1998), owner of Linck SA.

Filmography

Films and TV

Honours

Chicago Storm

USL Champion 2009

New England Revolution

North American SuperLiga Runners-up (2nd Place) 2010

Miami Dade FC

– Champion (2014) United Nations Award – UNODC Respira Paz (2015) APSL – Regular Season Champion (2016) APSL – Regular Season Champion (2017) APSL – APSL Champion (2017) Svema Karlstad Trophy Sweden – Runners-up (2nd Place) (2019) Top Tour Mexico - Champion (2021) National Soccer League - Champions (2022)

I'm Good at Being Bad (Music Video)

Special Mention Award at the Asia South East-Short Film Festival (2018)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Linck, Roberto Living people 1988 births Brazilian footballers New England Revolution players SCM Râmnicu Vâlcea players Chicago Storm players Miami Dade FC players Expatriate soccer players in the United States Brazilian expatriate footballers Brazilian people of German descent Sportspeople from Rio Grande do Sul Major League Soccer players Brazilian emigrants to the United States Association football midfielders