Antônio Naelson Matias (born 23 May 1976), known as Sinha or Zinha, is a former professional

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 lea ...

who played as an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

. Born in Brazil, he played for the Mexico national team. Sinha spent the most of his career at

Deportivo Toluca Deportivo Toluca Fútbol Club S.A. de C.V. is a Mexican professional football club based in Toluca, State of Mexico. The club plays in Liga MX, the top division of Mexican football, from which they have never been relegated. The club was f ...

, where he made over 500 appearances, making him the most capped player in the club's history.

Club career

Sinha was born in Itajá, a city located in the northwest of the

Brazilian state The federative units of Brazil () are subnational entities with a certain degree of autonomy (self-government, self-regulation, and self-collection) and endowed with their own government and constitution, which together form the Federative Repu ...

Rio Grande do Norte Rio Grande do Norte (, , ) is one of the states of Brazil. It is located in the northeastern region of the country, forming the northeasternmost tip of the South American continent. The name literally translates as "Great Northern River", refe ...

. He began his career playing for Rio Grande do Norte's capital city team América FC. Sinha arrived in 1998 to Mexico, when he joined

CF Monterrey Club de Fútbol Monterrey Rayados, A.C., simply known as Monterrey or by its nickname Rayados, is a Mexican professional association football, football club based in the Monterrey metropolitan area, Nuevo León, that plays in Liga MX, the top d ...

. In 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. On February 12, 2017, Sinha achieved 600 official caps (including cup matches) with Toluca. This coincided with Toluca's 100 year anniversary. On April 30, 2017, Sinha was given a brief ceremony at the Estadio Nemesio Diez during the last home regular season game for Toluca.

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 Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

and

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

. He has also been called up to play for

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, although he is a Brazilian-born player, he became a

naturalized Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...

Mexican citizen, after settling in Mexico for several years. During the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to FIFA World Cup hosts ...

in Germany, Sinha became the first foreign-born player to score a goal for Mexico in a World Cup tournament, scoring against

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

. He was called up to play again for Mexico, thus making him the first naturalized to be called up by

Hugo Sánchez Hugo Sánchez Márquez (born 11 July 1958) is a Mexican former professional Association football, footballer and Manager (association football), manager, who played as a Forward (association football), forward. A prolific goalscorer known for ...

. In 2005, he played in the

Confederations Cup The FIFA Confederations Cup was an international association football tournament for men's national teams, held every four years by FIFA. It was contested by the holders of each of the six Continental football championships, continental champions ...

scoring a goal against

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

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. During the

2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 11th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup competition, and the 21st CONCACAF regional championship overall in CONCACAF's 50 years of existence. The United States was the host nation. The competition started on Jun ...

, Sinha, and four other members of the Mexico national team tested positive for the banned substance of

Clenbuterol Clenbuterol is a sympathomimetic amine used by sufferers of breathing disorders as a decongestant and bronchodilator. People with chronic breathing disorders such as asthma use this as a bronchodilator to make breathing easier. It is most comm ...

and were removed from the team's tournament squad. 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. However,

World Anti-Doping Agency The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA; , AMA) is an international organization co-founded by the governments of over 140 nations along with the International Olympic Committee based in Canada to promote, coordinate, and monitor the fight against d ...

appealed to the

Court of Arbitration for Sport The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS; , TAS) is an international body established in 1984 to settle disputes related to sport through arbitration. Its headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland, and its courts are located in New York City, Sy ...

to request a ban. But on 12 October 2011 WADA withdrew this request after the full file was available for them. His final competitive match would come during a difficult time for the Mexico national team, as they barely qualified for the World Cup playoff against New Zealand.

Miguel Herrera Miguel Ernesto Herrera Aguirre (born 18 March 1968), popularly referred to by his nickname "Piojo" (Spanish for "louse"), is a Mexican professional football manager and former player. He is the current manager of the Costa Rica national te ...

found it necessary to only call up

Liga MX Liga MX, also known as Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Mexico and the highest level of the Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Liga Mayor (1943–1949) and also as Primera Divis ...

players thus including the veteran Sinha on his roster. Sinha would sub in during both legs of the play-offs as Mexico successfully advanced to the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...

Career statistics

International

International goals

:''Scores and results list Mexico's goal tally first.'' , - , 1. , , October 13, 2004 , ,

Estadio Cuauhtémoc Estadio Cuauhtémoc is a Association football, football stadium in Puebla (city), Puebla City, Mexico. It is the home of Club Puebla . It is currently the fourth-biggest football stadium in Mexico by capacity. The stadium has been the host of ...

Puebla Puebla, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Puebla, is one of the 31 states that, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its capital is Puebla City. Part of east-centr ...

, Mexico , , , , align=center, 1–0 , , align=center, 3–0 , ,

2006 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification competition was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. Each confederation – the AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa), CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean), CONMEBOL (South America ...

, - , 2. , , March 27, 2005 , ,

Estadio Azteca Estadio Azteca () (officially known as Estadio Banorte for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium located in Coyoacán, Mexico City. It is the official home of football team Club América, as well as the Mexico national team. The stadium ...

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

, Mexico , , , , align=center, 2–0 , , align=center, 2–1 , , 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification , - , 3. , , June 4, 2005 , ,

Estadio Mateo Flores The Estadio Nacional Doroteo Guamuch Flores is a multi-use national stadium in Guatemala City, the largest venue in Guatemala. It was built in 1948, to host the Central American and Caribbean Games in 1950, and was renamed after long-distance run ...

Guatemala City Guatemala City (, also known colloquially by the nickname Guate), is the Capital city, national capital and largest city of the Guatemala, Republic of Guatemala. It is also the Municipalities of Guatemala, municipal capital of the Guatemala Depa ...

, Guatemala , , , , align=center, 1–0 , , align=center, 2–0 , , 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification , - , 4. , , June 16, 2005 , ,

AWD-Arena Niedersachsenstadion (, ) is a football stadium in Hanover, Lower Saxony, Germany, which is home to football club Hannover 96. The original 86,000-capacity stadium was completed in 1954 and has since been rebuilt several times for various major ...

Hanover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...

, Germany , , , , align=center, 1–1 , , align=center, 2–1 , ,

2005 FIFA Confederations Cup The 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup association football, football tournament was the seventh FIFA Confederations Cup. It was held in Germany between 15 June and 29 June 2005, as a prelude to the 2006 FIFA World Cup. The tournament was won by 2002 FI ...

, - , 5. , , June 11, 2006 , ,

Frankenstadion Max-Morlock-Stadion () is a stadium in Nuremberg, Germany, which was opened in 1928. It is located next to Zeppelinfeld. It also neighbors the Nuremberg Arena. Since 1966, it has been home stadium to the German 2. Bundesliga club 1. FC Nü ...

Nuremberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...

, Germany , , , , align=center, 3–1 , , align=center, 3–1 , ,

, - , 6. , , June 4, 2008 , ,

Qualcomm Stadium San Diego Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium in San Diego, California, United States. Opened in 1967 as San Diego Stadium; it was renamed Jack Murphy Stadium for sportswriter Jack Murphy (sportswriter), Jack Murphy from 1981 to 1997. From 1997 t ...

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

, United States , , , , align=center, 1–3 , , align=center, 1–4 , , Friendly

Honours

Toluca *

Mexican Primera División Liga MX, also known as Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Mexico and the highest level of the Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Liga Mayor (1943–1949) and also as Primera Divi ...

: Verano 2000, Apertura 2002, Apertura 2005, Apertura 2008, Bicentenario 2010 *

Campeón de Campeones Campeón de Campeones () is an association football competition in Mexico and the domestic super cup between the Liga MX champions of the ''Apertura'' and ''Clausura'' tournaments. It was initially a super cup match between the league and cup cha ...

: 2003,

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

CONCACAF Champions' Cup The CONCACAF Champions Cup, formerly known as CONCACAF Champions League (2008–2023), is an international association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for clubs from North America, Central America, a ...

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

Individual *

FIFA Confederations Cup The FIFA Confederations Cup was an international association football tournament for men's national teams, held every four years by FIFA. It was contested by the holders of each of the six continental championships ( AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBO ...

Best Goal:

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

Best Attacking Midfielder: Apertura 2008, Bicentenario 2010 *

Golden Ball: Apertura 2008, Bicentenario 2010 *

top assist provider: Apertura 2013

References

External links

*
Football Database.com provides Antônio Naelson's profile and statsCBF

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sinha 1976 births Living people People from Rio Grande do Norte Naturalized citizens of Mexico Brazilian emigrants to Mexico Mexican men's footballers Mexico men's international footballers América Futebol Clube (MG) players Liga MX players C.F. Monterrey players Deportivo Toluca F.C. players Querétaro F.C. footballers Olympic footballers for 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 Men's association football midfielders CONCACAF Champions Cup–winning players Sportspeople of Brazilian descent