João Victor Saraiva (born 22 January 1977), better known as Madjer, is a Portuguese retired
beach soccer
Beach soccer, also known as beach football, sand football or sand soccer, is a variant of association football played on a beach or some form of sand between two teams of five players each.
Association football has long been played informally on ...
player. He played in the
forward
Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward.
Forward may also refer to:
People
*Forward (surname)
Sports
* Forward (association football)
* Forward (basketball), including:
** Point forward
** Power forward (basketball)
** Smal ...
position, and has won numerous awards at the
FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup
The FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup is an international beach soccer competition contested by the national teams of the member associations of FIFA, the sport's global governing body. The tournament was preceded by the Beach Soccer World Championshi ...
s for his goalscoring abilities. He took the nickname Madjer because his idol is the former Algerian player
Rabah Madjer
Rabah Mustapha Madjer (; born 15 December 1958) is an Algerian former professional footballer who played as a striker.
He reached stardom as a Porto
Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Po ...
. He has often been hailed as the best-ever beach soccer player. He became the first player to score 1000 international beach soccer career goals in an 8–1 win against
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
in September 2016.
In 2019, he was considered, by the prestigious magazine
France Football
''France Football'' is a French monthly magazine containing football news from all over the world. It is considered to be one of the most reputable sports publications in Europe, mostly because of its photographic reports, in-depth and exclus ...
, to be the best beach soccer player of all time.
International career
Madjer has an extraordinary agility and dribbling talent in contrast to his height (194 cm). Besides, he is very capable in acrobatic finishes such as
volleys, over-head kicks and
bicycle kick
In association football, a bicycle kick, also known as an overhead kick or scissors kick, is an acrobatic strike where a player kicks an airborne ball rearward in midair. It is achieved by throwing the body backward up into the air and, before ...
s. His skills provide a vital contribution for his team while competing in Euro Beach Soccer League, EBSL, Mundialito de Futebol de Praia, Mundialito, and above all the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup#Beach Soccer World Championships, Beach Soccer World Championship.
At the 2005, 2006, and 2008 World Cups Madjer won the World Cup Golden Boot, golden boot for most goals scored in the tournament, and, he also was the Most valuable player, MVP of EBSL last season in 1999, 2006, 2008 and 2009.
He retired from the sport after winning the 2019 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in a victory over Italy.
Statistics
Honours
Club
;Cavalieri del Mare Beach Soccer
*Scudetto: 2005
;Sporting Clube de Portugal
*Circuito Nacional de Futebol de Praia: 2010, 2016
;FC Lokomotiv Moscow
*Russian National Beach Soccer Championship: 2011;
*Euro Winners Cup: 2013 Euro Winners Cup, 2013
;Alanya
*Turkish National Beach Soccer Championship: 2011
;Al-Ahli Club
*UAE National Beach Soccer Championship: 2012, 2013, 2014
*UAE President's Cup: 2014
*UAE Supercup: 2014
;Beşiktaş J.K.
*Turkish National Beach Soccer Championship: 2013
Country
*
FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup
The FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup is an international beach soccer competition contested by the national teams of the member associations of FIFA, the sport's global governing body. The tournament was preceded by the Beach Soccer World Championshi ...
(3): 2001 Beach Soccer World Championship, 2001, 2015 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, 2015, 2019 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, 2019
*Euro Beach Soccer League (6): 2002, 2007 Euro Beach Soccer League, 2007, 2008 Euro Beach Soccer League, 2008, 2010 Euro Beach Soccer League, 2010, 2015 Euro Beach Soccer League, 2015, 2019 Euro Beach Soccer League, 2019
*Euro Beach Soccer Cup (6): 1998, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006
*European Games (Gold Medal): 2019
*BSWW Mundialito (4): 2003, 2008, 2009, 2012
*Copa Latina (beach soccer), Copa Latina (1): 2000
Individual
*FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup#Golden Ball, FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Golden Ball (2): 2005 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup#Awards, 2005, 2006 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup#Awards, 2006
*FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup#Golden Ball, FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Silver Ball (2): 2007 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup#Awards, 2007, 2009 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup#Awards, 2009
*FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup#Golden Ball, FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Bronze Ball (1): 2015 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup#Awards, 2015
*FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, Beach Soccer World Championships Top Scorer (2): 2002 Beach Soccer World Championship, 2002, 2004 Beach Soccer World Championship, 2004
*FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup#Golden Shoe, FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Golden Shoe (3): 2005 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup#Awards, 2005, 2006 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup#Awards, 2006, 2008 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup#Awards, 2008
*FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup#Golden Shoe, FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Silver Shoe (3): 2009 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup#Awards, 2009, 2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup#Awards, 2011, 2015 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup#Awards, 2015
*Beach Soccer MVP (3): 2003, 2005, 2006
*Beach Soccer Stars, Beach Soccer Best Player of the Year (2): 2015, 2016
*Beach Soccer Stars, Beach Soccer Goal of the Year (1): 2015
*Beach Soccer Stars, Beach Soccer Team of the Year (2): 2015, 2016
*Euro Beach Soccer League, Euro Beach Soccer League MVP (5): 1999, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010
*Euro Beach Soccer League, Euro Beach Soccer League Top Scorer (6): 2001, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009
*Euro Beach Soccer League, Euro Beach Soccer League Fair Play Award (1): 2005
*Euro Beach Soccer League, Euro Beach Soccer League Portuguese Event Top Scorer (1): 2007
*Euro Beach Soccer League, Euro Beach Soccer League French Event Top Scorer (1): 2007
*Euro Beach Soccer League, Euro Beach Soccer League Spanish Event Top Scorer (1): 2004
*Euro Beach Soccer Cup, Euro Beach Soccer Cup Top Scorer (4): 2004, 2009, 2010, 2012
*FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup qualification (UEFA), FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup qualification (UEFA) Top Scorer (1): 2011
*Mundialito de Futebol de Praia, Mundialito MVP (6): 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012
*Mundialito de Futebol de Praia, Mundialito Top Scorer (5): 2004, 2005, 2008, 2010, 2012
*Copa Latina (beach soccer), Copa Latina MVP (2): 1999, 2000
*Capocannoniere Serie A (2): 2008, 2009
*Capocannoniere Coppa Italia (1): 2008
*Russian National Beach Soccer Championship MVP (1): 2011
*Turkish National Beach Soccer Championship MVP (2): 2012, 2013
*UAE National Beach Soccer Championship Top Scorer (1): 2012
*Mundialito de Clubes Top Scorer (1): 2012 Mundialito de Clubes, 2012
References
External links
BiographyMadjer BlogueMilano Beach Soccer
{{Navboxes
, title=Awards
, bg=gold
, fg=navy
, list1=
{{FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Golden Ball
{{FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Golden Shoe
{{FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup winning captains
{{Beach Soccer Stars Best Player
1977 births
Living people
Men's association football forwards
Portuguese men's footballers
Portuguese beach soccer players
European Games bronze medalists for Portugal
Beach soccer players at the 2015 European Games
European Games medalists in beach soccer
Beach soccer players at the 2019 European Games
European Games gold medalists for Portugal