Matheus Aiás Barrozo Rodrigues (born 30 December 1996), known as Matheus Aiás, is a Brazilian 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 ...

who plays as a

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) ** Sm ...

for

Racing Santander Real Racing Club de Santander, S.A.D. (), also known as Racing de Santander () or simply Racing, is a football club based in Santander, Cantabria, Spain, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league syst ...

of the Spanish Segunda División.

Club career

Early years

Born in

Palmares Paulista Palmares Paulista is a municipality in the state of São Paulo, Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over ...

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...

, Matheus played in the youth teams at Cruzeiro and Ponte Preta. In January 2014 he agreed to a deal with Italian

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Copp ...

side

Udinese Udinese Calcio, commonly referred to as Udinese, is a professional Italian football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, that currently plays in Serie A. It was founded on 30 November 1896 as a sports club, and on 5 July 1911 as a foo ...

from Ponte Preta's under-17 squad. He was later assigned to

Granada CF Granada Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. (), known simply as Granada, is a Spanish football club based in the city of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, that plays in the Segunda División, after being relegated from La Liga in the 2021 ...

, a club in the same ownership group as Udinese in

Giampaolo Pozzo Giampaolo Pozzo (born 25 May 1941) is an Italian businessman, currently the owner of Udinese Calcio in Italy. His son Gino is the owner of Watford FC in England. Pozzo sold the family business, tool maker Freud, to Robert Bosch in 2008. Udinese ...

, joining their

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

in November 2014 but could only be registered the following January after he turned 18. Matheus made his senior debut on 15 March 2015, playing the last 12 minutes in a 0–1

Segunda División B Segunda División B ( en, Second Division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish Fo ...

away loss against

Arroyo CP Arroyo Club Polideportivo is a Spanish football club based in Arroyo de la Luz, in the autonomous community of Extremadura. Founded in 1968 it plays in Tercera División – Group 14, holding home games at ''Estadio Municipal'', with a 3,000-se ...

. His first goal came on 4 October 2015, as he scored the opener in a 1–1 home draw against

Mérida AD Asociación Deportiva Mérida, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in Mérida, in the autonomous community of Extremadura. Founded in 2013 it is a successor club of CP Mérida, it currently plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 1. Hi ...

. On 27 April 2017, Matheus joined fellow third division side

Lorca FC Lorca Fútbol Club was a Spanish football team based in Lorca, in the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia. Founded in 2003, it last played in Preferente Autonómica de Murcia – Group 1, holding home games at Estadio Francisco Artés ...

on loan for two months, as an injury replacement to

Chumbi Chumbi (; ) is a historic village in the Chumbi Valley or the Yadong County of the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. It is in the valley of Amo Chu river, where the route from Sikkim's Cho La pass meets the Amo Chu valley. The "Chumbi Valley" of ...

, helping the team win promotion to the Segunda División via the

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eit ...

for the first time in the team's history. In July 2017, now owned by

Watford Watford () is a town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal en ...

, another club of the

Pozzo Pozzo may refer to: * Pozzo (surname), Italian surname * Pozzo (''Waiting for Godot''), a character from the play ''Waiting for Godot'' * Pozzo d'Adda, comune in the Province of Milan in the Italian region Lombardy * Pozzo Ardizzi Pozzo Ardizzi ...

ownership family, Matheus returned to the Spanish third division on loan with

CF Fuenlabrada Club de Fútbol Fuenlabrada, S.A.D. is a football club based in Fuenlabrada, Community of Madrid, Spain, that currently competes in Primera División RFEF – Group 1, the third tier of the Spanish league system. It was founded in 1975. It holds ...

. On 30 January 2018, Matheus was loaned to

Valencia CF Mestalla Valencia Club de Fútbol Mestalla, shortened to Valencia Mestalla, is the reserve team of Valencia CF, a Spanish football club based in Valencia, in the namesake community. Founded in 1944, and currently plays in Segunda Federación – Group ...

Mirandés

On 22 August 2018, Matheus agreed to a one-year loan deal with fellow third division

CD Mirandés Club Deportivo Mirandés is a Spanish football team based in Miranda de Ebro, Province of Burgos, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded on 3 May 1927, the club competes in the Segunda División, holding home matches at ''Est ...

, achieving promotion at the end of the 2018–19 season. His loan was renewed for a further season as the team entered LaLiga 2. He made his professional debut on 17 August, starting in a 2–2 away draw against

Rayo Vallecano Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D. (), often abbreviated to Rayo (Spanish for "thunderbolt"), is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid, in the neighbourhood of Vallecas. Rayo was founded on 29 May 1924, and currently compete in La ...

. During the team's run to the

2019–20 Copa del Rey The 2019–20 Copa del Rey was the 118th staging of the Copa del Rey (including two seasons where two rival editions were played). In its original format, the winners were assured a place in the 2020–21 UEFA Europa League group stage, however th ...

semi-finals, Matheus finished as the competition's second-highest scorer behind

Alexander Isak Alexander Isak (; born 21 September 1999) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a forward for Premier League club Newcastle United and the Sweden national team. Starting off his professional career with AIK in 2016, Isak represe ...

and became the first player in a decade to score against four different

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...

opponents for a team in a lower division after netting against

Celta Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta de Vigo or simply Celta, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues) ...

Sevilla Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsul ...

Villarreal Villarreal ( ca-valencia , Vila-real) is a city and municipality in the province of Castellón which is part of the Valencian Community in the east of Spain. The town is located at 42 m above sea level, 7 km to the south of the province's ...

and

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, S.A.D., more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad (; ''Royal Society''), La Real in Spanish, Erreala in Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Basque Country, founded on 7 Septemb ...

. Only

Lionel Messi Lionel Andrés Messi (; born 24 June 1987), also known as Leo Messi, is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Paris Saint-Germain and captains the Argentina national team. Widely regarded as one of the ...

and

Luis Suárez Luis Alberto Suárez Díaz (; born 24 January 1987) is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as a striker for Uruguayan Primera División club Nacional and the Uruguay national team. Nicknamed ''El Pistolero'' ('The Gunman'), he is ...

had done so in that time.

Orlando City

On 21 August 2020, Matheus signed a two-and-a-half-year deal with

MLS 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 Cana ...

side Orlando City. After a two-month delay, Matheus was eventually able to make his debut on October 24 as a stoppage-time substitute in a 2–1 defeat to

Inter Miami Club Internacional de Fútbol Miami, known as Inter Miami CF or simply Inter Miami, is an American professional soccer club based in the Miami metropolitan area. Established in 2018, the club began play in Major League Soccer (MLS) in the 2020 ...

. He scored his first goal for the club in the following game, a 4–1 rivalry win against

Atlanta United Atlanta United FC, commonly known as Atlanta United, is an American professional soccer club based in Atlanta that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference. Founded in 2014, Atlanta United began p ...

. Having only played for a combined 31 minutes for Orlando City, Matheus returned to the Spanish Segunda División on loan with

Real Oviedo Real Oviedo is a Spanish football club based in Oviedo, Asturias. Founded on 26 March 1926 as a result of the merger of two clubs who had maintained a large sporting rivalry for years in the city: ''Real Stadium Club Ovetense'' and ''Real Club De ...

on 4 July 2021 ahead of the 2021–22 season with an option to buy. He made his Oviedo debut on 20 August 2021, as a 67th-minute substitute in a 2–1 defeat to

Almería Almería (, , ) is a city and municipality of Spain, located in Andalusia. It is the capital of the province of the same name. It lies on southeastern Iberia on the Mediterranean Sea. Caliph Abd al-Rahman III founded the city in 955. The city gr ...

Racing Santander

On 8 July 2022, it was announced Aias had moved to newly-promoted Segunda División team

for an undisclosed transfer fee.

Career statistics

References

External links

* *
Matheus
Orlando City profile {{DEFAULTSORT:Aias, Matheus 1996 births Living people Footballers from São Paulo (state) Brazilian footballers Association football goalkeepers Segunda División players Segunda División B players Major League Soccer players Club Recreativo Granada players Lorca FC players CF Fuenlabrada footballers Valencia CF Mestalla footballers CD Mirandés footballers Orlando City SC players Real Oviedo players Racing de Santander players Brazilian expatriate footballers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate footballers in Spain Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate soccer players in the United States