Vinicius "Vini" Helder dos Anjos Dantas (born 14 September 1989) is a Brazilian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

striker who plays for

Utica City FC Utica City FC is an American professional indoor soccer team based in Utica, New York, that competes in the Major Arena Soccer League (MASL). History The team formed in 2011 as the Syracuse Silver Knights with the intention of playing in the n ...

of the

Major Arena Soccer League The Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) is a professional indoor soccer league in North America. The MASL features teams playing coast-to-coast in the United States and Mexico. The league is the highest level of arena soccer in North America. The le ...

Career

Dantas grew up in

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

in Brazil, predominantly playing

futsal Futsal is a variant of association football played between two teams of five players each on a court smaller than a football pitch. Its rules are based on the Laws of the Game (association football), Laws of the Game of association football, and i ...

. He moved to the United States at age 18 to attend

Azusa Pacific University Azusa Pacific University (APU) is a private evangelical research university in Azusa, California, United States. The university was founded in 1899 in Whittier, California, with classes first held on March 3, 1900, and degrees offered in 193 ...

on a football scholarship. In 2011, he was spotted by former

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

player

Jason McAteer Jason Wynne McAteer (born 18 June 1971) is a former professional footballer. His primary position was in midfield either in the centre or on the right flank, though he was also an able full-back. Born in England, he represented the Republic o ...

who took him to

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ...

, where he was offered a contract. However, he was not granted a

work permit A work permit or work visa is the permission to take a job within a foreign country. The foreign country where someone seeks to obtain a work permit for is also known as the "country of work", as opposed to the "country of origin" where someone ho ...

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 ...

, and the contract could not be fulfilled. In August 2011, he signed for the Norwegian club

Molde FK Molde Fotballklubb () is a association football, football club based in Molde Municipality, Molde, Norway, that competes in Eliteserien, the top flight of Norwegian football league system, Norwegian football. Founded on 19 June 1911, the club w ...

, and on 17 September 2011 he made his

Tippeligaen Eliteserien () is a professional association football league in Norway and the highest level of the Norwegian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Norwegian First Division ...

debut when he replaced Daniel Chima in the 65th minute against

Fredrikstad FK Fredrikstad Fotballklubb (also known as Fredrikstad or FFK) is a Norwegian professional association football, football club from the town of Fredrikstad. With nine league championships and twelve Norwegian Football Cup, Norwegian Cup wins, FFK ...

. Dantas scored his first goal for Molde in the club's 3-1 victory over

Sarpsborg 08 Sarpsborg 08 Fotballforening, commonly known as Sarpsborg 08 or simply Sarpsborg (), is a Norwegian professional football club based in Sarpsborg, playing in Eliteserien. Sarpsborg 08 and its predecessors played in 1. divisjon from 2005 to 2010. ...

on 20 November 2011. Molde won the league title in his first season, qualifying for the

2012–13 UEFA Champions League The 2012–13 UEFA Champions League was the 58th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 21st season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. The final was p ...

in the process. Dantas made one appearance for Molde during its

qualifying rounds Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

, coming on as a 72nd-minute substitute against

FK Ventspils FK Ventspils was a Latvian professional football club based at Ventspils Olimpiskais Stadions in Ventspils. It was one of the most prominent football clubs in the country. The club played in the Latvian Virslīga since 1997. It folded in July ...

on 24 July 2012. During the 2012 season, Dantas played only one match for Molde but played regularly for Molde's reserve team in the Second Division where he scored 15 goals in 12 matches in

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

. In total, Dantas made six first team league appearances for Molde, scoring one goal. On 31 August 2012, Dantas joined the First Division side Bodø/Glimt of the

on a free transfer. Dantas stayed at the club for one season, scoring six goals in 13 matches. In March 2013, Dantas left Norway and signed a 1-year contract for Finnish team

FC Lahti FC Lahti is a Finnish professional football club based in the city of Lahti. It currently plays in the Finnish second tier Ykkösliiga, after relegating from Veikkausliiga after the 2024 season. The homeground of Lahti is Toolpoint Arena. La ...

of the

Veikkausliiga Veikkausliiga () is a professional association football league in Finland and the highest level of the Finnish football league system. The league comprises the top 12 clubs of the country. Its main sponsor is the Finnish national betting agenc ...

, the top flight of Finnish football. In 2014, Dantas joined the Canadian club

Ottawa Fury FC Ottawa Fury Football Club was a Canadian professional soccer club based in Ottawa, Ontario. The club competed in the North American Soccer League and USL Championship and played its home games at TD Place Stadium. The Ottawa Fury FC were di ...

in the NASL, and made history by scoring the first-ever goal in franchise history. Dantas went on to score two goals for Ottawa in 26 matches during the 2014 season. However, it was announced on November 26, 2014 that he would not be resigned by the club. Following his release from Ottawa, Dantas began playing

indoor soccer Indoor soccer or arena soccer is a form of five-a-side football, five-a-side or six-a-side version of minifootball. It is derived from association football and adapted to be played in walled hardcourt indoor arenas. It differs from the FIFA, FIFA ...

for the

Baltimore Blast The Baltimore Blast are an American professional indoor soccer team based in Baltimore, Maryland, that competes in the Major Arena Soccer League (MASL). Including one championship victory as the original Baltimore Blast, the team has won 10 c ...

of the

. Following the season, he was named a part of the All-Rookie Team after scoring 16 goals for the team and advancing to the championship series. On March 16, 2015, Dantas signed with

United Soccer League The United Soccer League (USL) is an organizer of various professional and amateur soccer leagues in the United States league system. It currently organizes its Championship, League One, and League Two for men, its Super League and W Leag ...

club

Pittsburgh Riverhounds Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC is an American professional soccer team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1998 and beginning play in 1999, the club plays in the Eastern Conference of the USL Championship, the second tier of the American ...

. Dantas debuted for the Riverhounds on 28 March 2015 in the club's opening match of the 2015 season, a 5-2 victory over the

Harrisburg City Islanders Harrisburg City Islanders, known as Penn FC in their final season, were an American professional soccer team based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 2003, the team most recently played in the USL Pro, the second tier of the ...

. Dantas came on as a substitute for

Miroslav Čabrilo Miroslav Čabrilo (born 6 June 1992) is a Serbian association football, soccer player currently playing with Hamilton City SC, Hamilton City in the Canadian Soccer League. Club career College and amateur Čabrilo played with Glendale Secondary ...

at the start of the second half and provided an assist on

Rob Vincent Rob Vincent (born 26 October 1990) is an English former association football, footballer. He is currently an assistant first-team coach for the Pittsburgh Riverhounds in USL Championship. Career Youth Vincent spent time with Everton F.C., E ...

's second goal in the 90th minute. Dantas scored his first goal for the club on the third matchday of the season, the game-tying goal of a 1–1 draw with

Saint Louis FC Saint Louis FC was an American professional soccer team based in St. Louis, Missouri. The team was founded in May 2014, and competed in the USL Championship. The team played their matches at West Community Stadium, a venue inside the World Wide ...

on 11 April 2015. In March 2022, Dantas rejoined the

. On July 13, 2022, Dantas signed with

Florida Tropics SC Florida Tropics SC is a professional soccer club based in Lakeland, Florida. They are owned by Central Florida Sports Ventures, LLC, led by Dr. Panos Iakovidis, and former USL commissioner and Rochester Rhinos owner Chris Economides. The or ...

on a two-year deal. Dantas joined

in October 2024.

Career statistics

Honours

;

Molde Molde () is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town and the seat of Molde Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Romsdal. It is located on the Romsdal Pen ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dantas, Vini 1989 births Living people Men's association football forwards Brazilian men's footballers Molde FK players FK Bodø/Glimt players FC Lahti players Ottawa Fury FC players Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC players Eliteserien players Norwegian First Division players Veikkausliiga players North American Soccer League (2011–2017) players USL Championship players Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Norway Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Norway Expatriate men's footballers in Finland Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Finland Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Canada Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Major Arena Soccer League players Baltimore Blast players Footballers from São Paulo Azusa Pacific Cougars men's soccer players Florida Tropics SC players Utica City FC players 21st-century Brazilian sportsmen