Thiago Maia
Thiago Maia with the Brazil U23 team in 2016
Personal information
Full name Thiago Maia Alencar[1]
Date of birth (1997-03-23) 23 March 1997 (age 26)[1]
Place of birth Boa Vista, Brazil
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[1]
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Flamengo
Number 8
Youth career
Extremo Norte
2010–2011 São Caetano
2011–2015 Santos
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014–2017 Santos 101 (3)
2017–2022 Lille 61 (0)
2020–2021 → Flamengo (loan) 37 (1)
2022– Flamengo 40 (0)
International career‡
2013–2014 Brazil U17 8 (0)
2015 Brazil U20 8 (0)
2016–2019 Brazil U23 6 (0)
Medal record
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2016 Rio de Janeiro Team
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 14:46, 14 August 2023 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 2 July 2021

Thiago Maia Alencar (born 23 March 1997), known as Thiago Maia, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Campeonato Brasileiro Série A club Flamengo.

Club career

Santos

Thiago Maia playing for Santos in 2017

Born in Boa Vista, Roraima, Thiago Maia began his career at lowly locals Extremo Norte. In August 2010 he moved to São Paulo, joining São Caetano's youth categories, and later moved to Santos in the following year.[2]

On 25 October 2014 Thiago Maia made his first-team debut, replacing fellow youth graduate Serginho in a 1–1 away draw against Chapecoense for the Série A championship.[3] During the 2015 campaign, he profited from the injury of Alison, establishing himself as a starter from June and earning plaudits for his performances.[4]

On 22 August 2015 Thiago Maia scored his first professional goal, netting the second in a 5–2 home routing of Avaí.[5] On 13 October, after lengthy negotiations, he renewed his contract until 2019.[6]

Thiago Maia became an undisputed starter during the 2016 campaign, partnering Renato at the heart of the midfield. He was also linked to Chelsea, Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain during the year.[7]

Thiago Maia completed his 100th match for Peixe on 4 March 2017, in a 0–1 derby loss against Corinthians. In his Copa Libertadores debut five days later, he started and scored the equalizer in a 1–1 away draw against Sporting Cristal.[8]

Lille

Thiago Maia with Lille in 2018

On 15 July 2017, French club Lille reached an agreement with Santos for the transfer of Thiago Maia, for a fee of €14 million, after being signed by the head coach Marcelo Bielsa.[9] He made 37 appearances for the club during the 2017–18 season, scoring one goal.[citation needed]

Flamengo

On 22 January 2020, Maia returned to Brazil, signing with Flamengo on an 18-month loan.[10] An option to make the transfer permanent was included in the deal.[11]

Maia's transfer to Flamengo was made permanent on 13 January 2022.[12]

International career

Maia taking a shot at the 2016 Summer Olympics

On 26 December 2014, after featuring regularly with the under-17s, Thiago Maia was called up to the Brazil under-20 side, alongside Santos teammates Gabriel and Caju, for the 2015 South American Youth Football Championship.[13]

On 29 June 2016 Thiago Maia was called up to Olympic team, alongside Santos teammates Gabriel and Zeca, for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.[14] He also became the first athlete from Roraima to appear in the tournament.[15]

Career statistics

As of 14 August 2023[16]
Club Season League State League National Cup Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Santos 2014 Série A 1 0 — 0 0 — — 1 0
2015 Série A 28 2 — 9 0 — — 37 2
2016 Série A 31 0 17 0 4 0 — — 52 0
2017 Série A 12 1 12 0 2 0 6[a] 1 — 32 2
Total 72 3 29 0 15 0 6 1 — 122 4
Lille 2017–18 Ligue 1 34 0 — 1 1 — 2[b] 0 37 1
2018–19 Ligue 1 24 0 — 1 0 — 1[b] 0 26 0
2019–20 Ligue 1 3 0 — 0 0 1[c] 0 0 0 4 0
Total 61 0 — 2 1 1 0 3 0 67 1
Flamengo (loan) 2020 Série A 14 0 6 0 3 0 5[a] 0 1[d] 0 29 0
2021 Série A 23 1 0 0 5 1 3[a] 0 0 0 31 2
Flamengo 2022 Série A 24 0 3 0 8 0 10[a] 0 0 0 45 0
2023 16 0 10 1 7 2 7[a] 0 5 0 45 3
Total 40 0 13 1 15 2 17 0 5 0 90 3
Career total 194 4 38 0 33 2 25 1 4 0 294 7
  1. ^ a b c d e Appearance(s) in Copa Libertadores.
  2. ^ a b Appearance(s) in the Coupe de la Ligue
  3. ^ Appearance(s) in UEFA Champions League.
  4. ^ Appearance(s) in Recopa Sudamericana.

Honours

Santos[16]
Flamengo
Brazil U23[16]

Individual

References

  1. ^ a b c "FIFA Club World Cup Morocco 2022™: List of Players: CR Flamengo" (PDF). FIFA. 7 February 2023. p. 4. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 February 2023. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  2. ^ "Marquinhos Cai-cai, 1º treinador de Thiago Maia, fala da carreira do atleta" [Marquinhos Cai-Cai, Thiago Maia's 1st manager, talks about the athlete's career] (in Portuguese). Globo Esporte. 26 March 2013.
  3. ^ "Mistão do Santos não segura a Chapecoense e sofre empate aos 45" [Santos' mixed team cannot hold Chapecoense and suffers draw on the 45th minute] (in Portuguese). Globo Esporte. 25 October 2014.
  4. ^ "Caçula do Peixe, Thiago Maia se firma como titular e recebe elogios" [Peixe's youngest, Thiago Maia establishes himself as a starter and receives praise] (in Portuguese). Globo Esporte. 6 July 2015.
  5. ^ "Santos ratifica boa fase com goleada sobre o Avaí, que entra no Z-4" [Santos endorses good form with routing over Avaí, who gets in Z-4] (in Portuguese). Globo Esporte. 22 August 2015.
  6. ^ "Thiago Maia acerta renovação de contrato com o Santos por quatro anos" [Thiago Maia agrees contract renewal with Santos for four years] (in Portuguese). Globo Esporte. 13 October 2015. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
  7. ^ "Juventus, Chelsea, PSG... "Todos querem Thiago Maia", diz jornal espanhol" [Juventus, Chelsea, PSG... "Everybody wants Thiago Maya", says Spanish journal]. Fox Sports (in Portuguese). 8 November 2016. Retrieved 19 November 2016.
  8. ^ "Santos empata na estreia da Libertadores e mantém pressão em Dorival" [Santos draw in Libertadores' debut and keep pressure in Dorival] (in Portuguese). UOL Esporte. 9 March 2017. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
  9. ^ "Santos define venda de Thiago Maia e empréstimo de Caju para o Lille" [Santos define transfer of Thiago Maia and loan of Caju to Lille] (in Portuguese). Globo Esporte. 15 July 2017. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
  10. ^ "Thiago Maia é o novo reforço do Mengão - Flamengo". flamengo.com.br (in Portuguese). Retrieved 11 August 2020.
  11. ^ "Official | Flamengo sign Thiago Maia from Lille on an 18-month loan". Get French Football News. 22 January 2020. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  12. ^ "Official | Thiago Maia's move from Lille to Flamengo becomes permanent". Get French Football News. 13 January 2022. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  13. ^ "Subindo: Thiago Maia é convocado para a seleção brasileira sub-20" [Ascending: Thiago Maia is called up to the Brazil under-20 national team] (in Portuguese). Globo Esporte. 26 December 2014. Retrieved 7 August 2016.
  14. ^ "Neymar and Douglas Costa named in Brazil squad for Rio 2016". International Olympic Committee. 29 June 2016. Archived from the original on 6 August 2016. Retrieved 7 August 2016.
  15. ^ "Primeiro atleta de Roraima, Thiago Maia dormiu em motel no início da carreira" [First athlete from Roraima, Thiago Maia slept at a motel in the start of career] (in Portuguese). Folha de S. Paulo. 27 July 2016. Retrieved 7 August 2016.
  16. ^ a b c Thiago Maia at Soccerway. Retrieved 25 October 2014.
  17. ^ Vickery, Tim (27 February 2020). "Flamengo's Recopa win over Independiente a stepping stone to more glory". ESPN. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  18. ^ "Gabi Leads Flamengo To Libertadores Title". CONMEBOL Libertadores. 30 October 2022. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
  19. ^ "Supercopa: em jogo doido, Flamengo vence o Palmeiras nos pênaltis". One Football (in Portuguese). 11 April 2021. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  20. ^ "Santos domina seleção do Paulistão; Audax emplaca dois e mais o técnico" [Santos dominate the Paulistão team of the year; Audax include two and the manager] (in Portuguese). Globo Esporte. 9 May 2016. Retrieved 9 May 2016.

External links

Flamengo โ€“ current squad
Brazil men's football squad โ€“ 2016 Summer Olympics โ€“ Gold medalists
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