Mateuzinho

Mateuzinho's career reads as a long climb through the lower tiers of Brazilian football before a serious accusation nearly ended it. Full name Mateus da Silva Duarte, he came up through a string of small clubs in his home state of Rio de Janeiro — CF Rio de Janeiro, Serrano-RJ, Mageense — before moves further afield to Goytacaz, Moto Club and Tuntum began to raise his profile. A title with Mageense in the Campeonato Carioca Série C and a Copa Federação Maranhense win with Tuntum were modest early markers, but it was his 2022 spell at Sampaio Corrêa, where he won the Campeonato Maranhense, that pushed him into the frame for a bigger move.

That move came in January 2023, when Cuiabá paid to acquire half of his economic rights. Before he could establish himself, though, his career was derailed by an investigation into match-fixing. In November 2022, while still at Sampaio Corrêa, he was accused of taking 150,000 reais from bookmakers in exchange for deliberately conceding a penalty. The case, part of the wider "Penalidade Máxima" operation, went to Brazil's Superior Tribunal de Justiça Desportiva, which in June 2023 banned him for 720 days, later reduced to 600. Cuiabá suspended his contract while the case played out.

Mateuzinho returned once the ban had run its course and re-established himself at Cuiabá, helping the club win back-to-back Campeonato Matogrossense titles in 2023 and 2024. That form led to a switch to Vitória at the end of 2025, a transfer worth 3 million reais on a contract running through 2028. The move paid off quickly: in 2026, wearing Vitória's colours, he won the Copa do Nordeste.