| Intro | Mexican footballer |
| Is |
Athlete Football player Association football player |
| From |
Brazil Mexico |
| Type | Sports |
| Gender | male |
| Birth | 23 May 1976, Itajá |
| Age: | 44 years |
| Star sign | Gemini |
Antônio Naelson Matias (May 23, 1976), known as Sinha or Zinha, is a Mexican professional footballer who plays for Deportivo Toluca in the Liga MX. He played for Mexico in the 2006 World Cup.
A creative attacking midfielder, Naelson is known for his vision, pace, dribbling and passing ability. He is also an accurate set-piece taker.
Biography
Sinha was born in Itajá, a city located in the northwest of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Norte. He began his career playing for Rio Grande do Norte’s capital city team América FC.
Sinha measures 163 cm (5 ft 4 in) and weighs 67 kg (147 lb).
Sinha arrived in 1998 to Mexico, when he joined CF Monterrey. On 1999, he moved to Toluca. Sinha is widely known for his dribbling skills, his accurate passing and his intelligence on the pitch as well as his leadership and long distance shot.
International career
He was part of the Mexican 2004 Olympic football team, who exited in the first round, having finished third in group A, below group winners Mali and South Korea.
He has also been called up to play for Mexico, although he is a Brazilian-born player, he became a naturalized Mexican citizen, after settling in Mexico for several years. During the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, Sinha became the first foreign-born player to score a goal for Mexico in a World Cup tournament, scoring against Iran. He was called up to play again for Mexico, thus making him the first naturalized to be called up by Hugo Sánchez.
In 2005, he played in the Confederations Cup scoring a goal against Japan that helped Mexico win the match. Mexico finished in fourth place in the tournament. He was also called up for the national team to play in the Gold Cup. On May 23, 2010 Sinha won his 5th championship on his birthday, but missed a penalty in the penalty kicks phase.
During the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup, Sinha, and four other members of the Mexico national team tested positive for the banned substance of Clenbuterol and were removed from the team’s tournament squad. However, all players were exonerated as FIFA determined that the accused had accidentally ingested the banned substance through contaminated meat that had been served during a pre-tournament training camp.
However, World Anti-Doping Agency appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to request a ban. But on 12 October 2011 WADA withdrew this request after the full file was available for them.
Honours
- Toluca
- Primera División de México (5): Verano 2000, Apertura 2002, Apertura 2005, Apertura 2008, Bicentenario 2010,
- CONCACAF Champions Cup: 2003
- Mexican Supercup (Campeón de Campeones): 2003, 2006
Individual
- Best attacking midfielder of the tournament: Bicentenario 2010
- Best player of the tournament: Bicentenario 2010
- Best goal of FIFA Confederations Cup history:
International goals
- Scores and results list Mexico’s goal tally first.
| Goal | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | October 13, 2004 | Estadio Cuauhtémoc, Puebla, Mexico | Trinidad and Tobago | 1–0 | 3–0 | 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification | |
| 2. | March 27, 2005 | Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico | United States | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification | |
| 3. | June 4, 2005 | Estadio Mateo Flores, Guatemala City, Guatemala | Guatemala | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification | |
| 4. | June 16, 2005 | AWD-Arena, Hanover, Germany | Japan | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup | |
| 5. | June 11, 2006 | Frankenstadion, Nuremberg, Germany | Iran | 3–1 | 3–1 | 2006 FIFA World Cup | |
| 6. | June 4, 2008 | Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, United States | Argentina | 1–3 | 1–4 | Friendly |