Selangor’s head coach P. Maniam has announced a new signing to bolster his midfield, 30-year old Juliano Mineiro Fernandes.
This inflicts a further strain on the Andik Vermansyah controversy, as Mineiro is deemed as Andik’s replacement, for at least the next four months.
However, Selangor Football Association (FAS) Secretary Rosman Ibrahim has clarified that they are not completely ditching Andik, they are still in talks with his agent to find a win-win solution. In fact, it is very likely that Andik will get back into the squad during the second half of the season, provided that he has completely recovered and it fit to play again.
In the meantime, he will be replaced by Juliano Mineiro, a midfielder from Timor-Leste.
Here’s what you need to know about Mineiro, who will be filling up the import quota alongside Selangor’s Ugo Ukah, Francis Forkey Doe, and Victor Astafie.
1) Juliano Mineiro is actually Brazil-born, but he plays for Timor-Leste as a naturalised player.
2) Prior to Selangor, he was playing for Japanese club Kashiwa Reysol. Kashiwa Reysol finished 8th on the J-League, where Mineiro scored a whopping 17 goals in only 22 appearances.
3) In 2008, he signed for Portuguese club, Nacional, the same club that Cristiano Ronaldo used to play in his early days, between 1995 and 1997.
4) He has played football in a total of six different countries, Brazil, Portugal, Japan, Thailand, Timor Leste, and now Malaysia.
5) Mineiro will be tied to Selangor FA only until June 2017. After that, it is possible that he will be replaced by Andik Vermansyah.
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