Simão Mate Junior

Simão Mate started his career at Mozambican club Clube Ferroviário de Maputo in 2005. He was brought to Greece in August 2007 by José Peseiro, who was then the head coach of Panathinaikos, in order to be tested and after a three-week trial, he signed a four-year deal with the Greek club. He managed to surprise his coach and the team's fans with his solidness, strength and tenacity. Despite his young age, he made some first-team appearances and became a precious solution for his coach Henk ten Cate. Although he was signed in order to play as a defender, circumstances and teammates' injuries made the team's coach to use Simão as a defensive midfielder, actually the player is established at fans' minds as a midfielder rather than a defender. Simão was particularly impressive in the minds of many Panathinaikos supporters which came as a surprise, given his relative anonymity and small transfer cost. His debut season was a great success; Simão made 27 first-team appearances. In his second season, he scored a superb volley in Panathinaikos' UEFA Champions League third round qualifying match, away to Sparta Prague. He continued to impress domestically and in the Champions League proper, notably marking Diego and nullifying his attacks in Panathinaikos' 3–0 victory against Werder Bremen. Simão was also included in Tuttosport's list of the top-rated 40 young footballers in the world, becoming the first player of Mozambique to achieve this accolade. On 20 February 2009, Simão signed a…

As of 7 November 2020

International

Panathinaikos

Super League Greece: 2009–10 Greek Football Cup: 2009–10 Vegalta Sendai

J.League Monthly MVP: 2019 (June)