Maxwell

Early career

Born in Cachoeiro de Itapemirim, Espírito Santo, Maxwell started his career at Cruzeiro. In June 2001, he signed a five-year contract with AFC Ajax. Maxwell played his best season for Ajax in the 2003–04 season, only missing three games for the Eredivisie champions that season due to international duty, and becoming the Dutch Footballer of the Year. He was seriously injured in April 2005 and never played again for Ajax.

Inter Milan

Maxwell's contract with Ajax was restructured to expire early, on 2 January 2006, in order to facilitate his move to Internazionale on a free transfer. Due to non-EU player registration quota per year, however, he was signed by Empoli until the end of season before being officially transferred to Inter, a deal similar to that of Júlio César's move to Chievo. Maxwell, however, did not make any appearances for Empoli. In July 2006, Inter officially announced the signing of Maxwell on a four-year contract as a domestic transfer. Maxwell impressed during his first season in Serie A, most notably against Parma at San Siro when he scored a fine solo effort after a defender struck him which was voted Inter's thunder goal of the season by Inter channel viewers. Initially playing at left-back, the 2007–08 season saw him move further up the field, with Cristian Chivu replacing him at left-back while Maxwell played a left midfield role. This became very effective as Maxwell adapted well to the winger role which made use of his…

Maxwell was capped for the 2004 CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament with the Brazil under-23 squad in January 2004. In October 2004, he received his first call-up to the senior team for the 2006 World Cup qualifying matches, but did not make any appearances. Maxwell earned his first full senior international cap on 14 August 2013, coming on as a substitute in a 1–0 friendly defeat to Switzerland in Basel. On 7 May 2014, Maxwell was included in Luiz Felipe Scolari's 23-man Brazil squad for the 2014 World Cup, which was held on home soil. He made his only appearance in the tournament in the third-place play-off, held in Brasília, starting at left-back as Brazil were defeated 3–0 by the Netherlands; he played the full 90 minutes in his final international match. Following the tournament, Maxwell was no longer called up by manager Dunga, and announced his retirement from international football in October 2014.

After his retirement from playing, Maxwell was appointed assistant sporting director at Paris Saint-Germain, working with sporting director Antero Henrique.

A technical, diminutive attacking left-back, Maxwell was known for his consistency and longevity at the top level. While being a good ball-winner, and solid defensively, he was also classy and elegant on the ball, confident in possession, and reliable in his distribution, rarely relinquishing the ball; his wide range of skills thus enabled him to bring balance to his teams in the full-back or wing-back position. A versatile player, he was also effective going forward due to his skill and pace; indeed, during the course of a match, he often pushed further up the pitch with his offensive runs down the left flank, in order to get into good positions from which he could deliver crosses to teammates in the area, or help to stretch the play, and was also capable of playing in a more advanced role as a left-winger, either in midfield, or in a three-man attack.