Mateus Alberto Contreiras Gonçalves

Mateus Alberto Contreiras Gonçalves simply known with the name Manucho is an Angolan international football player who is currently playing the role of a striker for his club Real Valladolid in Spain.

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Manucho made a move to Petro Atletico to Manchester United in January of the year 2008. Before he played a game for Manchester United, he was sent on a loan deal to Panathinaikos for the remaining part of the 2007/08 season, and that was because of the issue of acquiring a United Kingdom work Permit. He got his work permit soon after he got back to Manchester United for the pre-season training in July 2008. He played his first match for the club in the league Cup that was played against Middlesbrough on the 23^rd September 2008. Manucho joined Hull City on a loan deal to play for the club until the end of the 2008/09 season. After he had failed to make the first team of Manchester United, Manucho joined Real Valladolid in July of the year 2009.

Manucho is a member of the Angolan national team and has played in four African Cups of Nations for the country.

Club Football Career

Manucho started his career as a player at Flamenguinhis, a small youth football club from Terra Nova, Luanda, his hometown. With the help of his father who is also his coach Alberto Goncalves, Manucho took up the role of a left winger and became one of the top stars of the club.

When he turned to professional footballer, Manucho signed a deal with Benfica de Luanda, a mid-table club football club in the Angolan league. After that he made a move to Petro Atletico, and it was there that he initially struggled to made the first team of the club because of the presence of the start striker of the club, Flavio Amado. After Amado had joined the Egyptian side, Al-Ahly, Manucho started establishing his skills on the striking position for the club; he scored the total of 16 goals in the year 2006 and the total of 15 goals in the year 2007.

On the 21^st January 2008, reports were heard that Manucho was due to sign for Manchester United, English giants of the year 2007. He joined the league champions in January of the year 2008 on a three year deal. Before the announcement was made, he was reported to have gone for three-week trial with the club and his exhibition on the pitch impressed the Manchester United boss, Sir Alex Ferguson and as such he was handed a contract by the club.

On the 31^st January of the year 2008, it was announced that the player was due to move to Panathinaikos on a loan deal till the end of the season, and that was because of the issue of acquiring a work permit of the country and also with the aim of acquiring some valuable first team experience. The Manchester United boss announced that the player has been loaned out to Panathinaikos on the 1^st February. The loan deal kicked off immediately after Angola was eliminated from the 2008 African Cup of Nations by Egypt.

Manucho scored his first goal for the club on his debut in a match that finished 2-0 in favor of his club against Larissa. Panathinaikos completed that season in the 3^rd place and was qualified for the play-off for the remaining European places. Manucho scored three goals in 6 matches for the club and that helped the club to top the play-off group and qualify for the 2^nd qualifying round of the 2008/09 UEFA Champions League.

At the end of the 2007/08 season, Manucho made a move back to Manchester United for the pre-season training with the club members; he also took part in the summer tour of the club to South Africa. Meanwhile he picked up a metatarsal injury and he never played in any of the pre-season games that were played by his club. In august of the year 2008, Manucho was confirmed to have acquired his work permit and was eligible to play for the club, Manchester United. He was given the number 26 shirt of the club for the 2008/09 season. He played his first match for the club as a sub in the League Cup 3^rd round match that was played at home against Middlesbrough, which finished 3-1 in favor of Manchester United. Manucho played his first league match for the club on the 15^th November 2008; he came into the match as a sub for Carlos Tevez in the 74^th minute of the game. He assisted the 4^th goal of the club in the match that was scored by Danny Welbeck. He scored his first goal for the reserve team of the club on the 18^th December 2008, the game finished 1-1 against Everton.

Having seen the hardness of making the first team of the club, on the 16^th January 2009, Manucho agreed to join Hull City on a loan deal till the end of the season. He got a renewed work permit later that day and played in the match that was played against Arsenal on the 17^th. The game finished 3-1 in favor of the opponents. On the 4^th March 2009, Manucho scored his first premier league for the club in the last minute of the match that was played against Fulham, and that game finished 1-0.

After his loan stint with the club, Hull City, Manucho was deemed surplus to requirements for the English Champions and a deal was arranged with Real Valladolis for the transfer of the player. He signed a five year deal with the Spanish side and was shown as a player of the club on the 20^th July 2009. He promised to score 40 goals in a season for the club after his deal has been signed. On the 13^th September 2009, Manucho scored his first goal for the club in the game that finished 4-2 against Valencia. He waited until the 5^th of December to score another goal for the club, and the goal came in the match that was played against Sevilla.

In the summer of the year 2010, Manucho signed a loan deal with Bucaspor from Valladolid. He played his first match for the club on the 23^rd August 2010, and that was in the match that was played against Kasimpasa SK. He scored his first goal for the club in the second game her played for the club on the 28^th August 2010, in the match that was played against Genclerbirligi.

Manucho signed a loan deal with another Turkish club, Manisaspor at the end of January 2011 to play for the club till the end of the season. He played his first match for the club on the 5^th February 2011, and that was in the match that was lost 3-1 against Fenerbahce. He played his last league match for the club in the match that was played against his former club, Bucaspor on the 14^th May 2011, providing assist for Murat Erdogan in the 4-2 win.

International Football Career

 Manucho plays his international game for the country, Angola. He was a member of the national team during the successful qualification of the country for the 2008 African Cup of Nations.

He was part of the Angolan national team that played in the 2008 African Cup of Nations in Ghana. He was the man that scored the opening goal for the country in the first game that was played against South Africa and scored two more goals for the country in the ,match that was played against Senegal, and that match finished 3-1. On the 4^th February, he scored the only goal of the country in the match that was lost 2-1 against Egypt. Though the lost eliminated his country from the tournament, his goal in that game was described to be the goal of the tournament and was included in the best 11 of the tournament.

He was among the national team of the country that played in the 2010 African Cup of Nations. He scored from the penalty spot in the opening match that was played against Mali and the game finished 4-4.

Manucho was also among the team of the country that played in the 2012 African cup of Nations. He scored a long-range goal in the match that was played against Burkina Faso. In the next match of the country, he scored twice in the match that finished 2-2 against Sudan. They lost their third match against Ivory Coast and could not qualify for the quarter finals of the tournament. The three goals he scored in the tournament made him a joint top scorer of the tournament along with Didier Drogba of Ivory Coast, Houssine Kharja of Morocco, Christopher Katango and Emmanuel Mayuka of Zambia, Cheick Diabate of Mali and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of Gabon.

Since his debut for the country in the year 2006, Manucho has played the total of 49 international matches for the country and scored 22 goals for the country.