Maxwell (footballer, born 1981)

Maxwell Scherrer Cabelino Andrade (born 27 August 1981), known as Maxwell, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who last played as a left-back for French Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain. At the time of his retirement, he was the most decorated active footballer in Europe.[4] He is currently employed by Paris Saint-Germain as assistant sporting director.

This name uses Portuguese naming customs: the first or maternal family name is Cabelino and the second or paternal family name is Andrade.
Maxwell
Maxwell during a press conference in 2015
Personal information
Full name Maxwell Scherrer Cabelino Andrade[1]
Date of birth (1981-08-27) 27 August 1981[1]
Place of birth Cachoeiro de Itapemirim, Brazil[2]
Height 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)[1]
Playing position(s) CDM
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2000–2001 Cruzeiro 27 (2)
2001–2006 Ajax 114 (9)
2006 Empoli 9 (1)
2006–2009 Internazionale 70 (1)
2009–2012 Barcelona 57 (1)
2012–2017 Paris Saint-Germain 145 (11)
Total 422 (25)
National team‡
2004 Brazil U23 6 (1)
2013–2014[3] Brazil 10 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 02:12, 20 May 2017 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 12 July 2014

Club career

Early career

Born in Cachoeiro de Itapemirim, Espírito Santo, Maxwell started his career at Cruzeiro. In June 2001, he signed a 5-year contract with AFC Ajax.[5] 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[6] and never played again for Ajax.

Internazionale

Maxwell's contract with Ajax was restructured to expire early, on 2 January 2006,[7] 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[8] 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.[9] 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 blistering pace.[10][11] In that season, he won his second consecutive Scudetto with Inter. In the 2008–09 season, he suffered a serious injury that took him out of competition for six weeks. He returned to action and was a constant fixture in the starting XI and showed his impressive old form before the injury. He scored his second goal for Inter on 14 December against Chievo, which Inter won 4–2, after an assist from Dejan Stanković.

Barcelona
Maxwell with Barcelona in 2009

On 15 July 2009, it was announced that Barcelona and Inter had reached an agreement, with Maxwell joining the Catalan club for €4.5 million plus €500,000.[12] Two days later, Maxwell signed a five-year contract and was presented as a new Barça player.[13] He made his debut for the club in the second leg of the 2009 Supercopa de España, playing all 90 minutes. He had an important role in the second part of the season when Eric Abidal was injured and helped Barcelona win La Liga.

Maxwell started Barcelona's first competitive match of the 2010–11 season, the first leg of the 2010 Supercopa de España, in an advanced left-wing position; he assisted the opening goal for Zlatan Ibrahimović.[14]

Paris Saint-Germain
Maxwell with PSG in 2012

On 12 January 2012, Maxwell penned a three-year deal at Paris Saint-Germain after passing his medical examination. PSG paid €3.5 million for the player.[15] For the 2013–14 season, he was the starting left-back, replacing Siaka Tiéné, who left the club for Montpellier. On 28 February 2014, Maxwell extended his contract until June 2015.[16]

On 4 February 2015, Maxwell scored the only goal as PSG defeated Lille away to reach the Coupe de la Ligue Final.[17]

Passport controversy

It was alleged that Maxwell registered as an EU player during 2006 to 2009 with Inter, but he was signed by Barcelona as a non-EU player (Brazil), as Maxwell did not present a passport from a European country. UEFA started to investigate the case in August 2010,[18] but in fact Inter signed him as a domestic transfer and he arrived in Italy as a non-EU player for Empoli, and had not violated Italian Football Federation (FIGC) regulations. FIGC only restricted Italian football clubs from signing non-EU players from abroad, except 1 quota (2 as of the 2011–2012 season) is given to Serie A clubs per season if the club released or sold abroad the non-EU player, or the player himself got an EU nationality.

On 25 August 2010, Inter declared that Maxwell was always a non-EU player with the club.[19]

International career
Maxwell (front) training with Hernanes (left), Ramires, Jô and David Luiz before the match against Croatia at the 2014 FIFA World Cup on 11 June.

Maxwell was capped for 2004 CONMEBOL Men 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.[20]

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.[21]

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.[22] 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.[23]

Following the tournament, Maxwell was no longer called up by manager Dunga, and announced his retirement from international football in October 2014.[24]

Post-playing career

After his retirement from playing, Maxwell was appointed assistant sporting director at Paris Saint-Germain, working with sporting director Antero Henrique.[25]

Style of play

A world-class, diminutive attacking left-back, Maxwell made a name for himself as an excellent, dependable, intelligent, experienced, successful, and largely underrated defender throughout his career, who was known above all for his consistency and longevity at the top level. While being a good ball-winner, and naturally solid defensively, he was also extremely 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 extremely 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. Off the pitch, Maxwell was an introverted yet highly respected and likeable figure with his teammates, who was often cited as a key dressing room personality, in spite of his calm, gentle nature and reserved character; he has been described by his close friend and former teammate Ibrahimović as "incredibly sensitive", and a "nice guy".[10][11][14][26][27]

Personal life

Maxwell is known to be one of Zlatan Ibrahimović's closest friends; they were teammates at Ajax, Internazionale, Barcelona and PSG. There are several anecdotes about him in Ibrahimović's autobiography, I am Zlatan. Ibrahimović states that Maxwell will be remembered for his calm nature and gentle style of play.[26][27]

Career statistics

Club
Source:[28]
Club Season League Cup Europe Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Ajax 2001–02 2402020280
2002–03 30410100414
2003–04 3122070402
2004–05 2934050383
2005–06 00000000
Total 1149902401479
Internazionale 2006–07 2210020241
2007–08 3200070390
2008–09 2510040291
Total 79200130922
Barcelona 2009–10 2504070360
2010–11 2509170411
2011–12 702130121
Total 570152170892
Paris Saint-Germain 2011–12 1411000151
2012–13 33250101483
2013–14 2434080363
2014–15 2632180364
2015–16 2831050343
2016–17 2009040330
Total 1451222135120214
Career total 3952346384152527

International
Source:[28]
TeamYearAppsGoals
Brazil
201370
201430
Total100

Honours

Club

Cruzeiro

Ajax[28][29]

Internazionale[28][29]

Barcelona[28][29]

Paris Saint-Germain[28][29]

Individual
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gollark: Broken how?
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gollark: ħeøłæßđø

References
  1. "2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil: List of players: Brazil" (PDF). FIFA. 14 July 2014. p. 6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 January 2016. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  2. "Maxwell". F.C. Internazionale Milano. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
  3. "'Brazil is over for me, PSG may be too' - Maxwell - Goal.com". www.goal.com.
  4. "After Zlatan Ibrahimovic's 32nd trophy win, who are the most decorated players in football?". The Telegraph. 27 February 2017.
  5. "Braziliaan Maxwell tekent contract bij Ajax" (in Dutch). AFC Ajax. 13 June 2001. Archived from the original on 16 June 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2009.
  6. "Maxwell maanden uit de roulatie" (in Dutch). AFC Ajax. 22 April 2005. Archived from the original on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2009.
  7. "Ajax and Maxwell dissolve contract". AFC Ajax. 30 January 2006. Archived from the original on 29 September 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2009.
  8. "Operazioni di mercato" (in Italian). Empoli FC. 1 February 2006. Archived from the original on 10 July 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2009.
  9. "DACOURT, MAICON, MAXWELL SIGN FOR INTER". FC Internazionale Milano. 12 July 2006. Retrieved 19 July 2009.
  10. "MAXWELL: "SO MUCH QUALITY IN THIS INTER"". Inter.it. 16 July 2007. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  11. Subhankar Mondal (16 July 2009). "Food For Thought: Maxwell To Barcelona - Hit Or Flop?". Goal.com. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  12. "Beginnings of an agreement with fullback Maxwell". FC Barcelona. 15 July 2009. Archived from the original on 25 May 2012. Retrieved 19 July 2009.
  13. "Maxwell delighted at Barça". FC Barcelona. 17 July 2009. Archived from the original on 29 July 2012. Retrieved 18 July 2009.
  14. Sevilla 3–1 Barcelona: Rojiblancos Blitz Blaugrana With Second-Half Super Cup Comeback Archived 17 August 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  15. Doyle, Mark (12 January 2012). Official: Paris Saint-Germain signs defender Maxwell from Barcelona Goal. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
  16. "MAXWELL À PARIS JUSQU'EN 2015". Paris Saint-Germain FC (in French). 28 February 2014.
  17. "Lille 0-1 Paris Saint-Germain: Maxwell sends holders into the final". Goal.com. 3 February 2015. Retrieved 4 February 2015.
  18. "Giallo Maxwell, il passaporto scotta". Euro Sport (in Italian). 24 August 2010. Retrieved 5 December 2010.
  19. "Uefa, equivoco su Maxwell" [UEFA misunderstanding Maxwell]. La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). 25 August 2010. Retrieved 5 December 2010.
  20. "Maxwell niet in actie voor Brazilië" (in Dutch). AFC Ajax. 13 October 2004. Archived from the original on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 20 July 2009.
  21. "Friendly: Switzerland 1 Brazil 0". FourFourTwo. 14 August 2013. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  22. "Brazil reveal World Cup squad as Kaka, Robinho and Lucas Moura miss out". Goal.com. 7 May 2014.
  23. "Brazil 0-3 Netherlands". BBC Sport. 12 July 2014. Retrieved 13 July 2014.
  24. "PSG's Maxwell gives up on more Brazil outings". FourFourTwo. 8 October 2014. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  25. "Signing Dani Alves proves Paris Saint-Germain making progress in rebuild". ESPNFC.com. Retrieved 20 September 2017.
  26. Michael Cox (12 March 2014). "Why Maxwell is the quiet hero of PSG's rousing trophy chase". FourFourTwo. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
  27. Jonathan Johnson (26 May 2017). "PSG fittingly can send club legend Maxwell out on top with cup triumph". ESPN FC. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
  28. "Maxwell". Soccerway. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  29. "Maxwell". Eurosport.com. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
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