Mota (footballer, born 1980)

Brazilian footballer

In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Soares and the second or paternal family name is da Mota. "Neto" is a generational suffix meaning "grandson", which is used for someone whose name is the same as their father and grandfather, like "III" in English.

MotaPersonal information

Full name|  João Soares da Mota Neto
Date of birth|  (1980-11-21) 21 November 1980 (age 44)
Place of birth|  Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil
Height|  1.77 m (5 ft 9+1⁄2 in)
Position(s)|  Striker
Team information

Current team

|  Ferroviário
Senior career*
Years|  Team|  Apps|  (Gls)
1997–1998|  Ceará|  10|  (4)
1999–2001|  Mallorca B|  19|  (3)
2002–2003|  Ceará|  21|  (11)
2003–2004|  Cruzeiro|  37|  (15)
2004|  Chunnam Dragons|  22|  (14)
2005|  Sporting|  5|  (0)
2005–2009|  Seongnam Ilhwa|  79|  (31)
2009|  Ceará|  16|  (5)
2010–2011|  Pohang Steelers|  52|  (19)
2012–2013|  Ceará|  87|  (43)
2014|  Bragantino|  |
2017–2018|  Ferroviário|  |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 20 May 2013

João Soares da Mota Neto (born 21 November 1980), also known as Mota, is a Brazilian football striker who last played for Ferroviário.

## Career

[edit]

Mota began his career with Ceará Sporting Club in 1998, then went to play for Spanish side RCD Mallorca B from 1999 to 2001. He was suspended by the club in April 2001 after a Royal Spanish Football Federation investigation into the veracity of his Portuguese passport that he was using to work in the European Union; he said that he was entitled to it due to having a Portuguese great-grandmother.[1] He was banned for a year by Spain's Court of Sport, which found that he obtained the passport illegally in 1998.[2]

Mota then went back to Brazil and played for Cruzeiro Esporte Clube scoring 32 goals in the league. In 2004, he went to the Far East where he played for South Korean professional league, K-League side Chunnam Dragons, finishing as the league's top scorer with 14 goals.

In early 2005, Mota joined Portuguese giant Sporting Lisbon. However, he could not make the same impact, and Mota returned to K-League in July. He now plays for Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma. His agent, since his move from Ceará to Cruzeiro in 2003, is Emerson Damasceno, from Brazil.

As soon as he moved on to Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma he became the best player for his club, scoring 7 goals in 19 matches. However, he suffered from a broken left ankle in the match against Gyeongnam FC in 2006, which forced him to be out of the pitch for several months. He then came back from injury at the time of Play-off season, and scored the winning goal against FC Seoul in semi-final, and two goals in the final against Suwon Samsung Bluewings.

On 26 March 2009, Mota signed with Ceará until the end of the season, helping Ceará to be promoted to first division in Brazil.

On 28 December 2009, Mota came back to South Korea and joined Pohang Steelers.[3] After spending a two-year at Pohang, he returned to Brazil for his family.

In January 2012, Mota signed with Ceará Sporting Club, where he played for the third time in his career.[4]

## Honors

[edit]

### Club

[edit]

Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma

* K-League
* Champions : 2006
* Runners-up : 2007, 2009
* Korean FA Cup Runners-up : 2009
* K-League Cup Runners-up : 2006

### Individual

[edit]

* AFC Champions League Top Scorer : 2007
* K-League Top Scorer : 2004
* K-League Best XI : 2004

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Cruz, X. (20 April 2001). "El Mallorca aparta a Da Mota hasta que acredite la veracidad de su pasaporte" [Mallorca separate themselves from Da Mota until he proves the veracity of his passport]. Última Hora (in Spanish). Retrieved 16 January 2023.
2. ^ Cruz, Edson (December 2003). "Como se faz um campeão" [How to make a champion]. Placar (in Portuguese). p. 24. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
3. ^ www.gazetaesportiva.net/nota/2009/12/28/615710.html
4. ^ "Ceará confirma acerto com Mota e descarta o retorno de Geraldo" (in Portuguese). GLOBOESPORTE. 7 January 2012. Retrieved 3 January 2012.

## External links

[edit]

* Mota at Sambafoot
* CBF[permanent dead link‍] (in Portuguese)
* Mota – K League stats at kleague.com (in Korean)

Awards

* v
* t
* e

K League 1 top scorers

* 1983: Park Yoon-ki
* 1984: Baek Jong-chul
* 1985: Piyapong Pue-on
* 1986: Chung Hae-won
* 1987: Choi Sang-kook
* 1988: Lee Kee-keun
* 1989: Cho Keung-yeon
* 1990: Yoon Sang-chul
* 1991: Lee Kee-keun
* 1992: Lim Keun-jae
* 1993: Cha Sang-hae
* 1994: Yoon Sang-chul
* 1995: Roh Sang-rae
* 1996: Shin Tae-yong
* 1997: Kim Hyun-seok
* 1998: Yoo Sang-chul
* 1999: Saša Drakulić
* 2000: Kim Do-hoon
* 2001: Sandro
* 2002: Edmilson
* 2003: Kim Do-hoon
* 2004: Mota
* 2005: Leandro
* 2006: Woo Sung-yong
* 2007: Caboré
* 2008: Dudu
* 2009: Lee Dong-gook
* 2010: Yoo Byung-soo
* 2011: Dejan Damjanović
* 2012: Dejan Damjanović
* 2013: Dejan Damjanović
* 2014: Santos
* 2015: Kim Shin-wook
* 2016: Jung Jo-gook
* 2017: Johnathan
* 2018: Marcão
* 2019: Adam Taggart
* 2020: Júnior Negrão
* 2021: Joo Min-kyu
* 2022: Cho Gue-sung
* 2023: Joo Min-kyu
* 2024: Stefan Mugoša

* v
* t
* e

2004 K-League Best XI

* GK: Lee Woon-jae
* DF: Santos
* Javier Musa
* Yoo Kyoung-youl
* Kwak Hee-ju
* MF: Kim Dong-jin
* Tavares
* Kim Do-heon
* Kim Dae-eui
* FW: Nádson
* Mota

* v
* t
* e

K League Players' Player of the Year

* 2007: Kim
* 2008: Mota
* 2009: Ki
* 2010: Dejan

* v
* t
* e

AFC Champions League Elite top scorers

* 2002–03: Hao
* 2004: Kim Do-hoon
* 2005: Kallon
* 2006: Magno Alves
* 2007: Mota
* 2008: Nantawat
* 2009: Leandro
* 2010: José Mota
* 2011: Lee Dong-gook
* 2012: Ricardo Oliveira
* 2013: Muriqui
* 2014: Gyan
* 2015: Goulart
* 2016: Adriano
* 2017: Khribin
* 2018: Bounedjah
* 2019: Gomis
* 2020: Hamdallah
* 2021: Olunga
* 2022: Edmilson
* 2023–24: Rahimi

*[Apps]: League appearances
*[Gls]: League goals
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template