João Mawete

Not to be confused with Mawete João Baptista.
João Mawete
Personal information
Full name João Batista Mawete
Date of birth (1981-01-25) 25 January 1981 (age 43)
Place of birth Luanda, Angola
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Striker
Youth career
1990−1993 La Storta
1993−1994 Recreativo Massamá
1994−2000 Benfica
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1999–2005 Benfica B 51 (12)
1999–2001 Benfica 7 (2)
2002 → S.C. Braga (loan) 7 (0)
2005–2006 Olivais e Moscavide 6 (0)
2006–2007 Walsall 0 (0)
2007–2008 Verbroedering Geel 9 (0)
2008–2009 Chalkanoras Idaliou 18 (1)
2009–2010 Hamrun Spartans 13 (4)
2010 Cabinda 0 (0)
2010–2011 Dingli Swallows 0 (0)
Total 111 (19)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

João Batista Mawete (born 4 May 1983) is an Angolan former footballer who played as a striker.

Mawete began his professional football career with Portuguese Liga side Benfica, and spent several seasons with the club's reserve team, making only seven league appearances for the first team.

Career

Born in Luanda, Mawete is the son of Mawete João Baptista, an ambassador for Angola.[1] When his father was the Angolan ambassador in Rome, he joined him there and started playing football at La Storta, alongside his brother, Ludi.[2] Despite compelling performances in youth tournaments, in 1993, Mawete moved to Lisbon to continue his education.[1] He joined Recreativo Massamá, where he caught the attention of Benfica, who signed him in the following year.[3] At Benfica he won the under–17 and under–19 championships, breaking an 11-year drought in the latter.[1][4]

Mawete joined the first team in August 1999, and made his professional debut on 12 September, against Santa Clara.[5][6] He added three more appearances for the first team in 1999–2000, before returning to the reserve team in December.[1] In October 2000, the 19-year old extended his contract with Benfica until 2005,[7] but only returned to the first team a year later, in October 2001.[1] On the 13th, Mawete scored his first goal for the main team, in a 1–1 draw against União de Leiria.[8] A week later, he opened the score in a 2–0 win against Gil Vicente.[9][10] He played 8 games in half-season for Benfica, before being loaned out to Braga in January 2002, in a deal involving Tiago Mendes and Armando Sá.[1][11]

In his spell in Braga, he made just seven appearances, without scoring and in July 2002, he suffered a debilitating injury that would stall his career.[2] He rupture his tendons, almost one after another and was out for 18 months, as he described: "My injuries to the tendons changed my life as footballer for ever. I ruptured them both, one after the other, something that sideline me for one and half years. With such a serious injury like this one, clubs became afraid of hiring me, with the fear that some tendon would rupture again, so I sit forgotten in Benfica B".[1] In June 2004, he went on trial to Wycombe Wanderers but did not stay.[12] In April 2005, he terminated his contract with Benfica and joined Olivais e Moscavide, where he won the 2005–06 Segunda Divisão.[13][1] In the following years, Mawete passed through three other clubs, only regaining some notability at Hamrun Spartans in Malta with 4 four goals in thirteen appearances.[1] He returned to Angola in 2010 for personal reasons and ended his career in the next season at age 30.[1] After football, he started managing hotel, pig farming and fish farming businesses.[14]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Um grito que não se esquece: "Ó Toni, mete o Mawete!"" [A scream that you can't forget: «Toni, get Mawete in»]. MaisFutebol (in Portuguese). 10 December 2014. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
  2. ^ a b "Mawete Júnior, o menino de Luanda que voltou a sorrir" [Mawete Júnior, the Luanda boy who smiled again]. Record (in Portuguese). 13 November 2003. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
  3. ^ "Mawete Júnior despontou nos iniciados do Massamá" [Mawete Júnior started in the under-13 of Massamá]. Record (in Portuguese). 15 October 2001. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
  4. ^ "Chalana prevê bom futuro para os juniores do Benfica" [Chalana predicts good future for Benfica youngsters]. Record (in Portuguese). 25 June 2000. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
  5. ^ "Enke em Pleno" [Enke fully fit]. Record (in Portuguese). 20 August 1999. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
  6. ^ "Heynckes: "Jogadores precisam descansar pois a época é muito longa"" [Heynckes: «Players need to rest because the season is very long»]. Record (in Portuguese). 13 September 1999. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
  7. ^ "Mawete renova por cinco anos" [Mawete renews for five years]. Record (in Portuguese). 7 October 2000. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
  8. ^ "Mawete Júnior: "Foi muito bom ter marcado"" [Mawete Júnior: "It was good to have scored"]. Record (in Portuguese). 14 October 2001. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
  9. ^ "Benfica-Gil Vicente, 2-0 (Mawete Júnior 50, Fernando Meira 81)". Record (in Portuguese). 20 October 2001. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
  10. ^ "Toni: "Estamos atentos à evolução de jogadores como Mawete"" [Toni: «I have our eyes in the evolution of players like Mawete»]. Record (in Portuguese). 22 October 2001. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
  11. ^ "Mawete Júnior: "Evoluir para regressar à Luz"" [Mawete Júnior: «Progress to return»]. Record (in Portuguese). 15 January 2002. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
  12. ^ "Wycombe avalia Mawete Júnior" [Wycombe accesses Mawete Júnior]. Record (in Portuguese). 30 June 2004. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
  13. ^ "Reforços na equipa B" [Signings for the B-team]. Record (in Portuguese). 24 April 2005. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
  14. ^ "Mawete: hotelaria, agropecuária e piscicultura em Angola" [Mawete: hotels, pigs and fish farming in Angola]. MaisFutebol (in Portuguese). 10 December 2004. Retrieved 28 October 2015.