Maicon Pereira Roque

Maicon
	File:16743 ori maicon.jpg 324x324 pixels
Personal information
Full name	Maicon Pereira Roque
Date of birth	14 September 1988 (age 24)
Place of birth	Barretos, Brazil
Height	1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Playing position	Centre back
Club information
Current club	Porto
Number	4
Youth career
	Cruzeiro
Senior career*
	* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 00:00, 9 April 2013 (UTC).; † Appearances (Goals).;

Maicon Pereira Roque (born 14 September 1988), known as simply Maicon, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays for F.C. Porto in the Portuguese first division, as a central defender.

Football career [edit]

Born in Barretos, São Paulo, Maicon started off his career with Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, moving the following season to modest Associação Desportiva Cabofriense.

Maicon had his first abroad adventure in the 2008–09 season, being a defensive mainstay for Madeira's C.D. Nacional,^[1] which again qualified for European competition. Courtesy of those solid performances, on 4 June 2009, he moved to league giants and title holders F.C. Porto, in a contract running until 2014;^[2]^[3] he appeared in only four games in his first year.

After Bruno Alves left for FC Zenit Saint Petersburg, Maicon became a first-team regular in 2010–11, playing in 37 official games as Porto won the treble (including eight in the victorious run in the UEFA Europa League). In the following season – under new manager Vítor Pereira – after Cristian Săpunaru's injury, he beat competition from Uruguayan Jorge Fucile and began being often utilized as a right back.

On 2 March 2012, after a free kick, Maicon headed home a controversial late winner against S.L. Benfica, in a 3–2 away win.^[4]