Matheus becomes a Portuguese citizen

Braga shot-stopper Matheus has completed the naturalization process and is now officially a Portuguese citizen.

The 28-year old Brazilian-born goalkeeper has been at Braga since 2014, amassing 148 outings for the Minho club in that time, including 31 this season, and could not hide his delight at making his Portuguese citizenship official.

It also means that Matheus is eligible to play for the Portugal national team, and while he did point out that this was not the main reason for him becoming a Portuguese national, he did also remark that “of course every player dreams of reaching the level of the national team and I have this privilege, as a Portuguese, to represent my national team.”

He also said “It is an immense joy of being Portuguese. I was the only one in the family that wasn’t Portuguese [with a Portuguese wife and two Portuguese children]. I already felt Portuguese, but I didn’t have the documents. Now, I do.”