*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 15:34, 29 April 2024 (UTC)
Mateus Galiano da Costa (born 19 June 1984), known simply as Mateus, is an Angolan professional footballer who plays as a winger or a forward for Portuguese club F.C. Maia Lidador.
He spent practically all of his career in Portugal, recording 280 games and 51 goals in the Primeira Liga. He represented four teams in the division, mainly Nacional and Boavista.
However, Mateus was at the centre of a judicial controversy that erupted in Portuguese football, known as Caso Mateus (Mateus Affair), after a supposedly illegal registration by the Barcelos club. Following a lengthy judicial battle between Gil and C.F. Os Belenenses, the former were relegated.[3][4]
After an uneventful season with Gil Vicente in the second division, greatly delayed by the legal consequences,[5] Mateus joined Boavista F.C. for the 2007–08 campaign. His new team was also eventually relegated, due to irregularities.[6]
Mateus continued to be play frequently for the better part of the following years, notably netting nine goals in 24 matches in the 2011–12 season.[9] On 7 April 2012, he scored twice in a 4–2 away victory over Funchal rivals C.S. Marítimo.[10]
Later career
On 17 November 2013, Mateus moved to his country's league for the first time, signing for C.D. Primeiro de Agosto for the new year.[11] In December 2015, he agreed a move back to Portugal's top flight, joining F.C. Arouca for the remainder of the campaign with the option of one more.[12]
Mateus returned to Boavista on 23 June 2017, signing a one-year deal a decade after first joining the club.[13] After six goals from 31 appearances in his first season back at the Estádio do Bessa, he extended his link until 2020.[14]
Mateus was first called up for Angola for the 2006 COSAFA Cup in Lesotho.[21] He scored on his debut on 29 April in a 5–1 win over Mauritius,[22] and again the next day in a 3–1 victory against the hosts,[23] as his team came runners-up to Zambia.
Later in 2006, Mateus was called up to that year's FIFA World Cup, playing all three group stage matches including the entire 1–0 loss against Portugal.[24] He also added three substitute appearances in the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, as the Palancas Negras reached the quarter-finals.
On 8 October 2011, Mateus scored as Angola won 2–0 away to Guinea-Bissau to pip Uganda to a spot at the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations.[25] At the tournament in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea, he scored the first goal of their opening 2–1 defeat of Burkina Faso, but Lito Vidigal's team were eliminated from the group.[26] A year later, he started all three games as the team exited at the same stage.
^Gonçalves, André (12 August 2020). "Mateus troca Boavista pelo Penafiel" [Mateus swaps Boavista for Penafiel]. Record (in Portuguese). Retrieved 15 November 2021.