Mycael Pontes

Club career Mycael signed his first professional contract with Athletico Paranaense aged 16 in 2020. In November 2022, the club announced that Maycael would be promoted to the senior first team squad for the 2023 season.

Initially a third-choice behind Bento and Léo Linck, Mycael became a backup option after Bento left in 2024, and made his professional – and Série A – debut on 4 July of that year, coming on as a late substitute for Lucas Esquivel in a 2–1 home loss to São Paulo, after Linck was sent off. He became a starter after Linck suffered an injury in September, and was kept as a first-choice by head coach Martín Varini after Linck's return.

International career Mycael made his debut with the Brazil under-15 age group team against a Paraguay age group team on 25 July 2019. He won the under-15 South American championship that year, and the following year made his debut for the Brazil under-17 team. He was also named goalkeeper of the tournament at the Revelations Cup in Mexico in 2021.

Mycael won the 2023 South American U-20 Championship with Brazil. He was awarded man of the match for the final game which secured the title for Brazil, against Uruguay. He has also saved a penalty in a match for Brazil against Argentina. His displays led him to being one of the players singled out from the tournament by South American football pundit Tim Vickery among those who “enhanced their reputations in Colombia [with] careers worth watching”.

On 3 March 2023, Mycael was called up to the senior Brazil squad for the first time as interim coach Ramon Menezes prepared a team to play a friendly match against Morocco.

Personal life Mycael joined Trieste, an amateur team from Curitiba, in 2017. There, he lived for two years with teammate and fellow goalkeeper Bernardo Pisetta and his family prior to his move to Athletico Paranaense aged 14. Mycael honors his friend Bernardo, who died in the Flamengo training ground fire in 2019, by wearing a shirt underneath his match day jersey which contains a picture of him, a practice he said he will continue throughout his career, saying:

Career statistics

Honours Brazil U23 Pan American Games: 2023

Brazil U20 South American U-20 Championship: 2023

Brazil U15 South American U-15 Championship: 2019