After naturalisation, is Maurício still a foreigner at Palmeiras? | OneFootball

This Wednesday, midfielder Maurício became a naturalized Paraguayan citizen. From now on, the player is eligible to play for the Paraguay national team and could even compete in the World Cup, which will take place between June and July.

Although he can now play alongside Gustavo Gómez and Ramón Sosa for the national team, Maurício will not take up a foreign player spot at Palmeiras. Born in Brazil, the midfielder obtained naturalization through direct ancestry, since his father is Paraguayan.

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With dual citizenship, the 24-year-old from São Paulo remains Brazilian. This is good news for Verdão, who already have six foreign players in their squad: Gómez, Giay, Martínez, Sosa, Arias, and Flaco López. Currently, the limit for foreign players in Brazilian football is nine athletes.

With this change, Maurício becomes the second player with dual nationality at Palmeiras. He joins teammate Andreas Pereira, who was born in Belgium but has Brazilian parents.

Will Maurício go to the World Cup?

The possibility of representing Paraguay raises expectations that Maurício will be at the World Cup. His only experience at the national team level was in the Pre-Olympic tournament, held in 2023, when the midfielder was 23 years old.

Now, the Palmeiras midfielder will compete for a spot with players like Kaku, the Paraguayan number 10 who plays for Al-Ain, Fonda from River Plate, and Hugo Cuenca from Burgos, Spain.

With no warm-up friendlies confirmed so far, Maurício is looking to maintain his good form at Palmeiras to make the final list of 26 players called up for the World Cup.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.