Max, the grassroots star playing for 24 teams, targets 1,000 before CR7 | OneFootball

Makson Rangel, known as Max, is a 37-year-old grassroots goalscorer with over 100 titles. He currently plays for 24 teams in 18 cities across three states, São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo.

According to Globo.com, Max balances three to five matches each weekend and trains with a personal coach three times a week. His wife, Daiane, acts as his agent, fielding the constant calls and organising his calendar.

Max’s professional break came at the 2007 Copa São Paulo with Náutico de Roraima, where he scored three of the side’s four goals and added an assist. He later played for Gênesis de Rondônia, Independente de Limeira and Portuguesa Santista before switching fully to the amateur game in 2012 amid disillusion over unpaid offers and registration costs.

He says the várzea can sustain elite amateurs, with per-match pay, monthly retainers, signing-on fees and bonuses per goal or title. In his view, top performers can earn sums comparable to Série B or even Série A levels, though not at the biggest clubs. He cites at least R$ 15,000 a month, with averages around R$ 15,000 to R$ 20,000.

Daiane vets approaches, avoids fixture clashes and logs his clubs, games and goals, as well as the household accounts. She says payments land as agreed, often on a handshake, though many enquiries lack clear proposals and slow talks.

Max has 903 goals recorded over two decades in notebooks and believes he has scored more times than he has played. He is chasing his 1,000th strike before Cristiano Ronaldo, who is 24 short of the mark. At the weekend he hit six, including four in a final in Indaiatuba, clinching the title.

He argues that with the structure of a major club he would have scored at least 400 in the professional ranks. Max also maintains that many grassroots talents could flourish with opportunity and discipline.

Source: Globo.com

“Artificial intelligence was used to assist in creating this article based on reporting from the original source quoted.”