Paulo Josue, a midfielder of Malaysia’s national team from Kuala Lumpur City, has been interested in Pioneiro Sports, a Sports media in Brazil, where he was born.
Paulo, have been played in Brazil with several clubs as Juventude, Esportivo, Passo Fundo and etc., before moving to play in Asia in UAE with Dibba Al Hisn and moving to Kuala Lumpur FA(Kuala Lumpur City) in 2017 until now and naturalized to Malaysian in 2023.
“I met an agent who worked a lot outside the country, so much so that there are many Brazilians abroad because of this. He worked a lot in these Asian countries. We kept in touch for about five years until the opportunity arose. He worked with a Brazilian coach who went to Dubai at the time, in the United Arab Emirates, and my name appeared on the negotiating table; they looked at my material, and I was hired to play there. I spent a season, returned to Brazil, and then, this same agent got this club in Malaysia, the team I still play for today.” Paulo talked with Pioneiro Sports about the time to move to Kuala Lumpur.
“As I had played in Malaysia for over five years, FIFA allowed me to change my passport and undergo the naturalization process. As I was never even close to the Brazilian team and had already been in Malaysia for five years, a new Korean coach(Kim Pan-gon) who was already following the Malaysian league arrived on the team. He liked me and asked for a way to go through the process. The club was also interested in doing this because then I would become Malaysian, opening up the possibility for Kuala Lumpur (the team where I play) to bring in another foreign player and reinforce the team. That’s how it happened; today, I’m a Brazilian and Malaysian citizen.”
However, Paulo talked about the time he played in the FIFA World Cup 2026 Asian Qualifiers; that was a wonderful time, and he was satisfied with his performance after he won 2 matches and took the lead of the group.
“Playing in the World Cup qualifiers is something wonderful. We travel and face opponents in the group, and everything is very different from the club. Everyone always has expectations when talking about selection. Thank God we’re doing well.”
“We only lost one game this year, so it’s been cool to participate. The expectation is, of course, to compete in a World Cup, which will now feature more than 40 teams, so the organized team has a great chance of going to the World Cup. We know that this may be a little far away for Malaysia, but we will work, and if the opportunity arises, we will seize it,” Paulo said.
In addition, Paulo have objective is to remain in the national team until physical limitations allow and also to fulfill the remaining three years of his contract with Kuala Lumpur City.
“I know I’m not a new guy, but since I have this opportunity, I intend to stay healthy, physically and technically, to participate in these games.”
“An athlete’s CV needs to have played for national teams, to have played in cup qualifiers and the Asian Cup. I hope to stay as long as I can”
“I’m experiencing the best moment of my career,” Paulo said.
Credit Photo : Emmer Farid/SNE Images
