Mauro Cichero (footballer, born 1995)

Mauro Cichero is a Venezuelan professional footballer who plays for Forward Madison in USL League One.

Mauro Cichero
Personal information
Full name Mauro Cichero
Date of birth (1995-08-01) August 1, 1995
Place of birth Caracas, Venezuela[1]
Height 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)[1]
Position(s) Midfield, Forward
Team information
Current team
 Forward Madison
Number 14
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014–2017 SMU Mustangs 68 (24)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016 OKC Energy U-23 4 (4)
2020–2022 Charleston Battery 37 (5)
2023– Forward Madison 27 (2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of October 15, 2023

Early life

Cichero was born in Venezuela[1] and grew up in Norman, Oklahoma from preschool age until third grade, where his father worked as a soccer coach.[2] He then moved to Spain, where he played at soccer academies in Valencia,[3] before returning to the United States in 2011, following his mother's death.[4] He attended Norman North High School[5] and in 2013, he was named as the Oklahoman All-City Player of the Year.[4] He was named the Gatorade Oklahoma Boys Soccer Player of the Year in 2013 and 2014.[6] In 2014, he scored a bicycle kick goal to give his high school a double overtime victory, with video of the goal going viral.[7]

College career

Coming out of high school, he was considered Oklahoma's top prospect from the 2014 graduating class.[3] He had originally committed to attend Tulsa University, but later decommitted[8] and decided to attend Southern Methodist University and join their soccer program. Cichero was a standout performer for SMU during his four year college career. As a freshman, he was named to the ACC Second Team and the All-Rookie Team.[9]

In his sophomore season in 2015, he was named the AAC Offensive Player of the Year,[10] was named to the NCAA Division I First-Team All-America,[11] and was a semi-finalist for the MAC Hermann Trophy, which is awarded to the top college soccer player of the year.[9]

In his senior season in 2017, he was named the AAC Midfielder of the Year[12] and was again named to the NCAA Division I First-Team All-America.[13] Late in the season, he suffered a serious torn ACL injury.[14]

Professional career

After his sophomore year at SMU, Cichero joined the OKC Energy U-23 of the Premier Development League for the summer.[15] He scored 4 goals in 4 games for OKC.[16]

In the 2018 MLS SuperDraft, he was selected 29th overall by FC Dallas.[17] He fell in the draft due to an ACL injury suffered in his senior season at SMU.[18] He would not play that season, but spent the year rehabbing with the club with the hope that he would join the roster the following year.[19]

After not playing in 2018 due to rehabbing his ACL injury,[20] he went on trial with FC Dallas's USL League One affiliate North Texas SC, in the third tier.[21] However, due to continued injury struggles,[22] he did not make the club's roster for 2019.[23]

In 2020, he signed with Charleston Battery of the second tier USL Championship.[9] He made his debut on July 19, 2020, coming on as a substitute against Birmingham Legion FC.[24] His first goal came on August 5, when he scored in stoppage time against Atlanta United 2 to tie the game at 1-1.[25] He re-signed with the club for the 2021 season.[26] Early in the 2021 season, he tore his ACL, forcing him to miss the remainder of the season.[27] After recovering from his injury, he re-signed with the club for the 2022 season.[28][29] Following the 2022 season, the Battery declined his club option for 2023.[30]

In January 2023, Cichero signed with USL League One side Forward Madison.[31][32]

Personal

He is the son of Mauro Cichero, who was a professional soccer player and represented Venezuela in the 1980 Summer Olympics.[33] His brothers, Alejandro and Gabriel, are also professional soccer players who have represented the Venezuela national team.[34] In 2018, he stated it is a dream of his to represent the national team like his father and brothers.[34]

Career statistics
As of October 14, 2023[35]
Club statistics
Club Season League Playoffs Domestic Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
OKC Energy U23[16] 2016 Premier Development League 4400——44
Charleston Battery 2020 USL Championship 11220——132
2021 1000——10
2022 253—10—263
Total 375201000405
Forward Madison FC 2023 USL League One 2720010—282
Career total 68112020007211

References
  1. "Mauro Cichero Profile". USL Championship.
  2. Godfrey, Ed (May 2, 2013). "High school soccer: Mauro Cichero leads Norman North into quarterfinals". The Oklahoman.
  3. "Mauro Cichero". Southern Methodist University.
  4. Godfrey, Ed (June 1, 2013). "Boys soccer: Norman North's Mauro Cichero is All-City Player of the Year". The Oklahoman.
  5. Rohrbach, Ben (April 9, 2014). "Oklahoma's Mauro Cichero unleashes bicycle kick that rivals any prep goal ever". Yahoo Sports.
  6. Wright, Scott (May 13, 2014). "Norman North's Mauro Cichero wins state's Gatorade soccer award". The Oklahoman.
  7. Horning, Clay (April 11, 2014). "Cichero's amazing, game-winning goal goes viral". The Norman Transcript.
  8. Warwick, Evan (June 6, 2023). "Behind the 'Mingos: With Mauro Cichero". Forward Madison FC.
  9. "Battery Add Attacking Option, Mauro Cichero, to Roster". Charleston Battery. February 27, 2020.
  10. "Men's Soccer Regular Season Awards Announced". American Athletic Conference. November 12, 2015.
  11. "NSCAA Names the 2015 NCAA Division I Men All-America Teams". National Soccer Coaches Association of America. December 11, 2015. Retrieved January 6, 2017.
  12. "Men's Soccer Regular Season Awards Announced". American Athletic Conference. November 8, 2017.
  13. "NCAA DI Men's All-America Teams Announced by United Soccer Coaches". United Soccer Coaches. Archived from the original on June 24, 2018. Retrieved July 6, 2018.
  14. Epperley, Drew (January 19, 2018). "MLS Draft 2018: FC Dallas selects two in second round". Big D Soccer.
  15. Brannick, Chris (April 14, 2016). "Mauro Cichero signs with OKC Energy U23 team". The Oklahoman.
  16. "Mauro Cichero 2016 PDL Stats". USL League Two.
  17. "FC Dallas Adds Four Players in Opening Rounds of 2018 MLS SuperDraft". FC Dallas. January 19, 2018.
  18. Murphy, Pat (January 19, 2018). "How to Watch: MLS SuperDraft; live stream, time, date, analysis". Massive Report.
  19. Carrick, Buzz (June 3, 2018). "Crossing the gulf - the FC Dallas roster divide". The Dallas Morning News.
  20. Carrick, Buzz (January 2, 2019). "2019 FC Dallas Roster Update - First Week of January". The Dallas Morning News.
  21. Carmona, El Chico (February 6, 2019). "North Texas SC: Roster and Trialists Breakdown". Big D Soccer.
  22. "Battery sign Mauro Cichero". Black Yellow Post. February 27, 2020.
  23. Carrick, Buzz (January 15, 2020). "Twenty players – the SMU to FC Dallas connection". 3rd Degree.
  24. "Charleston Battery vs Birmingham Legion". USL Championship. July 19, 2020.
  25. "Battery Earn Draw in Stoppage Time in Atlanta". WCSC-TV. August 6, 2020.
  26. "Cichero Back for 2021 Season". Charleston Battery. December 4, 2020.
  27. @MLSVenezuela (May 31, 2021). "Nuevamente una lesión se presenta en la carrera de Mauro Cichero" [Again an injury appears in the career of Mauro Cichero] (Tweet) (in Spanish) – via Twitter.
  28. "Charleston Re-Signs Forward Mauro Cichero for New Season". USL Championship. March 8, 2022.
  29. "Charleston Battery renueva contrato de Mauro Cichero" [Charleston Battery renews contract for Mauro Cichero]. El Informador. March 8, 2022.
  30. "Battery announce initial returning players for 2023". Charleston Battery. November 22, 2022.
  31. Warwick, Evan (19 January 2023). "6'5″ Forward Mauro Cichero Signs With Forward Madison FC". Forward Madison FC.
  32. Chappell, Robert (January 19, 2023). "Forward Madison signs 6'5″ Venezuelan striker Mauro Cichero". Madison365.
  33. De Simone, Fioravante (15 March 2018). "Mauro Cichero, uno dei pilastri della vinotinto olimpionica" [Mauro Cichero, one of the pillars of the olympic vinotinto]. La Voce d'Italia (in Italian). Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  34. Parra Peña, Javier (January 22, 2018). "Mauro Cichero: "Es un sueño mio ir a la selección"" [Mauro Cichero: "It's a dream of mine to go to the national team"]. Vavel (in Spanish).
  35. Mauro Cichero at Soccerway
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