Mauro Cichero (footballer, born 1995)

Last updated
Mauro Cichero
Personal information
Full name Mauro Cichero
Date of birth (1995-08-01) August 1, 1995 (age 29)
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
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2014–2017 SMU Mustangs 68 (24)
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2016 OKC Energy U-23 4 (4)
2020–2022 Charleston Battery 37 (5)
2023– Forward Madison 33 (2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of November 22, 2024

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

Contents

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] Born in Venezuela, Cichero is of Italian and Polish descent. [35]

Career statistics

As of October 14, 2023 [36]
Club statistics
ClubSeasonLeaguePlayoffsDomestic CupOtherTotal
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
Total375201000405
Forward Madison FC 2023 USL League One 2720010—282
Career total68112020007211

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References

  1. 1 2 3 "Mauro Cichero Profile". USL Championship .
  2. ↑ Godfrey, Ed (May 2, 2013). "High school soccer: Mauro Cichero leads Norman North into quarterfinals". The Oklahoman .
  3. 1 2 "Mauro Cichero". Southern Methodist University .
  4. 1 2 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. 1 2 3 "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. 1 2 "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. 1 2 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. ↑ 🖉Borzęcki, Marcin (26 April 2021). "Od potomka "Witkacego" po Dybalę. Egzotycznymi śladami Polaków" [From the descendant of "Witkacy" to Paulo Dybala. In the exotic footsteps of Poles]. TVP Sport .
  36. ↑ Mauro Cichero at Soccerway
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