Milene Domingues Aganzo (born 18 June 1979), also known as Mika, is a Brazilian former footballer who played as a midfielder.

Milene Domingues
Personal information
Full name Milene Domingues Aganzo
Date of birth (1979-06-18) 18 June 1979 (age 45)
Place of birth São Paulo, Brazil
Height 1.67 m (5 ft 6 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1994–2001 SC Corinthians
2001–2002 ASD Fiammamonza
2002–2004 Rayo Vallecano
2004–2007 AD Torrejón CF
2007–2009 CF Pozuelo
International career
2004 Brazil
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Career

edit

Born in São Paulo, Domingues played in a promotional futsal team of models run by the Flash Book modeling agency.[1] In 1994 this team formed the basis of a new SC Corinthians women's team.[2] She finished her playing career with CF Pozuelo de Alarcón. The ex-model holds the women's record for ball juggling.[3] Until the £400,000 transfer of Keira Walsh to Barcelona in 2022, Domingues was the most expensive female football player in Spain, costing over £200,000, and second in the world behind Pernille Harder, who cost £250,000.[4]

At international level she was included in the Brazil women's national football team for the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup. Her inclusion was somewhat surprising and coach Paulo Gonçalves emphasised that she was not a first choice: "Milene is going with us, but she is between the 19th and 20th player."[5] Despite Milene's poor physical conditioning, Brazil's selectors felt she would attract interest from the media and public.[6] She remained an unused substitute in all four matches as Brazil were eliminated in the quarter finals.[7]

She did participate in Brazil's next match in April 2004, under their new coach René Simões, an unofficial friendly against Texas A&M Aggies women's soccer at Aggie Soccer Stadium.[8]

Personal life

edit

She was married to football star Ronaldo from April 1999 to September 2003.[9] Together they have one son, Ronald,[10] who was born in Milan, on 6 April 2000.[citation needed] Due to her marriage to Ronaldo, some fans nicknamed her Ronaldinha, but she has opposed this and prefers to be called Milene or Mika.[11] Later, Domingues married Spanish footballer David Aganzo.[citation needed] She is a Buddhist.[citation needed]

References

edit
  1. ^ Knijnik, Jorge (May 2011). "From the Cradle to Athens: The Silver-Coated Story of a Warrior in Brazilian Soccer" (PDF). Sporting Traditions. 28 (1). Australian Society for Sports History: 63–83. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
  2. ^ Purvinni, Larissa (5 September 1994). "Elas Batem um Bolão" (in Brazilian Portuguese). Folha de S.Paulo. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  3. ^ Brazilian magazine Corpo A Corpo article about Milene Domingues Archived 8 April 2005 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ Mrs Ronaldo in record transfer BBC Sports 12 September 2002. Retrieved 18 February 2007.
  5. ^ "Brazil head in a "new direction"". FIFA. 11 September 2003. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 22 January 2014.
  6. ^ "Milene é confirmada na seleção feminina" (in Brazilian Portuguese). O Estado de S. Paulo. 11 September 2003. Retrieved 22 April 2023.
  7. ^ "FIFA Women's World Cup USA 2003 - Technical Report" (PDF). FIFA Women's World Cup United States 2003. FIFA. 2003. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 December 2011. Retrieved 28 September 2007.
  8. ^ Leme de Arruda, Marcelo (8 January 2022). "Seleção Brasileira Feminina (Brazilian National Women's Team) 2003-2005" (in Brazilian Portuguese). RSSSF. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  9. ^ El equipo de «Ronaldinha»»
  10. ^ "In a league of her own". The Guardian. 25 April 2003. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 24 May 2023.
  11. ^ Salter, Scott (15 March 2022). "Milene Domingues: The Juggler Queen". Howler. That nickname seems ugly to me. I am not Ronaldinha, call me Milene or Mika. Zidane's wife is not called Zidana.
edit