Maicosuel Reginaldo de Matos (born 16 June 1986), known simply as Maicosuel, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder.

Career Maicosuel was born in Cosmópolis, São Paulo. After very good performances playing for Paraná Clube, he was acquired by Cruzeiro in 2007. Despite great expectations, he never secured a position in the squad and was mostly used as a back-up until June 2008, when he was bought by Traffic Sports, an investor group, and left Cruzeiro to join Palmeiras.

After an unsuccessful spell at Palmeiras Maicosuel joined Botafogo in 2009. At Botafogo Maicosuel played at top level and with only five months at Botafogo he was elected the best player of the Rio de Janeiro State League. On 21 May 2009, TSG 1899 Hoffenheim signed "Mago" (Portuguese for 'Magician') from Botafogo for €4.5 million on a five-year contract. In the summer of 2010 he returned to Botafogo.

On 13 July 2012, Maicosuel signed a five-year deal with Italian club Udinese. He had a promising start as he scored on his Serie A debut against Fiorentina, but soon afterwards his error from the penalty spot against Sporting Braga was decisive as Udinese lost the penalty shootout which would have granted the Italian team access to the group phase of the 2012–13 UEFA Champions League. Maicosuel was the only player to miss his penalty, attempting a Panenka chip that goalkeeper Beto easily caught. Braga would go on to win the shootout 5–4.

On 26 May 2014 Maicosuel returned to Brazil, joining Atlético Mineiro on a five-year deal for a fee of €3.3 million. The player had some good appearances in the second half of 2014, scoring in the Recopa Sudamericana against Lanús and in the Copa do Brasil semifinals against Flamengo, both competitions the club went on to win, but failed to secure a regular place in the team's starting eleven. In 2015, despite some good performances such as a brace against Internacional in early July, Maicosuel still could not make it as a first squad regular. He was eventually loaned to Emirati club Al Sharjah SCC in late July, on a year-long deal worth €1.8 million.

On 29 January 2018, after playing for São Paulo for only seven months, Maicosuel was excluded from the club's plans. Twelve days earlier, he had played his last match for Tricolor. In that match, the team lost 2–0 to São Bento, in the opening round of the 2018 2018 São Paulo State League.Maicosuel está fora dos planos do São PauloIrritado com Maicosuel, São Paulo decide negociá-lo

Career statistics

+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueNational cupContinentalOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsParaná2005Série A140———1402006Série A314———314Total454000000454Cruzeiro2007Série A221———2212008Série A31———31Total251000000251Palmeiras (loan)2008Série A141—60—201Botafogo (loan)2009Série A———19111911TSG 1899 Hoffenheim2009–10Bundesliga27342——245Botafogo2010Série A132———1322011Série A354———3542012Série A6040—125225Total54640001257011Udinese2012–13Serie A2021020—2322013–14Serie A1911140—242Total393216000474Atlético Mineiro2014Série A1515121—2232015Série A122—50—172Total273517100395Career total22421154191311628942

Honours Paraná Clube Campeonato Paranaense: 2006

Cruzeiro Campeonato Mineiro: 2008

Atlético Mineiro Recopa Sudamericana: 2014 Copa do Brasil: 2014 Campeonato Mineiro: 2015, 2017

Grêmio Recopa Sudamericana: 2018

References