Mário Jorge Malico Paulino (born 10 November 1986), better known as Camora or Mário Camora, is a professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Liga I club CFR Cluj, which he captains.
He spent most of his professional career at CFR Cluj in Romania, with which he won ten domestic trophies since signing in 2011. Previously, he totalled 66 matches in the Primeira Liga over four seasons, 64 of those with Naval.
Born in Portugal, Camora acquired Romanian citizenship in 2020 and began representing the national team later that year.
Club career Portugal Camora was born in Samora Correia, Benavente, Santarém District. After beginning in amateur football, in January 2006 he signed with S.C. Beira-Mar in the Segunda Liga. He appeared rarely for the Aveiro-based team in his first years, also being loaned once; in the 2006–07 season he played two games with them in the Primeira Liga, suffering relegation.
In summer 2008, Camora joined Associação Naval 1º de Maio of the top tier, making his official debut for the club in the competition on 15 February 2009 by featuring 27 minutes in a 2–2 away draw against C.D. Trofense. After only eight matches in his first year, he went on to become an important first-team unit at the Figueira da Foz side.
Camora scored the first of two goals in the Portuguese top flight on 28 November 2009, opening an eventual 1–1 away draw against C.D. Nacional.
CFR Cluj On 24 May 2011, following Naval's relegation, Camora moved abroad to Romania's CFR Cluj, where he joined several compatriots. He contributed one goal from 28 appearances in his debut campaign, as the club won the third Liga I championship in its history.
Camora became the player with the most league appearances for CFR on 17 April 2018, after surpassing Cadú's record of 202 matches. On 24 January 2019, it was announced that the captain had agreed to a three-year contract extension, at the same time expressing his desire to retire at the Stadionul Dr. Constantin Rădulescu and move permanently to Romania.
International career Camora earned his first cap for Romania on 8 October 2020, playing the entire 2–1 away loss to Iceland in the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifiers. In doing so, he reportedly became the oldest footballer to make his debut for the national team at the age of 33 years, 10 months and 28 days.
Camora appeared in a further nine internationals, his last being against Kosovo in the Euro 2024 qualifying phase. He suffered an injury early into the 0–0 draw in Pristina, but also surpassed Miodrag Belodedici and Lucian Sânmărtean to become the sixth oldest player in history to take the field for the country, at 36 years, seven months and six days.
Personal life Camora married a Romanian woman, Mirabela, with whom he has a son. On 24 August 2020, he obtained Romanian citizenship and became eligible to represent the national team.
Career statistics Club
+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueNational cupLeague cupEuropeOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsValdevez 2005–06Segunda Divisão10200———102Beira-Mar 2005–06Segunda Liga20————202006–07Primeira Liga2000———202007–08Segunda Liga2016020——281Total2416020——321Avanca (loan)2006–07Segunda Divisão4100———41Pampilhosa (loan)2006–07Segunda Divisão101————101Naval2008–09Primeira Liga800000——802009–10Primeira Liga2916010——3512010–11Primeira Liga2711030——311Total6427040——752CFR Cluj2011–12Liga I28100———2812012–13Liga I25050—120104302013–14Liga I31110———3212014–15Liga I33140—30—4012015–16Liga I3726020——4522016–17Liga I2403010—102902017–18Liga I30100———3012018–19Liga I32140—60104312019–20Liga I29200—160104622020–21Liga I35000—100104602021–22Liga I31100—120104412022–23Liga I29120—150204812023–24Liga I29241—20—3532024–25Liga I26050—60—3702025–26Liga I34130—80104612026–27Liga I9100—40—131Total46215371309409060516Career total57422501909409073623
International + Appearances and goals by national team and yearNational teamYearAppsGoalsRomania202020202140202230202310Total100
Honours
Beira-Mar Segunda Liga: 2005–06
CFR Cluj Liga I: 2011–12, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22 Cupa României: 2015–16, 2024–25 Supercupa României: 2018, 2020
Individual Liga I Team of the Season: 2018–19 Liga I Team of the Regular Season: 2018–19 Liga I Team of the Championship Play-offs: 2018–19
Records CFR Cluj all-time appearance holder: 605 CFR Cluj all-time Liga I appearance holder: 462 Foreign player with the most appearances in Liga I: 462
References Notes
Citations
External links