Maiara Niehues

Maiara Niehues
Niehues with Angel City in 2025
Personal information
Full name Maiara Carolina Niehues
Date of birth (2004-08-11) 11 August 2004
Place of birth Itapiranga, Brazil
Height 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position Midfielder
Team information
Current team
Angel City
Number 12
Youth career
2019 Chapecoense
2020 Iranduba
2020–2022 Internacional
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2019–2020 Chapecoense 6 (0)
2021–2022 Internacional 26 (2)
2022–2025 Sporting CP 21 (7)
2025– Angel City 14 (2)
International career
2024 Brazil U-20 2 (2)
2026– Brazil 1 (0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 11 November 2025
‡ National team caps and goals as of 4 March 2026

Maiara Carolina Niehues (born 11 August 2004) is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Angel City FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) and the Brazil national team.

Club career

Early career

Born in Itapiranga, Santa Catarina,[1] Niehues began her career with Chapecoense, where she managed to play for the first team at the age of 15. After leaving in the following year, she spent a short period at Iranduba. She then played for Internacional, appearing in matches for their senior, under-20, under-18, under-17, and under-16 teams from 2020 to 2022. She compiled a combined eight goals and four assists in all competitions while helping the club's under-20 section to a 2022 National Championship appearance.[2]

Sporting CP

Niehues joined Portuguese club Sporting CP in September 2022.[3] During her time at Sporting, she appeared in 57 matches in all competitions, scoring 18 goals and three assists in 3,214 minutes on the pitch.[2]

Angel City

In March 2025, Angel City FC acquired Niehues for an undisclosed transfer fee, signing her to a three-year contract.[2] Niehues scored her first goal for Angel City on September 1, 2025, which was the eventual game winner to secure a 2–1 victory over Bay FC.[4]

International career

Niehues represented Brazil at the 2024 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup.[5] She had an unfortunate senior international debut as she was sent off in the 33rd minute after committing two bookable offenses against Venezuela as Brazil lost the friendly 2–1 on March 4, 2026.[6]

References

  1. ^ "Atleta catarinense é a mais cara contratação do futebol feminino de Portugal" [Catarinense athlete is the most expensive signing of Portugal's women's football] (in Brazilian Portuguese). Guararema News. 27 January 2023. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  2. ^ a b c "Angel City Signs Midfielder Maiara Niehues". Angel City FC. 27 March 2025. Retrieved 27 March 2025.
  3. ^ "Maiara Niehues reforça equipa feminina do Sporting". Record. 9 September 2022. Retrieved 27 March 2025.
  4. ^ Stadium, Michelle Chavez at BMO (2 September 2025). "Angel City beats the Bay 2-1". The Sporting Tribune. Retrieved 2 September 2025.
  5. ^ Maiara Niehues at Soccerway
  6. ^ Maiara Niehues at Flashscore