Although Sunderland didn’t exactly have a lot of marquee acquisitions in 2016, Michael Dunne remembers that the custodian from Boavista was an intriguing addition.
On September 1, 2016, I remember enjoying a pint in a smoking section of a Dublin pub, anticipating the plethora of new players that Sunderland would undoubtedly bring in to support our struggling new manager and ease the frustration of all the supporters who had been frustrated by the team’s lacklustre start to the campaign. The beers were arriving at the bar faster than the news of fresh signings, and this window closed at 6:00 p.m.! Ellis Short was undoubtedly going to support David Moyes, and I reasoned that bringing in a new striker to support Jermain Defoe had to be on the cards.
Expectations of a big announcement in the North East were dashed, with Jim White perfunctorily perched in his chair wearing a yellow tie. That is, until later in the evening, when the infamous yellow ticker came, revealing the news that we were all dying to hear: “Sunderland close to signing Mika.” At that point, my vision was distorted, my balance was off, and my inhibitions had all but vanished. I was thrilled at first, but then reality set in.
This wasn’t a stylish midfielder, an emerging defender who could play out of the back, or a cool, uniquely named Brazilian striker. Not even the guy who performed the popular song “Grace Kelly” a few years back. No, this was our new backup goalie, who was born in Switzerland, signed to fill in for Vito Mannone, who was sidelined for up to three months due to an elbow injury. My midweek pints were spoilt by the joy, or lack thereof, and the season became one of the least memorable for Sunderland supporters.
Even while I’m not sure if he ever played for the team, I do know that, when your team makes an announcement like this one, going out for a pint and watching Deadline Day on Sky Sports is hardly the ideal way to spend a midweek evening. I should also mention that we reportedly had to wait six days to make the announcement because of technological difficulties his old team, Boavista, was having. We honour our former goalie Mika’s signing anniversary today and wish him continued success in all of his endeavours. He is currently Moreirense’s backup custodian, according to Wikipedia.
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