Macau 2024 Home (#19- NUNO JERÓNIMO) Jersey/Shirt

This is an Adidas Macau national team 2024 home jersey featuring the number of star midfielder Nuno Jerónimo Pereira.

Macau are one of the weaker national teams in the AFC region and the tiny region has largely struggled at international level due to their lack of space needed for football facilities amongst a range of other issues. Macau is the most densely population territory in the world and although football in the most popular sport in Macau, it is more commonly played on smaller pitches. Macau has never qualified for a major tournament, with their greatest achievement being finishing second in the 2016 AFC Solidarity Cup as well as qualifying for the 2006 AFC Challenge Cup. Since 1937, Macau have played an annual match against Hong Kong, known as the Hong Kong-Macau Interport, with Macau winning 12 times out of 58 matches. Macau’s team made international headlines when competing the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, with Macau securing their first ever World Cup qualifying win in the 1st leg of the opening round fixture against Sri Lanka. Macau did not send their team for the 2nd leg due to safety reasons following the 2019 Sri Lanka Easter bombings, with FIFA later announcing that the match was declared a 3–0 forfeit victory to Sri Lanka, and consequently qualifying Sri Lanka to the second round.

Nuno Jerónimo Pereira is the only member of the current Macau national team squad to be based outside of Asia, with the vast majority of the team usually playing their club football in Macau’s mostly semi-professional domestic league. Jerónimo was born & raised in Macau and is a member of the territory’s historic Macanese community with Portuguese ancestry. After being scouted when representing the Macau U15 team, he moved to England when he was 13 and after being trialed at several major clubs, he signed with seventh tier English side Gainsborough Trinity FC in 2019. After one season, Jerónimo moved to Portugal and has since has stints with six different clubs, mostly in the 4th tier of the Portuguese football pyramid. In 2024, he signed with F.C. Barreirense, after two seasons with Imortal Albufeira. At international level, Jerónimo made his senior debut for Macau in 2023 after having previously played for their youth national teams. He has since become a key member of the national team and has provided strong experience for Macau’s relatively young squad.