Mouzinho Barreto de Lima (born 26 June 2002) is an East Timorese professional footballer who plays as a forward for the Timor-Leste national team.

Mouzinho
Personal information
Full name Mouzinho Barreto de Lima
Date of birth (2002-06-26) 26 June 2002 (age 23)
Place of birth Maliana, Timor-Leste
Height 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position Forward
Team information
Current team
Sport Laulara e Benfica
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2017–2019 SLB Laulara
2020–2021 Boavista TL
2021–2022 SLB Laulara
2022 Angkor Tiger 12 (2)
2023–2024 Visakha 21 (2)
2023SLB Laulara (loan)
2025 Igalo 1 (0)
2025 Aguilas–UMak 4 (0)
International career
2018–2019 Timor-Leste U19 5 (6)
2019– Timor-Leste U23 11 (3)
2019– Timor-Leste 16 (3)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 8 November 2025
‡ National team caps and goals as of 14 November 2025

He is considered one of the most promising footballers of East Timor. He was one of the top scorers of the 2019 AFF U-18 Youth Championship with 6 goals, alongside Australia's Dylan Ruiz-Diaz and Indonesia's Bagus Kahfi.

Career

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Born in Maliana, Mouzinho is the youngest of six siblings, a devout Catholic and very close to his family.[1] Inspired by Cristiano Ronaldo Mouzinho aimed to emulate the Portuguese icon and set out to become the best player in Asia.[2]

In 2020, Mouzinho was the top scorer of the Copa FFTL, scoring 14 goals in 7 matches.[3]

Mouzinho was first scouted by Angkor Tiger Head Coach Alistair Heath after coming across the forward’s exploits during the 2022 AFF U-23 Championship and the 2021 SEA Games.[4] Not long after, the Timorese forward then signed for the Cambodian Premier League outfit on June 1, 2022, and introduced himself to the Cambodian football fraternity by scoring for Timor-Leste against the Cambodia national football team in a friendly game one day later. The strike marked Mouzinho’s first goal for his national team but his side would eventually suffer a 2–1 defeat.

Mouzinho made his debut for the Cambodian Tigers on July 2 in a 3–3 draw against Kirivong Sok Sen Chey and would come off the bench against Phnom Penh Crown in the subsequent game. Mouzinho’s efforts were rewarded at the start of Round 3 when he bagged a brace in a match against Visakha. The following match against Kirivong, Mouzinho made his first assist to Iago Bento.

In 2023 Mouzinho moved to Cambodian team Visakha. During this period he played 21 matches for the Cambodian side, alongside completing a loan move to his former club SLB Benfica.

In 2025 Mouzinho completed a move to Montenegrin second league Igalo. He would make 1 appearance for the club, playing 62 minutes in an 8-0 win against Kom Podgorica on May 25th.[5]

Career statistics

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International

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As of matches played 8 November 2022[6]
National teamYearAppsGoals
Timor-Leste 201910
202140
202263
Total113
NoDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.28 May 2022Morodok Techo National Stadium, Phnom Penh, Cambodia Cambodia1–01–2Friendly
2.5 November 2022Track & Field Sports Complex, Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Brunei1–22–62022 AFF Championship qualification
3.8 November 2022Track & Field Sports Complex, Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Brunei1–01–02022 AFF Championship qualification

Honours

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Individual

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References

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  1. Lee, David (2021-12-12). "Suzuki Cup: Timorese miss home but treasure 100-day sojourn in Singapore | The Straits Times". www.straitstimes.com. Archived from the original on 2022-09-12. Retrieved 2022-09-12.
  2. Parmar, Jay. "Inside Cristiano Ronaldo-inspired Mouzinho's Suzuki Cup experience | Goal.com". www.goal.com. Archived from the original on 2022-09-12. Retrieved 2022-09-12.
  3. "COPA FFTL 2020". www.facebook.com. Archived from the original on 2023-07-12. Retrieved 2020-10-29.
  4. Johnson, Gareth (2022-06-18). "Timorese star Mouzinho Signs for Angkor Tiger - Cambodia Sports Review". Archived from the original on 2022-09-12. Retrieved 2022-09-12.
  5. "Igalo - Kom Podgorica 8:0". www.soccerway.com. Retrieved 2026-01-31.
  6. Mouzinho at National-Football-Teams.com
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