In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Miranda and the second or paternal family name is da Silva. "Filho" is a generational suffix meaning "son", which is used for someone whose name is the same as their father, like "Jr." in English.
Mirandinha spent his early career in Brazil. In 1978, São Paulo sent him to the Tampa Bay Rowdies midway through the North American Soccer League season.[1] That season, the Rowdies went to the championship where they fell to the New York Cosmos. Mirandinha scored the lone Rowdies goal in the 3–1 Soccer Bowl '78 loss.[2] He also co-led the team in goals for the Rowdies' brief winter indoor campaign of 1979, scoring five times in five matches.[3][4] He began the 1979 season in Tampa Bay before being traded to the Memphis Rogues on 7 June 1979.[5]
Mirandinha earned four caps with the Brazil national team at the 1974 FIFA World Cup,[6] scoring no goals and accumulating one yellow card in a first round match versus Zaire.[7] His other appearances included once as a starter in a 0–0 tie against Scotland[8] in the first round, and twice more as a second-half substitute in losses to Netherlands[9] in the second round and to Poland in the third place match.[10] He was also an unused substitute in three additional matches in the tournament.
