Adauto Sena and Alan Jhones are now sporting Cunha stickers on their surfboards. Photos: Instagram
If you’ve watched Matheus Cunha scoring on the pitch lately, you’ve probably seen the celebration. Arms out. Knees bent. A surfer balancing on an invisible board.
He’s been doing it at Old Trafford, all over the Premier League. He did it again at the World Cup with Brazil. By now, it’s become part of who he is as a footballer. What most people don’t know is that the celebration isn’t just for show anymore.
Over the past few weeks, Cunha has quietly started backing three surfers from Baía Formosa, the small beach town in northeastern Brazil where he fell in love with surfing. His logo is now appearing on their boards, helping cover the kind of expenses that often determine whether a surfer can afford to chase a season, or stay home.
By football standards, it’s hardly headline-making money. For a regional surfer trying to reach the Challenger Series, it can completely change the year ahead.
A Place That Changed Everything
Although Cunha was born in João Pessoa, his connection with surfing really began a few hours north, in Baía Formosa. The town is famous for producing Olympic and world champion Italo Ferreira, but Cunha didn’t just pass through. Over the years he became close friends with Ferreira, got to know the local surf crew, and slowly turned the town into one of the places he always returns to whenever he’s back in Brazil.
Surfing became an escape from football. And that celebration millions of fans now recognize was born there.
“I Told Him to Slow Down”
Israel Júnior is the most established of the three surfers Cunha is backing. The 29-year-old won the Brazilian title in 2022, claimed a QS 4,000 victory last season, and came within touching distance of the Challenger Series after finishing 16th in South America. This year, he’s sitting sixth in the regional rankings, currently inside the projected qualification spots.
By the time sponsorship entered the conversation, though, he and Cunha had already known each other for a couple of years. They met through mutual friends, played plenty of footvolley together and became part of the same circle in Baía Formosa long before anyone mentioned putting logos on surfboards.
“My filmmaker is really close friends with Matheus, and that’s how we first connected,” Israel tells The Inertia. “He basically adopted Baía Formosa as his second home. Everybody there loves him.”
When Cunha first floated the sponsorship idea, Israel wasn’t in any rush.
“He wanted to put his logo on my board straight away,” Israel says. “I actually told him to slow down a little. I wanted him to understand how surfing works first.”
Then the World Cup arrived, and conversations stopped.
“When he came back, it just felt like the right time,” Israel continues. “He already had the stickers made. Everything was ready.”
Israel is careful to point out that Cunha didn’t replace any of his existing sponsors.
“He came in alongside the brands I already have,” Israel explains. “He’s still learning how everything works, so he’s not paying for my whole season or every trip. But it’s already huge. It gives me room to breathe.”
Anyone who has competed on the QS understands exactly what that means.
“He saw how difficult it is to travel and compete,” Israel says. “I honestly think that’s where the whole idea came from.”
Helping local surfers, according to Israel, wasn’t even something new.
“He’d already been helping people here quietly, without anyone really knowing. Now he decided to build a team with the three of us.”
The partnership has already produced one funny moment. Last week Israel finished runner-up at a Brazilian national event. Every time he advanced through another heat, people on the beach kept shouting the same thing.
“‘Do Cunha’s celebration!’”
Eventually, he did — right there on the podium after finishing second.
The Cuhna celebration. Photo: Surf Brasil Pro
A Chance to Keep Competing
For 20-year-old Adauto Sena, the partnership changes something much bigger than having another logo on his board. For the first time in his career, surfing a full QS season actually feels possible. Without a major backer, he’d already accepted that another year would be spent almost entirely on Brazil’s domestic circuit.
“I wasn’t planning on surfing the QS because I simply couldn’t afford it,” Adauto tells The Inertia. “Now I’ll be surfing the next QS event, which is actually at home, where I’ve had good results before.”
Adauto doesn’t even try to hide how much it means.
“I’d never even had a sponsor’s logo on the nose of my board before,” he says. “Just seeing that sticker there almost flipped a switch. I’ve been surfing better, making more heats. I’m just grateful that someone believes in my dream.”
More Than a Sponsorship
The third surfer on Cunha’s team is 37-year-old Alan Jhones, one of Baía Formosa’s most respected surfers and a mentor to many of the younger generation. He’s no longer chasing Challenger Series qualification himself, but remains a constant presence on Brazil’s national circuit. It was Alan who first made the partnership public. Sharing the news on social media, he explained why the gesture mattered.
“At a time when so many sports still struggle to grow, receiving support from a football player means a lot,” he wrote. “Thank you for believing in surfing, for believing in Baía Formosa, and for showing that sport goes far beyond the discipline each of us competes in. When one athlete reaches out to another, everybody moves forward.”
Backing three surfers isn’t the sort of investment you’d normally expect from a Premier League footballer. But Baía Formosa gave Cunha something football couldn’t. Now, he’s trying to return the favor.
