Cleiton Ribeiro Xavier ( uk, Клейтон Шав'єр; born 23 March 1983) is a Brazilian former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As #Cent ...

. He is known by his powerful and accurate free kicks, dribbling skills and passes.

Club career

In his early career, Cleiton Xavier played for

CSA CSA may refer to: Arts and media * Canadian Screen Awards, annual awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television * Commission on Superhuman Activities, a fictional American government agency in Marvel Comics * Crime Syndicate of Amer ...

and

Internacional Sport Club Internacional (), commonly known as Internacional or simply Inter, is a Brazilian professional football club based in Porto Alegre. They play in the Série A, the first division of the Brazilian league, as well as in Campeonato ...

, and was loaned out various times.

Palmeiras

In early 2009,

Palmeiras Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras (), commonly known as Palmeiras, is a Brazilian professional football club based in the city of São Paulo, in the district of Perdizes. Palmeiras is one of the most popular clubs in South America, with around ...

signed Cleiton from the relegated

Figueirense Figueirense Futebol Clube, commonly referred to as Figueirense, is a Brazilian professional club based in Florianópolis, Santa Catarina founded on 12 June 1921. It competes in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série C, the third tier of Brazilian ...

. Cleiton Xavier proved he had good talent in Palmeiras's first matches in the

Libertadores Cup The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as the Copa Libertadores de América ( pt, Copa Libertadores da América), is an annual international club association football, football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level ...

and in the

São Paulo State Championship The Campeonato Paulista Série A1, commonly known as Campeonato Paulista, nicknamed Paulistão, is the top-flight professional football league in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. Run by the FPF, the league is contested between 16 clubs and ty ...

. On 29 April 2009 Cleiton Xavier scored an 87th minute away-goal against

Colo-Colo Club Social y Deportivo Colo-Colo () is a Chilean professional football club based in Macul, Santiago. Founded in 1925 by David Arellano they play in the Chilean Primera División, from which they have never been relegated. The team has played ...

in the

that secured Palmeiras' progression to the knockout stages of the tournament, it was a very long-range shot inside the goalkeeper's left angle. Later in the Série A alongside teammate Diego Souza, Cleiton Xavier made an outstanding season with Palmeiras, leading the competition for 19 rounds, however Palmeiras finished 5th due to losses in the final matches and did not qualify for the Libertadores Cup. Cleiton Xavier was elected the 3rd best player of the season, even though he had an injury. In 2010, Cleiton Xavier remained with Palmeiras and also started well the year. He participated in Palmeiras's first ten goals in the

Metalist Kharkiv

On 14 July 2010, Cleiton Xavier transferred to

FC Metalist Kharkiv Football Club Metalist Kharkiv ( uk, Футбо́льний Клуб Металі́ст Ха́рків ) is a Ukrainian football club based in Kharkiv that plays in the Ukrainian First League during the 2021–22 season. It was revived 5 years ...

for €4.5 million. In 2013, he became popular for scoring a fastest equalizing goal from the starting line after the restart of the match against local league rival, Chornomorets. He then inspired them to a 3 – 1 victory which boosted their chances to qualify for next season Champions League campaign in which the victory lift them above another local rival who competing for the same spot,

Dynamo Kyiv Football Club Dynamo Kyiv (, ) is a Ukrainian professional Association football, football club based in Kyiv. Founded in 1927 as a Kyivan football team of republican branch of the bigger Soviet Union, Soviet Dynamo Sports Club, Dynamo Sports Soc ...

Club statistics

Honours

;Internacional * Rio Grande do Sul State League: 2003, 2004 ;Figueirense * Santa Catarina State League: 2008 ;Palmeiras *

Copa do Brasil The Copa do Brasil ( en, Brazil Cup) is a knockout football competition played by 92 teams, representing all 26 Brazilian states plus the Federal District. It is the Brazilian domestic cup and the Brazilian equivalent of the FA Cup, Taça de ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

* Campeonato Brasileiro:

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

;Vitória *

Campeonato Baiano The Campeonato Baiano is the football league of the state of Bahia, Brazil. The championship has been played since 1905 without interruption. 2020 format First stage: 10 teams are included in one group, playing once only against all teams in ...

: 2017

References

External links

* * *
figueirense.com
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Xavier, Cleiton 1983 births Living people Brazilian footballers Brazilian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Ukraine Centro Sportivo Alagoano players Sport Club Internacional players Sport Club do Recife players Brasiliense Futebol Clube players Sociedade Esportiva do Gama players Marília Atlético Clube players Figueirense FC players Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras players FC Metalist Kharkiv players Esporte Clube Vitória players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Ukrainian Premier League players Sportspeople from Alagoas Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine Pan American Games medalists in football Pan American Games silver medalists for Brazil Association football midfielders Footballers at the 2003 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2003 Pan American Games