Clayton Ferreira Cruz (born 19 July 1975), known simply as Clayton, 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 ...

. A

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

or winger, he operated preferably on the left. His 16-year professional career was spent, other than in his country, in Portugal – five teams represented, mainly

Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...

with which he won five major titles, including one

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal, ...

championship and one

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

– and

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

(three clubs).

Football career

Clayton was born in

São João do Paraíso São João do Paraíso is a city in the northeast of the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. In 2020 its population was estimated to be 23,709 in a total area of 1,921 km2. The city belongs to the mesoregion of Jequitinhonha and to the microre ...

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is a state in Southeastern Brazil. It ranks as the second most populous, the third by gross domestic product (GDP), and the fourth largest by area in the country. The state's capital and largest city, Belo Horizonte (literally ...

. After a solid career in native Brazil, mainly with

Clube Atlético Mineiro Clube Atlético Mineiro (), commonly known as Atlético Mineiro or Atlético, and colloquially as Galo (, "Rooster"), is the largest professional football club based in the city of Belo Horizonte, the capital city of the Brazilian state of Mi ...

, he moved to Portugal in 1999, joining Azores' C.D. Santa Clara. In December 1999, Clayton signed for fellow

club FC Porto, and went on to become an important attacking element. On 25 May of the following year, in the replay match of 1999–2000 Taça de Portugal, the final of the Taça de Portugal, he was directly involved in both of his team's goals in a 2–0 win over Sporting CP. On 17 October 2001, in 2001–02 UEFA Champions League, the season's UEFA Champions League, Clayton scored a brace against Celtic F.C., Celtic in a 3–0 home triumph. He was also a part of the

-winning side in 2002–03 UEFA Cup, 2002–03, although he did not play in 2003 UEFA Cup Final, the final against the same opponent. For 2003–04 Primeira Liga, 2003–04, Clayton moved to Sporting. After appearing scarcely throughout the campaign he was loaned to lowly F.C. Penafiel, representing Vitória S.C. subsequently. After another Brazil spell with Sport Club do Recife, and 2006–07 Liga de Honra, another season at Penafiel (now in the Segunda Liga, Portuguese second level), Clayton moved to

. Starting 2007–08 Cypriot First Division, 2007–08 with Alki Larnaca FC, he joined AC Omonia in the following January transfer window. In January 2009, Clayton moved teams in the same country, signing with AEL Limassol. He returned to Brazil aged 35, playing the remainder of his career in amateur football.

Honours

Porto *

: 2002–03 *Taça de Portugal: 1999–00, 2000–01, 2002–03 *Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira: 2001; Runner-up 2000 *

: 2002–03 AEL *Cypriot Cup: Runner-up 2008–09

References

External links

CBF data
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Clayton 1975 births Living people Brazilian men's footballers Men's association football wingers Men's association football forwards Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Campeonato Brasileiro Série B players Clube Atlético Mineiro players Guarani FC players America Football Club (Rio de Janeiro) players Sport Club do Recife players Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players C.D. Santa Clara players FC Porto players Sporting CP footballers F.C. Penafiel players Vitória S.C. players Cypriot First Division players Alki Larnaca FC players AC Omonia players AEL Limassol players UEFA Cup winning players Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus