Cristiane Rozeira de Souza Silva (born 15 May 1985), known as Cristiane (), is a Brazilian

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 for Santos and the

Brazilian women's national team Brazilian commonly refers to: * Something of, from or relating to Brazil * Brazilian Portuguese, the dialect of the Portuguese language used mostly in Brazil * Brazilians, the people (citizens) of Brazil, or of Brazilian descent Brazilian may also ...

. A prolific

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 ...

, she was part of Brazil's silver medal-winning teams at the

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

and

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

Olympic football tournaments. In total she has participated in five

FIFA Women's World Cup The FIFA Women's World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior women's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association ( FIFA), the sport's international governing bo ...

s and four

Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

. At club level, Cristiane has played

professionally A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and skil ...

in France, Germany, Sweden, the United States, Russia and South Korea, as well as in her native Brazil.

Career

Early beginnings

Cristiane started her career at the local football clubs São Bernardo (in

São Bernardo do Campo São Bernardo do Campo () is a Brazilian Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in the state of São Paulo. It is part of the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo. The population is 844,483 (2020 est.) in an area of . History The city was founded b ...

) and

Clube Atlético Juventus Clube Atlético Juventus (Latin for ''Youth''), commonly referred to as Juventus da Mooca or simply Juventus, is a Brazilian professional football club in the district of Mooca, São Paulo, that competes in Campeonato Paulista Série A2, the ...

(in

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...

). At the age of 15, she debuted for the Brazil Under-19 team and took part in both the 2002 U-19 Women's World Championship in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and the 2004 U-19 Women's World Championship in

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

; Brazil finished fourth in both tournaments.Cristiane: Power and commitment
''FIFA.com''. 29 November 2007. Retrieved 19 February 2008. In 2003, Cristiane scored one goal during one appearance as a substitute, when Brazil successfully defended their title at the

Sudamericano Femenino The South American Youth Football Championship, also known as U-20 South American Championship and es, Torneo Juventudes de América, "Campeonato Sudamericano Sub 20" or pt, Juventude da América (English: "America's Youth") is a South American a ...

. She was also part of the squad for the 2003 Women's World Cup, appearing as a substitute in all four of Brazil's matches.

Breakthrough

Cristiane had her international breakthrough at the

Olympic football tournament Football at the Summer Olympics, referred to as the Olympic Football Tournament, has been included in every Summer Olympic Games as a men's competition sport, except 1896 (the inaugural Games) and 1932 (in an attempt to promote the new FIFA Wo ...

Athens 2004 The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

. Brazil reached the final, which they lost to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, but still achieved their biggest international success until then, by winning the Olympic silver medal. With five goals, Cristiane was honored as the tournament's top scorer along with Germany's

Birgit Prinz Birgit Prinz (born 25 October 1977) is a German former footballer, two-time FIFA Women's World Cup champion and three-time FIFA World Player of the Year. In addition to the German national team, Prinz played for 1. FFC Frankfurt in the Frauen-B ...

. In February 2005, Cristiane transferred from Atlético Juventus to the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

women's

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

club

1. FFC Turbine Potsdam 1. Frauenfußballclub Turbine Potsdam 71 e. V., commonly known as 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam (or Turbine Potsdam outside of Germany), is a German women's football club located in Potsdam, Brandenburg. They are one of the most successful women's footb ...

. During the 2005–06 season she won the Bundesliga title and the German cup competition with Potsdam, although she was often used as a substitute and had difficulties to adjust to the physical play in Germany. In the following season she was transferred to the league rival

VfL Wolfsburg Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg e. V., commonly known as VfL Wolfsburg () or Wolfsburg, is a German professional sports club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. The club grew out of a multi-sports club for Volkswagen workers in the city of W ...

, where she scored seven goals during the 2006–07 season,Gelingt der Anschluss an die Spitzengruppe?
. ''VfL Wolfsburg''. Retrieved 19 February 2008. but her problems to adapt to the style of play in Germany continued. In August 2007, Cristiane did not renew her contract in Wolfsburg and returned to Brazil to support the newly created Brazilian cup competition, the

Copa do Brasil de Futebol Feminino Copa or COPA may refer to: COPA COPA may refer to: * Computer Operator Programming Assistant. trade of ITI * Child Online Protection Act, a former U.S. law to protect minors from certain material on the internet * Canadian Owners and Pilots Asso ...

Cristiane was the top scorer at the 2006 Sudamericano Femenino with 12 goals, even though Brazil competed with a weakened team and only finished second behind

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

for the first time after four consecutive title defenses. In 2007, she scored eight goals at the

Pan American Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held ...

, hosted by

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. In the final, the Brazilian national team defeated the United States Under-20 squad before a crowd of 68,000 at the

Maracanã Stadium Maracanã Stadium ( pt, Estádio do Maracanã, standard Brazilian Portuguese: , local pronunciation: ), officially named Estádio Jornalista Mário Filho (), is an association football stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The stadium is part o ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

. At the

2007 Women's World Cup The 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup, the fifth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, was an international association football competition for women held in China from 10 to 30 September 2007. Originally, China was to host the 2003 edition, but t ...

Cristiane was voted the third-best player of the tournament. She scored five goals and she was the second best scorer of her team next to her strike partner, Marta. She was involved in a collision that resulted in a controversial red card for

Shannon Boxx Shannon Leigh Boxx Spearman (; born June 29, 1977) is an American retired soccer player and former member of the United States women's national soccer team, playing the defensive midfielder position. She last played club soccer for the Chicago Re ...

of the United States in the semifinal. Brazil reached the Women's World Cup final for the first time which they lost to defending champions

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. Cristiane came in third for the 2007

FIFA World Player of the Year The FIFA World Player of the Year was an association football award presented annually by the sport's governing body, FIFA, between 1991 and 2015 at the FIFA World Player Gala. Coaches and captains of international teams and media representativ ...

award. In February 2008, she signed a five-month contract until the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

with the

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

Damallsvenskan The Damallsvenskan, Swedish for ''ladies all-Swedish'' and also known as OBOS Damallsvenskan for sponsorship reasons, is the highest division of women's football in Sweden. It is also referred to as the women's Allsvenskan. The term Allsvenskan ...

club

Linköpings FC Linköpings Fotboll Club is an association football club from Linköping, Sweden. The club was established in 2003 when Kenty DFF women's football club decided to merge with the premier division ice hockey club Linköpings HC under the new name L ...

. On 21 August 2008 in the Beijing Olympics, Cristiane was substituted in what looked like a repeat of the 2004 Olympics Women's Football final in that Brazil once again lost to the USA team in the final to end up with the silver. The match ended 1–0 after extra time. For the second straight Olympics, she scored 5 goals and was the tournament's leading scorer; unlike the 2004 tournament, Cristiane was the outright leading scorer. On 28 August 2008, Cristiane joined

Corinthians The First Epistle to the Corinthians ( grc, Α΄ ᾽Επιστολὴ πρὸς Κορινθίους) is one of the Pauline epistles, part of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The epistle is attributed to Paul the Apostle and a co-aut ...

to play in

Campeonato Paulista The Campeonato Paulista Série A1, commonly known as Campeonato Paulista, nicknamed Paulistão, is the top-flight professional association football, football league in the Brazilian States of Brazil, state of São Paulo (state), São Paulo. Run b ...

. On 30 August 2008, during her debut as a Corinthians player, she scored her first goal for the club, helping her team beat São José 3–1 in the Campeonato Paulista.

To the United States

On 24 September 2008, the

Women's Professional Soccer Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) was the top-level professional women's soccer league in the United States. It began play on March 29, 2009. The league was composed of seven teams for its first two seasons and fielded six teams for the 2011 sea ...

(WPS) rights to Cristiane were acquired by the

Chicago Red Stars The Chicago Red Stars are a professional women's soccer club based in Bridgeview, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. A founding member of the Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) league, they have played in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) sin ...

at the inaugural International Draft. Cristiane completed her move to the Red Stars on 27 February 2009. On 12 July 2009, Cristiane scored the first

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

in WPS history, leading the Chicago Red Stars to a 3–1 victory against

FC Gold Pride FC Gold Pride was an American professional soccer club based in the San Francisco Bay Area, which participated in Women's Professional Soccer. The club replaced the San Jose CyberRays of the defunct Women's United Soccer Association as the top-l ...

. She finished as the team top scorer with seven goals and was named to the league All-Star team. She returned to Chicago for the 2010 season, but showed less impressive form and was made a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

after only scoring three goals in 24 appearances. Chicago Red Stars suspended operations shortly afterwards and Cristiane decided to play the 2011 season in Brazil.

2009–present

Paulista Feminino Final Santos 0x1 Palmeiras - 52571017433 - Cristiane

Cristiane signed a three-month loan contract with Santos on 14 August 2009 to play in the

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

. She helped her club win both competitions, and scored a goal in the Copa do Brasil final. In September 2011, she joined Russian Champions League contestant

WFC Rossiyanka WFC Rossiyanka was a Russian women's soccer, women's football club from Khimki. History The team was founded in 1990 as Nadezhda Krasnoarmeysk, being initially a futsal club. Futsal was played until 1998, when the club left it to concentrate in ...

. A year later she moved to

São José Esporte Clube São José Esporte Clube, more commonly referred to as São José, is a List of football clubs in Brazil, Brazilian football club based in São José dos Campos, São Paulo (state), São Paulo. The team compete in Campeonato Paulista Série A3 ...

of São José dos Campos, Brazil. Early in 2013 it was announced that Cristiane would join the

Icheon Daekyo WFC Icheon Daekyo Women's Football Club ( ko, 이천 대교 여자축구단) was a South Korean women's football team based in Icheon, Gyeonggi-do. It was founded under the name Daekyo Kangaroos in November 2002 and was part of Daekyo Sports. Until 2 ...

(Daekyo Kangaroos) in South Korea's WK-League. She quit South Korea shortly afterwards, in order to join Centro Olímpico in Brazil. In August 2015 Cristiane and compatriot

Érika Érika Cristiano dos Santos (born 4 February 1988), commonly known as Érika, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays for Corinthians and the Brazilian women's national team. Érika played as a forward for her clubs and Brazil's youth ...

made a double

transfer Transfer may refer to: Arts and media * ''Transfer'' (2010 film), a German science-fiction movie directed by Damir Lukacevic and starring Zana Marjanović * ''Transfer'' (1966 film), a short film * ''Transfer'' (journal), in management studies ...

to French UEFA Women's Champions League contenders

Paris Saint-Germain Féminines Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

. Paris

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

Farid Benstiti Farid Benstiti (born 16 January 1967) is a French football coach and former player who played as a midfielder. He last managed OL Reign in the National Women's Soccer League. Benstiti started his playing career in 1984 for Olympique Lyonnais. ...

already knew Cristiane, having been her boss at Rossiyanka. In July 2017, Cristiane joined

Changchun Zhuoyue Changchun Jiuyin Loans () is a Chinese professional football club located in Changchun. They compete in the Chinese Women's Super League, and their home stadium is the Development Area Stadium. Players Darlene de Souza joined fellow Brazil wom ...

on a transfer from

. In October 2017, Cristiane was one of five Brazil players to quit international football, disgruntled at pay and conditions, and the

Brazilian Football Confederation The Brazilian Football Confederation ( pt, Confederação Brasileira de Futebol; CBF) is the governing body of football in Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country ...

's sacking of head coach Emily Lima. She soon relented and indicated a willingness to return to the national team in February 2018, ahead of the

2018 Copa América Femenina The 2018 Copa América Femenina was the eighth edition of the CONMEBOL Copa América Femenina (also referred to as the ''Copa América Femenina''), the quadrennial international football competition for women's national teams in South America af ...

. On 16 January 2020, after a one-year spell at

, Cristiane returned to Santos. On 10 December 2022, she renewed her contract until the end of 2024.

Career statistics

International

Honours

Cristiane Rozeira de Souza Silva (15360773486)

Club football

;Santos *

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

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 ...

* Copa Paulista: 2020 ;1. FFC Turbine Potsdam *

UEFA Women's Cup The UEFA Women's Champions League, previously called the UEFA Women's Cup (2001–2009), is a European women's association football competition. It involves the top club teams from countries affiliated with the European governing body UEFA. The ...

: 2004–05 *

: 2005–06 ;São Paulo * Campeonato Brasileiro de Futebol Feminino Série A2: 2019

National team

* Runner-up at the Women's World Cup: 2007 * Gold medal at the

: 2007, 2015 * Silver medal at the

and

: 2003 *

2014 Copa América Femenina The 2014 Copa América Femenina was the seventh edition of the Copa América Femenina, an association football competition for women's national teams in South America affiliated with CONMEBOL. The tournament was played between 11–28 September 201 ...

Ecuador – Champion

Individual

Ecuador – Top Scorer (6 goals) * Third place

award: 2007, 2008 * Third-best player at the Women's World Cup: 2007 * Top scorer at the

Copa Libertadores Femenina The CONMEBOL Libertadores Femenina, named as "Copa Libertadores Femenina" ( pt, Copa Libertadores Feminina or Taça Libertadores Feminina) is an annual international women's association football club competition in South America. It is organized by ...

: 2009, 2012 * Top scorer at the

: 2006 * Top scorer at the

history: 14 goals * Top scorer at the Summer Olympics:

(where Brazil lost 1–2 to eventual Gold winners USA) and

(Brazil lost 0–1 to USA in the final). * Has scored 2 hat tricks in Olympic play, including the fastest in Olympic history. Cristiane,

and

Christine Sinclair Christine Margaret Sinclair (born June 12, 1983) is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a forward and captains both National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) club Portland Thorns FC and the Canadian national team. An Olympic go ...

are the only three women to have ever scored a hat trick in the Olympics. * FIFA Women's World Cup Goal of the Tournament:

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

* IFFHS CONMEBOL Woman Team of the Decade 2011–2020

Personal life

Cristiane is openly

lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...

, and has been in a relationship with Ana Paula Garcia Silva, a lawyer, since February 2019. On August 15, 2020, the two married in São Paulo, Brazil. Her son Bento was born on 26 April 2021.

References

External links

*
Video of an interview at FIFA headquarters in December 2007

Santos player profile
*
Linköpings player profile
* *
archive

Player French football stats
at statsfootofeminin.fr {{DEFAULTSORT:Cristiane 1985 births Living people People from Osasco Footballers from São Paulo (state) Brazilian women's footballers Brazil women's international footballers Brazilian expatriate women's footballers Women's association football forwards Olympic footballers of Brazil Olympic medalists in football Olympic silver medalists for Brazil Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 2007 Pan American Games Footballers at the 2015 Pan American Games 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup players 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup players 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup players 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup players 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup players FIFA Century Club Expatriate women's footballers in Germany Expatriate women's footballers in Sweden Expatriate women's soccer players in the United States Expatriate women's footballers in Russia Expatriate women's footballers in South Korea Expatriate women's footballers in France Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in France Damallsvenskan players Women's Professional Soccer players 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam players VfL Wolfsburg (women) players Linköpings FC players Sport Club Corinthians Paulista (women) players Chicago Red Stars players Santos FC (women) players WFC Rossiyanka players São José Esporte Clube (women) players Associação Desportiva Centro Olímpico players Paris Saint-Germain Féminine players Division 1 Féminine players Changchun Zhuoyue players Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Russia Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in South Korea Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Brazilian LGBT sportspeople LGBT association football players Lesbian sportswomen WK League players Pan American Games medalists in football Pan American Games gold medalists for Brazil Medalists at the 2007 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2015 Pan American Games Campeonato Brasileiro de Futebol Feminino Série A1 players São Paulo FC (women) players 21st-century LGBT people