Fabiana da Silva Simões (born 4 August 1989), known as Fabiana, Fabi Simões or Fabiana Baiana, 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 as a defender for Santos and the Brazil national team. From 2009 to 2010, she played in the United States for the

Boston Breakers The Boston Breakers were an American professional soccer club based in the Boston neighborhood of Allston. The team competed in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). They replaced the original Breakers, who competed in the defunct Women's ...

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). As well as teams in her native Brazil, Fabiana has played for

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

and

Sporting de Huelva Sporting Club de Huelva is a Spanish women's football club from Huelva, Andalusia. It was founded in Huelva in 2004 as a restructuring of an homonymous junior (men's) football club, which had been founded in 1979 and dissolved nine years later, ...

of Spain's Primera División and

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 ...

of the Russian Top Division. Fabiana has represented the Brazil women's national team since her debut in November 2006 and won a silver medal at the

2008 Beijing Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...

. She retained her national team place for the

2011 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup was the sixth FIFA Women's World Cup competition, the world championship for women's national association football teams. It was held from 26 June to 17 July 2011 in Germany, which won the right to host the even ...

in Germany, the

2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

and the

2015 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup was the seventh FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international soccer championship contested by the women's national teams of the member associations of FIFA. The tournament was hosted by Canada for the ...

in Canada. A right-sided attacking player noted for her pace and skill, Fabiana can also function as an overlapping

right back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

Club career

Fabiana's career began aged 15, when she moved from Bahia to Rio to play for the women's section of America RJ. After a brief spell at

CEPE-Caxias Clube dos Empregados da Petrobrás - Duque de Caxias, usually known as CEPE-Caxias, is a Brazilian women's football team, from Duque de Caxias, Rio de Janeiro state. History CEPE-Caxias was founded on March 29, 1999. In 2006, and in 2007, t ...

, she was signed by Spanish

relegation In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

-battlers

. In the 2008 WPS International Draft, Fabiana was selected by

. The US club's

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 ...

Tony DiCicco Anthony D. DiCicco Jr. (August 5, 1948 – June 19, 2017) was an American soccer player and coach and TV commentator. He is best known as the coach of the United States women's national soccer team from 1994 to 1999, during which time the team wo ...

picked England's

Kelly Smith Kelly Jayne Smith (born 29 October 1978) is an English former football forward who spent three spells with FA WSL club Arsenal Ladies. After moving to the United States, Smith broke records with Seton Hall University then played professionally ...

in the first round and Fabiana in the second. DiCicco described his Brazilian acquisition as: "very fast and fits that quick Brazilian mold with lot of flair". An existing

anterior cruciate ligament injury An anterior cruciate ligament injury occurs when the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is either stretched, partially torn, or completely torn. The most common injury is a complete tear. Symptoms include pain, an audible cracking sound during inju ...

sustained while playing for

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 ...

kept Fabiana out of the Breakers' team until the last seven games of

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 ...

, all of which she started. Two games on

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that d ...

Boston Aztec Boston Aztec was an American soccer team based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 2006, the team played in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL), a national amateur league at the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in ...

in the

Women's Premier Soccer League The Women's Premier Soccer League (WPSL) is an amateur women's soccer league in the United States and Canada. It is the top amateur league for women's soccer in the United States soccer pyramid, below only National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). T ...

(WPSL) had formed part of Fabiana's recuperation. She was given another contract for

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

and started 14 of her 21 appearances, adding a goal against

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 ...

. Ahead of season

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

, Boston made Fabiana 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 ...

, then made an unsuccessful attempt to sign her on reduced terms. In August 2011 she joined Russian

UEFA Women's Champions League 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 ...

contestant

from Santos. After another brief return to Brazil with São José, Fabiana transferred to

Tyresö FF Tyresö Fotbollsförening is a Swedish football club in Tyresö, a municipality in Stockholm County. The club was founded in 1971 and is primarily known for its main women's team, which competed in the top-tier league Damallsvenskan in the 2010� ...

in January 2014, one of four Brazilians joining their compatriot Marta at the Swedish club. Tyresö were insolvent and on 9 April 2014 the Swedish immigration bureau refused Fabiana a work permit, so she returned to Brazil. She played for Centro Olímpico until 2016, at which point she signed with

Chinese Women's Super League The Chinese Women's Super League (CWSL) is the top level women's football league in China. It was called the Chinese Women's National Football League from 2011 to 2014. History The league started in 1997 as the Chinese Women's Premier Football L ...

club Dalian Quanjian F.C. with two Brazilian teammates. The club would go on to win the 2016 Chinese Women's Super League championship, with Fabiana scoring the game-winning goal and assisting in a second goal during the match to clinch the title. Fabiana had a successful four-year career with

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 Campeonat ...

, where she scored 47 goals in 86 games and acquired the nickname "

Gre-Nal "Grenal" is the nickname for matches between two of Brazil's leading football clubs, both located in the city of Porto Alegre, state of Rio Grande do Sul: Gre refers to Grêmio Foot-Ball Porto Alegrense and Nal refers to Sport Club Internac ...

Woman" due to scoring nine goals in 11

derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...

games against Grêmio. She left Internacional in December 2022 when the club offered her a new contract with a 30% reduction in salary. On 7 January 2023, Fabiana returned to Santos after nearly 12 years.

International career

At the

2006 FIFA U-20 Women's World Championship The 2006 FIFA U-20 Women's World Championship was held in Russia from 17 August to 3 September 2006. It was the officially recognized world championship for women's under-20 national association football teams. Matches were held in four Moscow sta ...

, FIFA.com reported that Fabiana contributed vital "skill and speed" to the Brazilian team which finished third. In November 2006 Fabiana made her senior international debut in

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 ...

's 2–0

South American Women's Football Championship South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

win over

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

Estadio José María Minella The Estadio José María Minella is a stadium in the city of Mar del Plata, Argentina. It is owned and administrated by the Municipality of General Pueyrredón Partido, General Pueyrredón. Inaugurated for the 1978 FIFA World Cup hosted by Argentin ...

Mar del Plata Mar del Plata is a city on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is the seat of General Pueyrredón district. Mar del Plata is the second largest city in Buenos Aires Province. The name "Mar del Plata" is a s ...

. She trained with the senior team ahead of the

2007 Pan American Games The 2007 Pan American Games, officially known as the XV Pan American Games, were a major continental multi-sport event that took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from July 13 to 29, 2007. A total of 5,633 athletes from 42 National Olympic Com ...

, but was not selected for the final squad. Good form with Corinthians saw Fabiana break into the squad ahead of the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

. She was restored to the team for a 2–1 win over

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

Suwon Sports Complex Suwon Sports Complex () is a group of sports facilities in Suwon, South Korea. The complex consists of the Suwon Stadium, Suwon Baseball Stadium, and Suwon Gymnasium. Facilities Suwon Stadium Suwon Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium and curre ...

in the

2008 Peace Queen Cup The 2008 Peace Queen Cup was the second edition of the Peace Queen Cup. It was held from 14 to 21 June 2008 in Suwon, South Korea. Venues Group stage All times are Korean Standard Time (KST) – UTC+9 Group A ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ...

. Fabiana was included in Brazil's 18-player squad for the 2008 Beijing Olympics and made substitute appearances in the semi-final and final. She won a silver medal when Brazil lost the final 1–0 after

extra time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played onl ...

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 ...

. At the

in Germany, Fabiana's Brazil beat

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

and

Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea ( es, Guinea Ecuatorial; french: Guinée équatoriale; pt, Guiné Equatorial), officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea ( es, link=no, República de Guinea Ecuatorial, french: link=no, République de Guinée équatoria ...

to qualify in first place from their group. They then lost a controversial quarter-final on

penalties Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penalty ...

to the United States after a 2–2 draw. Fabiana went to her second Olympic football tournament at

London 2012 The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. Amidst allegations of a broken down

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

plot, Brazil lost their final group E game 1–0 to hosts

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

before a record crowd of 70,584 at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

. Fabiana had been dropped from the team for the Great Britain match. The defeat consigned Brazil to a quarter-final meeting with World Cup holders

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, who knocked Brazil out by winning 2–0 at Cardiff's

Millennium Stadium The Millennium Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm y Mileniwm), known since 2016 as the Principality Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm Principality) for sponsorship reasons, is the national stadium of Wales. Located in Cardiff, it is the home of the Wales national rug ...

. In February 2015 Fabiana was included in an 18-month residency programme intended to prepare the national team for the

and the

2016 Rio Olympics ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro de ...

. At the World Cup in Canada, Fabiana played in all four of Brazil's games as the team was eliminated after a 1–0 defeat by Australia in the second round. Fabiana was named in Brazil's initial squad for the

2019 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup was the eighth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international Women's association football championship contested by 24 women's national teams representing member associations of FIFA. It ...

, but suffered a thigh injury in the pre-tournament training camp. She withdrew from the squad and was replaced by Poliana.

International goals

Honors

Individual

* IFFHS CONMEBOL Woman Team of the Decade 2011–2020

Notes

References

External links

* *
Fabiana da Silva Simões
– FIFA World Cup profile
Boston Breakers player profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fabiana Da Silva Simoes 1989 births Living people Brazilian women's footballers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Women's association football forwards Olympic footballers of Brazil Olympic silver medalists for Brazil Footballers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Boston Breakers players Expatriate women's soccer players in the United States 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup players 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup players Olympic medalists in football Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Primera División (women) players Sporting de Huelva players Brazil women's international footballers Tyresö FF players Associação Desportiva Centro Olímpico players Sport Club Corinthians Paulista (women) players Santos FC (women) players WFC Rossiyanka players Brazilian expatriate women's footballers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate women's footballers in Russia Expatriate women's footballers in Spain Expatriate women's footballers in Sweden Sportspeople from Salvador, Bahia Footballers at the 2015 Pan American Games São José Esporte Clube (women) players Dalian Quanjian F.C. players Chinese Women's Super League players Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in China Expatriate women's footballers in China FC Barcelona Femení players Pan American Games medalists in football Pan American Games gold medalists for Brazil Medalists at the 2015 Pan American Games Women's Professional Soccer players Sport Club Internacional (women) players