Gláuber Leandro Honorato Berti (born 5 August 1983), more commonly known as Gláuber, 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 ...

who played as a

centre 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

Early career

Born in

São José do Rio Preto São José do Rio Preto () is a municipality in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. The city is located at the northwest portion of the state, 440 km (273 mi) from the city of São Paulo and 700 km (435 mi) from Brasília. As of ...

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 ...

, Gláuber began his footballing career with

Belo Horizonte Belo Horizonte (, ; ) is the sixth-largest city in Brazil, with a population around 2.7 million and with a metropolitan area of 6 million people. It is the 13th-largest city in South America and the 18th-largest in the Americas. The metropol ...

-based club

Atlético Mineiro Atlético, Spanish for ''athletics'', or Athletico in English, may refer to: Sports Teams Athletico *Athletico SC (Lebanon), a Lebanese football academy *Athletic Bilbao, or Atletico Bilbao, Basque students athletic club (also forming Athletic Cl ...

before joining

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 ...

, where he saw top-flight football for the first time in 2003. After an eighteen-month stint with the ''Verdão'' he was transferred in December 2005 to 1. FC Nürnberg on a six-month

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 ...

with a buying option for the

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. Gláuber quickly became a starter for the team for the remainder of the season. Thus, Nürnberg exercised their right to acquire Gláuber in the summer of 2006. Shortly before the deal was finalized, his Italian ancestry helped him in acquiring Italian citizenship, which means he no longer counted against the team's contingent of non-UEFA-players.

Manchester City

On 31 August 2008, Gláuber signed a one-year deal with

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

club

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

for an undisclosed fee. Even though he did not appear for the first team, the City fanbase referred to the substitutes bench sometimes as "The Berti" in his honour. On 24 May 2009, the last day of the 2008–09 season, he finally made his début for Manchester City, at the City of Manchester Stadium. After being an unused substitute 20 times, he came on in the 84th minute for

left 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 ...

Wayne Bridge Wayne Michael Bridge (born 5 August 1980) is an English former footballer who played as a left back. A graduate of the Southampton Academy where he made his debut in 1998, Bridge also played for Chelsea, West Ham, Manchester City, Fulham and ...

against

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

. He was cheered every time he touched the ball by Manchester City fans, got a mini-standing ovation when he took a throw-in and was voted

Man of the Match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...

on the

BBC Sport Online BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC television, radio and online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadcasting the sport live or alongside flag ...

website, with an average rating of 8.67 out of 10. Manager

Mark Hughes Leslie Mark Hughes (born 1 November 1963) is a Welsh football coach and former player who is the manager of Bradford City. During his playing career he usually operated as a forward or midfielder. He had two spells at Manchester United, an ...

commented after the match: "He got a really great reception! I've not been able to give him the opportunities that maybe I would have liked, but I thought that today was a chance to do that. It was important to do it not only for the fans but also for the squad, because they were all keen that he got an opportunity to get on the field in a sky blue shirt. I must be going soft in my old age!" He was released by Manchester City at the end of the season, having made just the single appearance. In 2011, ''

Bleacher Report Bleacher Report (often abbreviated as B/R) is a website that focuses on sport and sports culture. Its headquarters are in San Francisco, with offices in New York City and London. Bleacher Report was acquired by Turner Broadcasting System in Aug ...

'' named him one of Manchester City's "Top 10 Cult Heroes of All Time" and in October 2015 Gláuber gave an interview, speaking fondly about his time at Man City. He said "That 10 minutes f the game against Boltonwere wonderful because every time I touched the ball the fans shouted my name. It was a really nice thing. It became a bit funny because the more I wanted to play, the more the fans wanted to see me play... I gave my best all of my time there. Those who shared the dressing room with me know about my dedication in training and they know how much I fought for that opportunity. Unfortunately it came on the last day, but even so, it was still a wonderful time in my career at City because it helped me to grow as a person as well."

Later career

In his third appearance with the

Columbus Crew The Columbus Crew, formerly known as Columbus Crew SC, is an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The Crew competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference and began play in 1996 as one ...

he scored his first goal for the team in the 68th minute during the home opener one 16 March 2013. On 13 June, he suffered a ruptured left anterior cruciate ligament in the 6th minute of a U.S. Open Cup match vs. Chicago Fire. He subsequently underwent arthroscopic knee surgery and was placed on the injured list for the remainder of the year. On 22 November 2013, Gláuber's contract option was declined by the Columbus Crew. He subsequently retired from football and returned to Brazil, where he runs his own business.

International career

Gláuber has been

capped In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the ea ...

once for the Brazil national team, appearing in a friendly against

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

on 27 April 2005.

Honours

1. FC Nürnberg *

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal ( is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga. It is considere ...

: 2006–07

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Glauber 1983 births Living people Brazilian men's footballers Brazil men's international footballers Sportspeople from São José do Rio Preto Brazilian people of Italian descent Men's association football defenders Clube Atlético Mineiro players 1. FC Nürnberg players Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras players Manchester City F.C. players Associação Desportiva São Caetano players FC Rapid București players Columbus Crew players Bundesliga players Premier League players Liga I players Major League Soccer players Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Romania Expatriate men's footballers in Romania Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Footballers from São Paulo (state)