Leonardo Vitor Santiago (born 9 March 1983), commonly known as Leonardo, 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 winger or playmaker. Leonardo is a former U-20 Brazilian international.

Career

Nova Safra

Leonardo started at the Nova Safra football school in

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 ...

and was raised in the Jacarezinho neighbourhood, which is also the area where Romário spent his early years. In 1994, at the age of 11 Leonard's football talent was discovered by

Jos de Putter Jos de Putter ( Terneuzen, 1959) is a Dutch film director, film critic and screenwriter who primarily makes Dutch documentary films. He studied political science and literature at the University of Leiden, and was a member of the editorial staff ...

who directed the documentary "Solo, de wet van de favela" about him and another young player, Anselmo, from the slums of Rio de Janeiro. The documentary focuses on how football plays a significant role in getting young people out of the hopeless living conditions that many young inhabitants of the slums live every day.

Feyenoord

Following the attention the film brought Leonardo, he moved to

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

to play in Feyenoord's youth academy setup at Varkenoord. Leonardo made his debut for

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club (association football), football club in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the club changed to various names bef ...

on 19 August 2000 in a 2–0 victory over

AZ Alkmaar Alkmaar Zaanstreek (), better known as AZ Alkmaar or simply AZ (), is a Dutch professional football club from Alkmaar and the Zaan district. The club plays in the Eredivisie, the highest professional football league in the Netherlands, and host ...

at the age of 17. Leonardo's debut sparked controversy for himself and Feyenoord as

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

regulations for the status of players under article 19 dictate "international transfers of players are only permitted if the player is over the age of 18" when it comes to non

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

(EU) players. It turned out Leonardo had been misinformed and misrepresented which resulted in a forged Portuguese passport being handed to Leonardo that made Feyenoord believe they could play Leonardo when he was only 17. Leonardo had to wait until he turned 18 to play in Feyenoord's first team again. He scored his first goal in the match versus

SC Heerenveen Sportclub Heerenveen (; West Frisian: Sportklub It Hearrenfean) is a Dutch football club from Heerenveen. They currently play in the Eredivisie, the top level of football in the Netherlands. History Sportclub Heerenveen was founded on 20 July ...

, which ended in 2–0. His second goal he scored in the away win against arch rivals

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Gree ...

. In his first two seasons at Feyenoord he played 44 matches and scored four goals. He was part of the Feyenoord squad that won the 2001–02 UEFA Cup, playing as a substitute in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

NAC Breda (first stint)

He joined NAC Breda in January 2006 on a 1.5-year deal. He helped NAC Breda to stay in the

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

by scoring 8 goals in 14 matches in the regular season, which made him top goal scorer at the club.

Ajax

In December 2006 Leonardo agreed with

on a new 2.5-year contract. On 21 January 2007, he played his first Ajax

game against FC Utrecht Six weeks later in the game against

he suffered a heavy injury tearing the

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are also called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation ...

in his right knee, which sidelined him for at least six months.

NAC Breda (second stint)

2011 he went from NAC Breda to FC Red Bull Salzburg on loan.

Ferencváros

In February 2013 Leonardo signed a contract with Hungarian top club

Ferencváros Ferencváros () is the 9th district of Budapest ( hu, Budapest IX. kerülete), Hungary. Name The southern suburb of Pest was named after King Francis I on 4 December 1792 when he was crowned king of Hungary. History The development of Fe ...

1860 Munich

In July 2014 Leonardo was contracted by German 2. Bundesliga club 1860 Munich. While he regularly played at the start of the 2014–15 season under coach

Ricardo Moniz Ricardo Moniz (born 17 June 1964) is a Dutch professional football manager and former player who is the head coach of Hungarian Nemzeti Bajnokság I club Zalaegerszeg. Career He played for RKC Waalwijk, HFC Haarlem, Helmond Sport and FC Eindh ...

and managed to score twice, he was dropped from the squad after

Markus von Ahlen Markus von Ahlen (born 1 January 1971) is a German football manager and a former player. He manages the Under-19 squad of Fortuna Köln. Coaching career von Ahlen started his coaching career in the youth section at Bayer Leverkusen in 2007 befo ...

took over the coaching position in September. His contract was terminated on his own wish in the end of November 2014.

Newcastle United Jets

21 August 2015, Leonardo signed for A-League club

Newcastle United Jets FC Newcastle United Jets Football Club, commonly known as Newcastle Jets, is an Australian professional soccer club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier competition, the A-League, under licence from The Australian ...

in Australia for the 2015–16 A-League season. 12 September 2015, Leonardo made his debut for the Jets in the 0–0 pre-season draw with the

Brisbane Roar Brisbane Roar Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Brisbane, Queensland and has won the domestic title on three occasions, as well as holding the longest unbeaten record of 36 league matches without defeat. Brisba ...

Redland City Redland City, better known as the Redlands and formerly known as Redland Shire, is a Local government in Australia, local government area and a part of the Brisbane metropolitan area in South East Queensland. With a population of 156,863 in Jun ...

. Leonardo came on as a second-half substitute with thirty minutes to go in the match for youngster Mitch Cooper in the number ten role. Leonardo made his A-League debut in the opening round match between the Jets and

Wellington Phoenix Wellington Phoenix Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wellington, New Zealand. It competes in the Australian A-League, under licence from Football Federation Australia. Phoenix entered the competition in the ...

Westpac Stadium Wellington Regional Stadium (known commercially as Sky Stadium through naming rights) is a major sporting venue in Wellington, New Zealand. The stadium's bowl site size is . The stadium was built in 1999 by Fletcher Construction and is situ ...

. Leonardo started and played most of the match, being substituted in the 81st minute for striker

Labinot Haliti Labinot Haliti (born 26 October 1985) is an Australian former professional footballer who played as a second striker or winger. Early life Haliti's was born in Pristina, and fled his home country at the age of 14 with his family, arriving in Au ...

. Newcastle and Leonardo won the match 2–1.

FC Eindhoven

In March 2017 Leonardo joined FC Eindhoven after receiving a Dutch passport.

Career statistics

Honours

Feyenoord * UEFA Cup 2002 Ajax * Dutch Cup 2007 * Dutch Super Cup 2007 Red Bull Salzburg * Austrian Bundesliga 2011–12Red Bull Salzburg are the 2011–12 champions
* Austrian Cup: 2012 Ferencváros *

Hungarian League Cup The Hungarian League Cup ( hu, Magyar Ligakupa) was an annual football tournament contested by clubs in the Hungarian League. It was created in 2007 and the competition only lasted for 8 seasons, being cancelled in 2015/2016. Ligakupa Finals The ...

: 2012–13

References

External links

Voetbal International profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leonardo 1983 births Living people Footballers from Rio de Janeiro (city) Brazilian footballers Association football forwards Feyenoord players NAC Breda players AFC Ajax players FC Red Bull Salzburg players Ferencvárosi TC footballers TSV 1860 Munich players FC Eindhoven players UEFA Cup winning players Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players Austrian Football Bundesliga players Nemzeti Bajnokság I players 2. Bundesliga players A-League Men players Brazilian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands Expatriate footballers in Austria Expatriate footballers in Hungary Expatriate soccer players in Australia Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Austria Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Hungary Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Australia