Luís Alberto Silva dos Santos (born 17 November 1983), known as Luís Alberto, 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 ...
who played as a
midfielder
A midfielder is an outfield position in association football.
Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...
.
He spent the better part of his 15-year senior career in Portugal, representing seven clubs.
Club career
Luís Alberto was born in
Salvador, Bahia
Salvador (English: ''Savior'') is a Brazilian municipality and capital city of the state of Bahia. Situated in the Zona da Mata in the Northeast Region of Brazil, Salvador is recognized throughout the country and internationally for its cuisine ...
. In his country, he first played for
Esporte Clube Bahia
Esporte Clube Bahia (), known familiarly as Bahia, is a Brazilian professional football club, based in Salvador, capital city of the Brazilian state of Bahia. They play in the Campeonato Baiano, Bahia's state league, and the Campeonato Bras ...
,
Associação Desportiva São Caetano
Associação Desportiva São Caetano, commonly referred to as São Caetano, is a Brazilian professional club based in São Caetano do Sul, São Paulo founded on 4 December 1989. It competes in the Campeonato Paulista Série A2, the second tier ...
and
Cruzeiro Esporte Clube
Cruzeiro Esporte Clube (), known simply as Cruzeiro, is a Brazilian sports club based in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais. Although they compete in a number of different sports, Cruzeiro is mostly known for its association football team. It plays ...
, being part of
Série A rosters with the first and last clubs, where he was often criticised for his propensity to be
sent off
In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...
. Additionally, he served a loan at
Saudi Professional League
The Saudi Pro League (SPL for short) ( ar, دوري المحترفين السعودي, link=no, ''Dawriyy al-Muḥtarifayni as-Suʿūdī''), known as the Roshn Saudi League (RSL for short) for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of associat ...
club
Ettifaq FC
Al Ettifaq Football Club ( ar, نادي الاتفاق لكرة القدم) is a professional football club in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. Al-Ettifaq was established after the merging of three clubs in the city of Dammam at the year 1944. Al Ettifaq i ...
.
In late July 2008, Luís Alberto signed a five-year contract with
C.D. Nacional
Clube Desportivo Nacional, commonly known as Nacional and sometimes Nacional da Madeira (), is a Portuguese football club based in Funchal, on the island of Madeira.
Founded on 8 December 1910, it currently plays in the Liga Portugal 2, Portug ...
of the Portuguese
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, ...
, who acquired 50% of his sporting rights. He played his first game in the competition on 24 August, in a 3–1 away win against
Leixões S.C.
Leixões Sport Club, commonly known as Leixões (), is a Portuguese sports club from Matosinhos. It is organised into several departments for many sports, such as football, boxing, karate, volleyball, swimming and billiards. It is most well kno ...
where he earned praise. His first goal came on 23 November in the 1–0 home victory over
C.D. Trofense
Clube Desportivo Trofense (), commonly known as Trofense, is a Portuguese football club based in Trofa, Portugal. Founded in 1930, it plays in Segunda Liga, holding home games at '' Estádio do Clube Desportivo Trofense'', with a capacity of 5,0 ...
, and in
his first year he also helped his team
reach the semi-finals of the
Taça de Portugal
The Taça de Portugal (; "Cup of Portugal") is an annual association football competition and the premier knockout tournament in Portuguese football. For sponsorship reasons, it has been known as Taça de Portugal Placard since the 2015–16 seaso ...
and qualify for
the play-off round of the
UEFA Europa League
The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...
after a best-ever fourth-place finish.
Luis Alberto made his continental debut on 20 August 2009, opening the 4–3 home defeat of
FC Zenit Saint Petersburg
Football Club Zenit (russian: link=no, Футбольный клуб «Зенит» ), also known as Zenit Saint Petersburg or simply Zenit, is a Russian professional association football, football club based in Saint Petersburg. Founded in ...
(eventually 5–4 on aggregate). In January 2012, he joined
S.C. Braga
Sporting Clube de Braga () (), commonly known as Sporting de Braga or just Braga, is a Portuguese sports club from the city of Braga. It is best known for the professional football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese ...
of the same country and league on a three-and-a-half-year deal, being then consecutively loaned by that side to Romania's
CFR Cluj
Fotbal Club CFR 1907 Cluj, commonly known as CFR Cluj ( or ), is a Romanian professional association football, football club based in the city of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj County, which competes in the Liga I. It was founded in 1907 as ''Kolozsvári Vas ...
and
Esporte Clube Vitória
Esporte Clube Vitória, commonly referred to as Vitória, is a Brazilian professional club based in Salvador, Bahia founded on 13 May 1899. It competes in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série B, the second tier of Brazilian football, as well as i ...
in his country's top division. Whilst at Cluj, he memorably scored the only goal at
Old Trafford
Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...
against
Manchester United
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 City of Salford, Salford to ...
in
the group stage of the
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...
.
Following a brief spell in the Japanese
J1 League
The , known as the for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the system. Founded in 1992, it is one of the most successful leagues in Asian club football. Contested by 18 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the J ...
, Luís Alberto returned to the
Portuguese top division in July 2015, with
C.D. Tondela
Clube Desportivo de Tondela () is a Portuguese professional football club that plays in Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football. They are based in the town of Tondela, located in Viseu District, and play in the Estádio João Cardoso ...
. One year later, he moved to fellow league club
G.D. Chaves
Grupo Desportivo de Chaves, commonly known as Chaves (), is a Portuguese association football, football football team, club from Chaves, Portugal, Chaves currently playing in the Primeira Liga. They were founded in 1949 and currently play at Está ...
.
Luís Alberto competed in the
LigaPro
The Liga Portugal 2 (), also known as Liga Portugal 2 SABSEG for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division of the Portuguese football league system. At the end of each season, the two top-finishing teams are promoted to the top-tier Prim ...
until his retirement at the age of 35, representing in quick succession
C.D. Aves
Clube Desportivo das Aves (), commonly known as Desportivo das Aves, or simply as Aves, is a Portuguese professional football club based in Vila das Aves, Santo Tirso. The club was founded on 12 November 1930 and plays at the Estádio do Clube ...
,
Académico de Viseu F.C.
Académico de Viseu Futebol Clube is a Portugal, Portuguese professional Association football, football club based in Viseu. Founded in 1914 as ''Clube Académico de Futebol'', the club went through several changes over the course of the years, f ...
and
Varzim SC.
Honours
Cruzeiro
*
Campeonato Mineiro
Campeonato Mineiro is the state football league of the state of Minas Gerais and is controlled by the Minas Gerais Football Federation FMF (Federação Mineira de Futebol).
The history of Campeonato Mineiro can be divided into two parts: befor ...
: 2008
Vitória
*
Campeonato Baiano
The Campeonato Baiano is the football league of the state of Bahia, Brazil. The championship has been played since 1905 without interruption.
2020 format
First stage:
10 teams are included in one group, playing once only against all teams in ...
: 2013
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Luis Alberto
1983 births
Living people
Footballers from Salvador, Bahia
Brazilian men's footballers
Men's association football midfielders
Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players
Campeonato Brasileiro Série B players
Campeonato Brasileiro Série C players
Esporte Clube Bahia players
Associação Desportiva São Caetano players
Cruzeiro Esporte Clube players
Esporte Clube Vitória players
Saudi Pro League players
Al-Ettifaq FC players
Primeira Liga players
Liga Portugal 2 players
C.D. Nacional players
S.C. Braga players
C.D. Tondela players
G.D. Chaves players
C.D. Aves players
Académico de Viseu F.C. players
Varzim S.C. players
Liga I players
CFR Cluj players
J1 League players
Kashima Antlers players
Brazilian expatriate men's footballers
Expatriate men's footballers in Saudi Arabia
Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal
Expatriate men's footballers in Romania
Expatriate men's footballers in Japan
Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia
Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal
Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Romania
Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Japan