Hugo Leonardo da Silva Serejo or simply Léo Silva (レオ・シルバ, born December 24, 1985, in São Luis, Brasil), 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

defensive 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 ...

for Moto Club.

Club career

Léo Silva started his youth career at

URT Urt (; ; )AHURTI

Cruzeiro in 2003. In 2004, he was loaned to

Ipatinga Ipatinga is a municipality in eastern Minas Gerais state, Brazil. The city was founded on 29 April 1964 and covers a total area of . Its population is 267,333 as of 2021. It is part of the Vale do Aço (Steel Valley) metropolitan area (populati ...

, where he ended up playing for four seasons. During that time, he was part of the team that won the

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 ...

state league in 2005, although he only made three appearances that season. The following season he made 7 more appearances in all competitions for Ipatinga, until he moved back to Cruzeiro for the rest of the season where he made his debut in the Brasileirão. He also scored his first top flight goal in the 2006 season, in a 3-1 win over Botafogo. After making 20 more appearances for Cruzeiro in 2007 season, Silva then was sent on a series of loans: firstly back to Ipatinga in 2008 and then to Botafogo in 2009. At the end of the 2009 season, he was released by Cruzeiro and eventually signed by

Guaratinguetá Guaratinguetá is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil. It is part of the Metropolitan Region of Vale do Paraíba e Litoral Norte. The population is 122,505 (2020 est.) in an area of 752.64 km2. It is located in the region of ...

where he spent two seasons in Série B. Following two successful seasons with Guaratinguetá, Silva was signed by Portuguesa to again play in the Brasileirão. After making almost 60 appearances in one season for Portuguesa, Silva moved on quickly and was signed by

J-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 J2 ...

club

Albirex Niigata is a professional football club based in Niigata, Japan. Formed in 1955 as Niigata Eleven SC, it was renamed Albireo Niigata FC in 1995, and Albirex Niigata in 1997. From 2023, Albirex will be playing on the J1 League, coming back to the fir ...

on a free transfer. Silva went on to make 149 appearances over four seasons with Albirex Niigata, but never managed to win any team silverware, however he was included in the J-League Best XI for his performances in the 2014 season. He then signed for the champions

Kashima Antlers are a football club in Kashima, Ibaraki, currently playing in the J1 League, top tier of Japanese professional football leagues. The name ''Antlers'' is derived from the city name, Kashima, which literally means "deer island". The club has fi ...

for the 2017 season. It wasn't long before tasting success, as Kashima won the

2017 Japanese Super Cup The 2017 Japanese Super Cup was held on 18 February 2017 between the 2016 J1 League and 2016 Emperor's Cup champions Kashima Antlers and the 2016 J1 League runners-up Urawa Red Diamonds. Kashima Antlers won the match 3–2; after Yasushi Endo's b ...

with a 3-2 victory over

Urawa Red Diamonds , colloquially Urawa Reds (浦和レッズ), also known as Mitsubishi Urawa Football Club from April 1992 to January 1996, is a professional football club in the city of Saitama, part of the Greater Tokyo Area in Japan. The club plays in the J ...

with Silva in the starting XI for the final. Domestically, Kashima finished runners up in the league, only losing out on goal difference to

Kawasaki Frontale is a Japanese professional football club based in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, south of Tokyo. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. Their home stadium is Kawasaki Todoroki Stadium, in Nakahara W ...

on the final day of the season. Silva also made his

AFC Champions League The AFC Champions League (abbreviated as ACL) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's top-division football clubs. It is the most prestigious club competition ...

debut in the 2017 season in a 2-0 win over

K-League K League (Hangul: K리그) is South Korea's professional football league. It includes first division K League 1 and second division K League 2. History Until the 1970s, South Korean football operated two major football leagues, the National S ...

outfit

Ulsan Hyundai Ulsan Hyundai FC ( ko, 울산 현대 축구단) is a South Korean professional football club based in Ulsan that competes in the K League 1, the top tier of South Korean football. Founded in 1983 as Hyundai Horang-i, they joined the K League in ...

. In the 2018 season, Kashima again missed out on the J-League title but Silva was a key part of the squad that won the

2018 AFC Champions League The 2018 AFC Champions League was the 37th edition of Asia's premier club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 16th under the current AFC Champions League title. Kashima Antlers won the title for the f ...

– playing 11 games and scoring 2 goals during the competition, including a goal in the quarter-final against

Tianjin Quanjian Tianjin Tianhai F.C. (; ;) was a Chinese football club. The team was based in Tianjin. History 2006-2010: Formation and League Two On June 6, 2006 the Tianjin Binhai Holdings Limited company would form a new football team based in Hohhot called ...

. In the final against Iranian club

Persepolis , native_name_lang = , alternate_name = , image = Gate of All Nations, Persepolis.jpg , image_size = , alt = , caption = Ruins of the Gate of All Nations, Persepolis. , map = , map_type ...

, Silva scored his second goal in the competition with a low left-footed drive from the edge of the box and was later named man of the match for his performance in the first leg of the final. Silva has also made appearances in the

Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The competition was first contested in 200 ...

after Kashima's results in the AFC Champions League and was part of the team in the 1-3 defeat to

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

in the

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

semi-finals. In December 2021, it was announced Silva would be leaving Kashima and joining Nagoya Grampus on a free transfer, where he would take the number 16 shirt. In his only season with Nagoya, he appeared in the majority of their games and played well over 2000 minutes. However, at the end of the 2022 season, it was announced that Silva would be leaving the club and moving back to Brazil with his hometown team Moto Club.

Club statistics

Honours

Club

;

* Minas Gerais State League: 2005 ; Cruzeiro * Minas Gerais State League: 2008 ;

Botafogo Botafogo (local/standard alternative Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation: ) is a beachfront neighborhood (''bairro'') in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is a mostly upper middle class and small commerce community, and is located between the hills of M ...

Taça Guanabara The Taça Guanabara, or Guanabara Cup, is a football tournament organized annually since 1965 by the Rio de Janeiro State Football Federation. In its first four editions (1965, 1966, 1967 and 1968), the Taça Guanabara was a tournament in its o ...

: 2009 ;

Japanese Super Cup The , known as the for sponsorship reasons, is an annual one-match association football competition in Japan organised by J. League and the Japan Football Association (JFA). This competition serves as the season opener and is played between the r ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

Individual

* J-League Best XI:

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

References

External links

*
Profile at Kashima Antlers

Soccerway
{{DEFAULTSORT:Silva, Leo 1985 births Living people Brazilian men's footballers Brazil men's under-20 international footballers Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Cruzeiro Esporte Clube players Ipatinga Futebol Clube players Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas players Guaratinguetá Futebol players Associação Portuguesa de Desportos players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Campeonato Brasileiro Série B players J1 League players Albirex Niigata players Kashima Antlers players Nagoya Grampus players Footballers from São Luís, Maranhão Expatriate men's footballers in Japan Men's association football midfielders