Hélio Hermito Zampier Neto (born 16 August 1985), commonly known as Neto, is a Brazilian retired

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 ...

, and is the football superintendent of Chapecoense. Formerly a

central defender 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 ...

, Neto is one of just six survivors in the crash of

LaMia Flight 2933 LaMia Flight 2933 was a charter flight of an Avro RJ85, operated by LaMia, that on 28 November 2016 crashed near Medellín, Colombia, killing 71 of the 77 people on board. The aircraft was transporting the Brazilian Chapecoense football squad a ...

, which killed 71 people including 19 Chapecoense players.

Personal life

His father is called Helam Marinho Zampier. His mother was born as Valéria dos Santos and added Zampier at the end of her full name after her marriage with Helam. The word Neto (Portuguese for "grandson") was added in Hélio's full name as his paternal grandfather was called Hélio Hermito Zampier too.

Club career

Early career

Born 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 ...

, Neto played youth football for

Paraná Clube Paraná Clube, commonly referred to as Paraná, is a Brazilian professional club based in Curitiba, Paraná founded on 19 December 1989. It competes in the Campeonato Paranaense Série Prata, the second tier of the Paraná state football leag ...

Vasco da Gama Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira (; ; c. 1460s – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and the first European to reach India by sea. His initial voyage to India by way of Cape of Good Hope (1497–1499) was the first to link E ...

and

Francisco Beltrão Francisco Beltrão, established on December 14, 1952, is a municipality in the state of Paraná in Brazil. In 2010, the population was 80,727, of which 85% lived in the city proper and 15% on the surrounding land. Francisco Beltrão is very clo ...

(twice), making his senior debuts with the latter in 2006

Campeonato Paranaense Campeonato Paranaense, which has been contested since 1915, is the top-flight football league of the state of Paraná, Brazil. Format The format has changed in 2014. 12 teams are together in a single group. They play against each other once, ...

. After being

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

in the following years, he moved to

Cianorte Cianorte is a municipality in the state of Paraná in Brazil, with an estimated population of 83,816, according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics in 2020. History The city was planned as a " garden city" and founded by th ...

in 2008.

Guarani

On 1 October 2009 Neto joined Guarani. After being loaned to

Metropolitano Metropolitano S.A. was a privately owned consortium formed in 1994 to take over concessions granted by the Argentine government as part of railway privatisation during the presidency of Carlos Menem for the operation of commuter rail services i ...

in late 2010, he established himself as a regular for ''Bugre'', and on 7 June 2012, renewed his link with the club.

Santos

On 8 November 2012 Neto moved to Santos, signing a two-year deal. After a 2013 season marred by injuries (also hindered by the emergence of Gustavo Henrique), he was given more first-team opportunities in 2014, after the latter and

Edu Dracena Eduardo Luís Abonízio de Souza (born 18 May 1981), better known as Edu Dracena, is a Brazilian retired footballer who played as a central defender. Club career Guarani Born in Dracena, São Paulo, Dracena (nickname earned from his birthplac ...

(both regular starters) suffered knee injuries. Neto was again demoted as a backup after Dracena's recovery and

David Braz David Braz de Oliveira Filho (born 21 May 1987), known as David Braz, is a Brazilian footballer who plays for Fluminense as a central defender. Club career Palmeiras Born in Guarulhos, São Paulo, Braz graduated with Palmeiras' youth setup. He m ...

's ascension, and opted to not renew his link with ''Peixe'', and thus left the club after his link expired.

Chapecoense

On 12 February 2015, Neto signed a one-year contract with fellow top tier club Chapecoense. After struggling with injuries, he became a regular starter during his first campaign, appearing in 23 league games and scoring three goals, one of them in a 3–1 home win against former club Santos. He announced his retirement from the fields on December 13, 2019.

Accident

Neto was one of six survivors of

LaMia Airlines Flight 2933 LaMia Flight 2933 was a charter flight of an Avro RJ85, operated by LaMia, that on 28 November 2016 crashed near Medellín, Colombia, killing 71 of the 77 people on board. The aircraft was transporting the Brazilian Chapecoense football squad a ...

, which crashed in Colombia on 28 November 2016, killing 71 other passengers. Despite having several injuries when rescued, he underwent surgeries and doctors said he may be able to resume his career, according to the player's father. He was named in the squad for Chape's first

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as the Copa Libertadores de América ( pt, Copa Libertadores da América), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in S ...

tie in March 2017. Neto retired in 2019, saying "the pain outweighed the pleasure".

Post-playing career

In January 2020, it was announced that Neto would take over as the football superintendent of Chapecoense, following his retirement.

Career statistics

Honours

;Chapecoense *

Campeonato Catarinense The Campeonato Catarinense de Futebol, known as Campeonato Catarinense or simply Catarinense, is the main competition of association football from state of Santa Catarina, in Brazil. History The Campeonato Catarinense top level has had several ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

Copa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Sudamericana, named as ''Copa Sudamericana'' (; pt, Copa Sul-Americana ), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 2002. It is the second-most prestigious club competition in South American ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Neto 1985 births Living people Footballers from Rio de Janeiro (city) Brazilian footballers Men's association football defenders Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Campeonato Brasileiro Série B players Campeonato Brasileiro Série D players Guarani FC players Clube Atlético Metropolitano players Santos FC players Associação Chapecoense de Futebol players Survivors of aviation accidents or incidents LaMia Flight 2933