Vágner Silva de Souza (born 11 June 1984), known as Vágner Love, is a Brazilian 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 plays as a striker for

Sport Recife Sport Club do Recife, (; known as Sport Recife or Sport, is a Brazilian sports club, located in the city of Recife, in the Brazilian state of Pernambuco. Founded in 1905, the club currently plays in Série B. In football, the club has w ...

. He is a forward who has been described by ''

World Soccer Magazine ''World Soccer'' is an English-language football magazine, published by Kelsey Media. The magazine was established in 1960 and is the oldest continually published football magazine in the United Kingdom. It specialises in the international fo ...

'' as possessing "mobility, flair, awareness and powerful shooting". The second name Love was given to Vágner while playing for

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 ...

as he was known for his playboy lifestyle. Over two spells, Vágner Love scored 117 goals across 241 official games in eight seasons at

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow (russian: ЦСКА Москва) is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet era, it was a central piece of the big So ...

. He won 14 honours in the Russian capital, scoring in their win in the

2005 UEFA Cup Final The 2005 UEFA Cup Final was the final match of the 2004–05 UEFA Cup, the 34th season of the UEFA Cup, UEFA's second-tier club football tournament. The match was contested by Sporting CP and CSKA Moscow; CSKA won the match 3–1. Sporting CP ope ...

to become the youngest player to score in a UEFA Cup final. Vágner Love scored four goals in 20 games for the Brazil national team, winning the Copa América in 2004 and 2007.

Club career

Palmeiras

Vágner Love started his career with

. In the 2003 season, he helped them to return to the Série A, the nation's top-flight division.

CSKA Moscow

In the summer of 2004, Vágner Love was bought by

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; russian: Российская премьер-лига; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is the top division professional association football league in Russia. It was established at the end of 2001 ...

club

. For over a year after his arrival, rumours kept appearing that he did not want to stay in Moscow, and a transfer to

Corinthians The First Epistle to the Corinthians ( grc, Α΄ ᾽Επιστολὴ πρὸς Κορινθίους) is one of the Pauline epistles, part of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The epistle is attributed to Paul the Apostle and a co-aut ...

in particular was hinted at numerous times. These rumours, however, eventually subsided, and he mentioned a number of times that he was fully committed to his contract and is looking forward to completing its full tenure. On 18 May 2005, at the age of , Vágner Love scored the final goal in CSKA's 3–1 victory over

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal, founded Sporting Club de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP, often known abroad as Sporting Lisbon , is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Lisbon. It is best known for the professional foot ...

in the

at the

Estádio José Alvalade Estádio José Alvalade is a football stadium in Lisbon, Portugal, home of Sporting Clube de Portugal. It was built adjacent to the site of the older stadium. The stadium is named after José Alvalade (1885–1918), the founder and first club ...

in Lisbon, making him the youngest player to score in a UEFA Cup final. In addition to winning the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...

, he has gone on to win the Russian Premier League title and Russian Cup in both 2005 and 2008, as well as the

Russian Super Cup The Russian Super Cup () is a one-match football annual competition. Its official sponsored name is ''OLIMPBET Russian Supercup'' (). The two participating clubs are the Russian Premier League champions and the Russian Cup winners. If the Premie ...

in 2006. Vágner Love became the top scorer in the 2008 season (the first top scorer from outside the former Soviet Union) and the top scorer of the

2008–09 UEFA Cup The 2008–09 UEFA Cup was the 38th season of the UEFA Europa League, UEFA Cup association football, football tournament. The 2009 UEFA Cup Final, final was played at the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium, home ground of Fenerbahçe S.K., Fenerbahçe, i ...

, the latter with 11 goals in 8 games.

Return to Palmeiras on loan

On 28 August 2009, following a run of poor form for CSKA, Vágner Love was signed by his former club Palmeiras on a one-year loan deal until 31 July 2010. CSKA press spokesman Sergei Aksenov claimed that Vágner Love left Russia due to "urgent family problems demand(ing) his presence at home in Brazil". Vágner Love had a respectable return of 5 goals in 12 games for Palmeiras, but his loan spell was ended prematurely: After publicly stating his concern over his safety at Palmeiras due to off-field altercations with fans, as well as his desire to play for his childhood team

Flamengo Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (; English: ''Flamengo Rowing Club''), more commonly referred to as simply Flamengo, is a Brazilian sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, in the neighborhood of Gávea, best known for their professional football ...

, the deal was ended early on 14 January 2010.

Flamengo

On 15 January 2010, the day after his loan was terminated with Palmeiras, Vágner Love officially signed a loan deal with reigning Brazilian champions

, through till July 2010. He made his Flamengo debut against Bangu in the Campeonato Carioca on 23 January 2010, scoring two goals. Vágner Love performed very well playing for Flamengo, scoring 23 goals in 26 matches. His successful strike partnership with

Adriano Adriano or Adrião is the form of the Latin given name ''Hadrianus'' commonly used in the Italian language; the form Adrian is used in the English language. Notable people with the name include: * Adriano Banchieri, Italian composer, music theor ...

was dubbed by fans as "Império do Amor", or "The Love Empire", in reference to Adriano's nickname "The Emperor" and Vágner Love's artistic surname. The presence of midfielder

Dejan Petković Dejan Petković ( sr-Cyrl, Дејан Петковић, ; born 10 September 1972) is a Serbian football pundit and retired footballer. In his native country he is widely known under the nickname Rambo while in Brazil he is known as Pet. He played ...

in Flamengo's squad made supporters start the year with high expectations—it was widely believed that the Serbian's passing and free-kick abilities, coupled with Adriano's and Vagner's prolific scoring, would produce a top team. However, with Adriano struggling to keep an athlete's body mass index, and Petković's legs growing old (he was already 37 then), the team failed to advance past the quarter-finals in the

2010 Copa Libertadores The 2010 Copa Libertadores de América (officially the 2010 Copa Santander Libertadores for sponsorship reasons) was the 51st edition of the Copa Libertadores de América, CONMEBOL's premier international club tournament. The tournament began on ...

. Shortly after, Adriano revealed he wanted to try playing in Italy again, and Flamengo could not convince CSKA to extend Vágner Love's loan, thus dismantling the once-promising "Love Empire".

Return to CSKA

After a change of presidency, on 12 January 2013, Flamengo did not pay his pendencies of rights with CSKA, and Vágner Love had to leave the club, returning to Russia after a one-year absence. On 16 January, he was "re-presented" in Moscow and signed a three-year contract extension. He continued his goal scoring record with CSKA on his return to the club, and propelled the club to the Premier League title in

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

after a goalless draw with Kuban Krasnodar on 18 May, the club's first league title since 2006.

Shandong Luneng

On 24 July 2013, Vágner Love transferred to

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Association Super League, commonly known as Chinese Super League or CSL, currently known as the China Ping An Chinese Football Association Super League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest tier of professional association ...

side

Shandong Luneng Shandong Taishan Football Club () is a professional football club that currently participates in the Chinese Super League under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team is based in Jinan, Shandong and their home stadium is th ...

in a reported €12 million transfer.

Corinthians

On 8 February 2015, Vágner Love rescinded his contract with Shandong Luneng and signed with

in Brazil. He went on to become the top scorer of the club during the national championship as Corinthians went on to win the Série A that year.

Monaco

On 13 January 2016, Ligue 1 club

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

announced the signing of Vágner Love on an 18-month deal for a €1 million transfer fee. On 20 March, he opened the scoring in an eventual 2–0 win against

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. As Fr ...

, the Parisian club's first home defeat since May 2014.

Alanyaspor

On 30 August 2016, Turkish

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), officially known as Spor Toto Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system and is run by the ...

club

Alanyaspor Alanyaspor Kulübü is a Turkish professional football club located in the city of Alanya in Antalya Province. Formed in 1948, the club colours are orange and green. Home matches are played at Kırbıyık Holding Stadium. The most recent club ma ...

reached an agreement with

for the transfer of Love. On 31 August 2016, he was officially presented after passed the medical. Having failed to score in his first seven appearances for the club, Love scored 23 goals in 20 matches that followed to earn the Golden Boot award.

Beşiktaş

On 26 January 2018, Turkish

club Beşiktaş reached an agreement with

for the transfer of Love.

Return to Corinthians

On 25 January 2019, Love returned to Corinthians on a deal until the end of 2020 after rescinding his contract with Beşiktaş. He rescinded his contract in June 2020.

Kairat

On 8 July 2020,

Kazakhstan Premier League The Kazakhstan Professional Football League ( kk, Қазақстан Премьер Лигасы, ''Qazaqstan Premer Ligasy''), commonly referred to as Kazakh Premier League or simply Premier League, is the top division of football in Kazakhstan ...

club

FC Kairat Football Club Kairat ( kk, Qaırat Fýtbol Klýby) is a professional football club based in Almaty, which plays in the Kazakhstan Premier League, the highest level of Kazakh football. Founded in 1954 as Lokomotiv Alma-Ata, they became Urozhay in ...

announced the signing of Vágner Love on a six-month contract, with the option to extend it. On 3 November 2020, Love scored Kairat's first goal, in a 3–1 win over Ordabasy, to clinch their first

title since 2004. On 5 November 2020, Kairat extended their contract with Vágner Love until the end of the 2021 season.

Midtjylland

On 20 January 2022, Love signed an agreement to join

Midtjylland The Central Denmark Region ( da, Region Midtjylland), or more directly translated as the Central Jutland Region and sometimes simply Mid Jutland, is an administrative region of Denmark established on 1 January 2007 as part of the 2007 Danish muni ...

on a free transfer, with a contract lasting until the end of the 2021/22 season. On 22 May 2022 Midtjylland confirmed, that Love was one out of seven players, which contracts had came to an end, and therefore would leave the club.

Sport Recife

On 26 July 2022, Love returned to Brazil after two years, joining Série A side

until the end of the year. On 6 January 2023, the forward renewed his contract with the club for another season.

International career

Vágner Love earned his first call up for the

Brazil national football team The Brazil national football team ( pt, Seleção Brasileira de Futebol), nicknamed ''Seleção Canarinho'' (‘Canary Squad’, after their bright yellow jersey), represents Brazil in men's international football and is administered by the B ...

for the

2004 Copa América The 2004 Copa América was the 41st edition of the Copa América, the South-American championship for international association football teams. The competition was organized by CONMEBOL, South America's football governing body, and was held i ...

, in a squad without the main stars to give them rest after the end of the 2003–04 season. He made his debut as a substitute in the 4–1 win against Costa Rica, which was his single appearance as Brazil went on to win the competition. He did not make the final 23-man squad for the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host th ...

in Germany. Following the tournament, Vágner Love was named in new manager

Dunga Carlos Caetano Bledorn Verri (born 31 October 1963), known as Dunga (), is a Brazilian football manager and former professional player who played as a defensive midfielder. Under his captaincy, Brazil won the 1994 FIFA World Cup and he lifte ...

's first squad for the national team and scored his first goal for the ''Seleção'' in the same year, against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. The following year, he was included in Brazil's squad for the 2007 Copa América. On 7 July 2007, he scored the final goal in a 6–1 win against

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

in the quarter-finals of the competition. He played his last match for the national team in that year, against

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

. Over the course of his international career, he amassed 20 caps and scored 4 goals.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Updated 1 April 2009'' :''Scores and results table. Brazil's goal tally first:

Honours

Palmeiras * Campeonato Brasileiro Série B: 2003 CSKA Moscow *

: 2005, 2006,

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

* Russian Cup: 2004–05, 2005–06, 2007–08, 2008–09,

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

: 2006, 2007, 2009,

: 2004–05 Shandong Luneng *

Chinese FA Cup The Chinese FA Cup (, abbreviated as CFA Cup) is the national knockout cup competition in China organized by the Chinese Football Association. Its current holders are Shandong Taishan, having beaten Shanghai Port in 2021 for a record seventh tit ...

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 ...

Corinthians * Campeonato Brasileiro Série A: 2015 * Campeonato Paulista:

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

Kairat *

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

Kazakhstan Cup The Kazakhstan Cup is the main knockout cup competition in Kazakhstan football, run by the Football Federation of Kazakhstan. The tournament was initially founded in 1936 as a competition for clubs in the Kazakh SSR ; kk, Қазақ Сове� ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

Brazil * Copa América: 2004, 2007 Individual * Campeonato Brasileiro Série B Top scorer: 2003 * Pan American Games Top scorer: 2003 * Campeonato Paulista Top scorer: 2004 *

Top scorer:

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

* ''Sport-Express''s Russian Footballer of the Year: 2008 * Russian Premier League Team of the Year: 2008, 2012–13 * UEFA Cup Top scorer: 2008–09 * Campeonato Carioca Top scorer: 2010 *

Player of the Month: March 2013, May 2013 * Süper Lig Top scorer: 2016–17

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Love, Vagner 1984 births Living people Brazilian footballers Association football forwards Brazil international footballers PFC CSKA Moscow players UEFA Cup winning players Shandong Taishan F.C. players Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras players CR Flamengo footballers Sport Club Corinthians Paulista players Sport Club do Recife players AS Monaco FC players Alanyaspor footballers Beşiktaş J.K. footballers FC Kairat players FC Midtjylland players 2004 Copa América players 2007 Copa América players Pan American Games medalists in football Pan American Games silver medalists for Brazil Copa América-winning players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Campeonato Brasileiro Série B players Russian Premier League players Chinese Super League players Ligue 1 players Süper Lig players Danish Superliga players Brazilian expatriate footballers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in China Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Russia Expatriate footballers in Russia Expatriate footballers in China Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Monaco Expatriate footballers in Monaco Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate footballers in Turkey Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Expatriate footballers in Denmark Footballers from Rio de Janeiro (city) Footballers at the 2003 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2003 Pan American Games