Vítor Rodrigues Saba (born 11 July 1990) is a former 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 le ...

who played as an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, 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 #Cent ...

and last played for

Hong Kong Premier League The Hong Kong Premier League () is a Hong Kong professional football league organised by the Hong Kong Football Association. It is currently sponsored by BOC Life and officially known as BOC Life Hong Kong Premier League (). The inaugural seaso ...

team,

Eastern SC Eastern Athletic Association Football Team Limited, also known as Eastern Sports Club (), is a Hong Kong professional sports club whose association football, football section competes in the Hong Kong Premier League, the top flight of Footbal ...

Club career

Born in Sukakerta, Saba arrived in

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 ...

's youth team at the age of 10. In 2007, he joined

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 t ...

's youth team and was promoted to the professional team in 2010. Saba made his professional debut on 25 September 2010, as a first-half substitute for

Juan ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, t ...

, playing as

left back 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 ...

in a

Brazilian Série A Brazilian commonly refers to: * Something of, from or relating to Brazil * Brazilian Portuguese, the dialect of the Portuguese language used mostly in Brazil * Brazilians, the people (citizens) of Brazil, or of Brazilian descent Brazilian may also ...

1–3 loss to

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 ...

at Engenhão Stadium. After loans to Brazilian state league sides

Macaé Macaé () is a municipality located in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro, 180 km northeast of the state capital. It is the birthplace of the 13th president of Brazil, Washington Luís. Location Macaé is generally considered to be th ...

, Vitória and Boavista in 2011 and 2012 proved unsuccessful, with Saba failing to make an appearance at either club, he returned to Flamengo. On 14 August 2012, Saba transferred to Italian

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie Balkrishna Industries, BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 ...

club

Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo. ...

. During his two-season stint, Saba made 35 appearances (including 2

Coppa Italia The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since. History The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...

matches) and scored 13 goals. On 20 June 2014, Australian

A-League A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...

club

Western Sydney Wanderers Western Sydney Wanderers Football Club (colloquially known as Western Sydney, or simply as Wanderers) is an Australian professional soccer club based in the Western Sydney region of Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier ...

signed Saba on a two-year contract. Saba made his first appearance for the club in the first leg of the

2014 AFC Champions League The 2014 AFC Champions League was the 33rd edition of the top-level Asian club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 12th under the current AFC Champions League title. Guangzhou Evergrande were the defe ...

quarter-final against Chinese club

Guangzhou Evergrande Guangzhou Football Club, formerly known as Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao Football Club, is a professional Chinese football club that participates in the Chinese Super League under the license of the Chinese Football Association. The team is based ...

, with the player also appearing in the 2014 AFC Champions League Final. In the

2014 FIFA Club World Cup The 2014 FIFA Club World Cup (officially known as the FIFA Club World Cup Morocco 2014 presented by Toyota for sponsorship reasons) was the 11th edition of the FIFA Club World Cup, a FIFA-organised international club football tournament between ...

, Saba scored at the 89th minute against

ES Sétif Entente Sportive Sétifienne ( ar, الوفاق الرياضي السطايفي), known as Entente de Sétif, commonly referred to as ES Sétif or ESS for short, is an Algerian professional football club based in Sétif. The club was founded in ...

of Algeria to level the scoreline 2–2. On January 26, 2015, Saba left Western Sydney Wanderers, later attributing his departure to a poor relationship with the manager,

Tony Popovic Tony Popovic (born 4 July 1973) is an Australian association football manager and former player. He is the current manager of A-League club Melbourne Victory. As a player Popovic's usual position was centre-back. Starting in 1989 at Sydney Un ...

. On 2 February 2015, Saba signed with Italian second tier club

F.C. Crotone Football Club Crotone S.r.l., commonly referred to as Crotone, is an Italian football club based in Crotone, Calabria. They play in the third division of Italian football, the Serie C. Founded in 20 settembre 1910, it holds its home games at Stadi ...

on a free transfer. In June, he received an offer from his old club Botafogo. In February 2016, he switched to the Italian third tier with A.C. Siena after a stint with Greek club

AEL Kalloni F.C. Akadimia Podosfairou Lekanopediou Kallonis, commonly referred to Kalloni, was a Greece, Greek association football club based in Kalloni, Lesbos. They have competed in the Super League Greece from 2013 to 2016. History The club was established in ...

After a stint with Bahrani club

Al-Muharraq SC Al-Muharraq Sports Club ( ar, نادي المحرق الرياضي) is a Bahraini professional football club based in Muharraq. It is one of the oldest sports clubs in the Arabian Peninsula. Al-Muharraq Sports Club has won the Bahraini Premier ...

, he joined

Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (, en, First Division) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie and with the third-level Tweede Divisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as the ...

(Dutch second tier) club

Fortuna Sittard Fortuna Sittard (; li, Fortuna Zitterd ) is a football club in Sittard, Netherlands. The club currently plays its football in the 12,500 capacity Fortuna Sittard Stadion and features in the Eredivisie. The club was established through a merger ...

on a one-year deal on 27 January 2017. On 4 July 2017, Saba returned to Asia to continue his career by signing with Hong Kong club

. On 17 April 2018, Saba confirmed via his Instagram account that he would not return for the following season. Vitor Saba announced his retirement from football on 26 January 2019 citing heart-related health issues.

Honours

;

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 ...

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 ...

Club statistics

statistics are included in season ending during group stages (i.e. ACL 2014 and A-League season 2013–14 etc.)

References

External links

Player profile
@ Flamengo
Player profile
@ Flapédia * {{DEFAULTSORT:Saba, Vitor Brazilian men's footballers CR Flamengo footballers Macaé Esporte Futebol Clube players Esporte Clube Vitória players Boavista Sport Club players Brescia Calcio players Western Sydney Wanderers FC players FC Crotone players AEL Kalloni F.C. players ACR Siena 1904 players Fortuna Sittard players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Campeonato Brasileiro Série B players Serie B players A-League Men players Super League Greece players Serie C players Eerste Divisie players Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate men's soccer players in Australia Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Men's association football midfielders Eastern Sports Club footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Hong Kong Footballers from Rio de Janeiro (city) 1990 births Living people Al-Muharraq SC players Expatriate men's footballers in Bahrain