Walace Souza Silva (born 4 April 1995), or simply Walace (), 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 le ...

who plays as a defensive midfielder for and

captains 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 ...

club Udinese.

Club career

Grêmio

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 ...

, Walace started his youth career with the academy of amateur Simões Filho Futebol Clube. While playing in a cup, he caught the eye of a scout of

Avaí Futebol Clube Avaí is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 milli ...

and subsequently joined the club in the next year. However, he was soon loaned to the under-23 team of

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 ...

in the same year. In 2013, Walace joined the under-18 team of Grêmio. Walace was promoted to the senior squad of the club in 2014 by manager

Enderson Moreira Enderson Alves Moreira (born 28 September 1971), known as Enderson Moreira, is a Brazilian football manager, currently in charge of Sport Recife. Managerial career Born in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Moreira had a Physical Education graduation ...

. On 27 April, he made his first team debut against Atlético Mineiro. In August, he made his first start for the club in a 2–0 defeat against

Sport Club Internacional Sport Club Internacional (), commonly known as Internacional or simply Inter, is a Brazilian professional Association football, football club based in Porto Alegre. They play in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, Série A, the first divisio ...

, where he was assigned to mark

Andrés D'Alessandro Andrés Nicolás D'Alessandro (born 15 April 1981) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He has played top-flight football in Argentina, Germany, England, Spain, Brazil and Uruguay. He won an Olym ...

. At the end of the season, media reports suggested that Italian club

SSC Napoli Società Sportiva Calcio Napoli, commonly referred to as Napoli (), is an Football in Italy, Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in the city of Naples ( it, Napoli, nap, Napule), Camp ...

, Portuguese clubs

FC Porto Futebol Clube do Porto, MHIH, OM (), commonly known as FC Porto or simply Porto, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Porto. It is best known for the professional football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portu ...

and S.L. Benfica expressed their interest to sign him. After the appointment of Roger Machado as the club's manager in 2015, Walace became an undisputed starter for the club. In June, Grêmio rejected an offer from Swiss club

FC Basel Fussball Club Basel 1893, widely known as FC Basel, FCB, or just Basel, is a Swiss football club based in Basel, in the Canton of Basel-Stadt. Formed in 1893, the club has been Swiss national champions 20 times, Swiss Cup winners 13 times, and ...

to secure his services. On 5 October, his contract was extended till 2018. In July 2016, he scored his first league goal in a 2–1 victory over Figueirense Futebol Clube.

Hamburger SV

On 31 January 2017, Walace moved to German club Hamburger SV, signing a contract until 2021. Eleven days later, he scored his first goal in a 3–0 victory against RB Leipzig.

Hannover 96

In June 2018, Walace joined league rivals

Hannover 96 Hannoverscher Sportverein von 1896, commonly referred to as Hannover 96 (), Hannover, HSV or simply 96, is a German professional football club based in the city of Hanover, Lower Saxony. They played in the Bundesliga for a total of 30 years betwe ...

on a four-year contract until 2022. The transfer fee paid to Hamburger SV was estimated at €6 million with 10% of the fee going to former club Grêmio.

International career

In June 2016, Walace was called by Dunga to the senior international squad for the

2016 Copa America Sixteen or 16 may refer to: *16 (number), the natural number following 15 and preceding 17 *one of the years 16 BC, AD 16, 1916, 2016 Films * ''Pathinaaru'' or ''Sixteen'', a 2010 Tamil film * ''Sixteen'' (1943 film), a 1943 Argentine film dir ...

as a replacement for Luiz Gustavo (who left the squad citing personal reasons). He featured once in the tournament, in a 7–1 victory against

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

. In the next month, Walace was called to the Brazil under-23 squad for the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

to be held at the month of August. He came as a replacement for

Fred Fred may refer to: People * Fred (name), including a list of people and characters with the name Mononym * Fred (cartoonist) (1931–2013), pen name of Fred Othon Aristidès, French * Fred (footballer, born 1949) (1949–2022), Frederico Ro ...

, whose club

FC Shakhtar Donetsk Football Club Shakhtar Donetsk ( uk, Футбольний клуб «Шахтар» Донецьк , short nickname "miners") is a Ukrainian professional football club from the city of Donetsk. In 2014, due to the War in Donbass, the club was ...

refused to release him for the tournament. He featured four times in the

tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

, with his side emerging as the winner.

Career statistics

Honours

Club

Grêmio *

Copa do Brasil The Copa do Brasil ( en, Brazil Cup) is a knockout football competition played by 92 teams, representing all 26 Brazilian states plus the Federal District. It is the Brazilian domestic cup and the Brazilian equivalent of the FA Cup, Taça de ...

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 ...

International

Brazil *

Olympic Gold Medal Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

References

External links

Walace profile
Portal Oficial do Grêmio. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Walace 1995 births Living people Footballers from Salvador, Bahia Men's association football midfielders Brazilian men's footballers Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Brazil men's youth international footballers Brazil men's international footballers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Bundesliga players Serie A players Grêmio FBPA players Hamburger SV players Hannover 96 players Udinese Calcio players Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Copa América Centenario players Olympic footballers for Brazil Footballers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Brazil Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in football