Wendel Geraldo Maurício e Silva, commonly known as Wendel, (born 8 April 1982) is a Brazilian former 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 a

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 ...

Club career

Wendel started his career with

Cruzeiro Esporte Clube Cruzeiro Esporte Clube (), known simply as Cruzeiro, is a Brazilian sports club based in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais. Although they compete in a number of different sports, Cruzeiro is mostly known for its association football team. It plays ...

in 1998 with the youth team. By 2000 he began featuring in some matches for the senior side. In 2005, he was loaned out to Santos on an 18-month deal. After a successful spell there, Wendel secured a move to

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...

from Cruzeiro in August 2006.

Bordeaux

Soon after he signed for Bordeaux, he broke into the first team and by the end of his first season he had played a total of 29 league games with five goals. He was much more active in his second season, scoring 12 league goals to go along with seven assists in 36 league games. The 2008–09 started brightly for Wendel as he started every game. In the season opener against Caen he had a free-kick on target in the early minutes, had an open shot on target and then set up

Yoann Gourcuff Yoann Miguel Gourcuff (born 11 July 1986) is a French former professional footballer who played mainly as an attacking midfielder. He could also be utilized as a withdrawn striker, and was described as a "playmaker of real quality" who "is an a ...

to score from outside the area. Then against Nantes he set up a goal. After four games he finally opened his account by scoring against Nice, following this up by scoring again three days later against

Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very cl ...

in a 2–2 draw. Bordeaux went on to win

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...

, the club's first title triumph since 1999 and added the

Coupe de la Ligue The Coupe de la Ligue (), known outside France as the French League Cup, was a Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in Football in France, French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel. The tournament was est ...

trophy in 2009 under the management of

Laurent Blanc Laurent Robert Blanc (born 19 November 1965) is a French professional football manager and former player who played as a centre-back, and is currently the manager of Ligue 1 club Lyon. He has the nickname ''Le Président'', which was given to him ...

. In the Coupe de la Ligue Final, Wendel opened the scoring in the third minute against

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by Balkrishna Industries, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions ...

side

Vannes OC Vannes Olympique Club (; commonly referred to as simply Vannes) is a French football club based in Vannes. The club was formed in 1998 as a result of the merger of ''Véloce vannetais'' founded in 1911 and ''FC Vannes'' known before 1991 as ''UCK ...

in an eventual 4–0 triumph for his side. Wendel appeared in 29 games that season, starting 25 of them, and added four goals and nine assists. The 2009–10 campaign for Bordeaux would prove to be less successful, as they could not retain their league or league cup trophies. However, Wendel was very productive in the league from his wide position, scoring 11 goals and adding six assists. The following season proved even more difficult after the departures of

Marouane Chamakh Marouane Chamakh (; ar, مروان الشماخ; born 10 January 1984) is a former professional footballer who played as a forward. He is described as a prototypical target man and is noted for his "link-up play", "tall stature" and "excellen ...

and Gourcuff. Wendel's last appearance for the club came on 29 May 2011, in the final match of the

2010–11 Ligue 1 The 2010–11 Ligue 1 season (known as ''Ligue 1 Orange'' for sponsorship reasons) was the 73rd since its establishment. Entering the season, Marseille were the defending champions. The fixtures were announced on 21 May 2010 and the season began ...

season. He capped his final performance with a goal in a 2–0 victory over

Montpellier HSC Montpellier Hérault Sport Club (), commonly referred to as Montpellier HSC or simply Montpellier, is a French professional football club based in the city of Montpellier in Occitanie. The original club was founded in 1919, while the current i ...

which ensured that Bordeaux finished the season in 7th place.

Al-Ittihad

After five seasons in the southwest of France, Wendel moved on in August 2011. During his time with ''Les Girondins'' he scored 35 goals in 156 Ligue 1 appearances, scoring hat tricks against

Toulouse FC Toulouse Football Club is French professional football club based in Toulouse. The club was founded in 1970 and currently plays in Ligue 1, the premier division of French football. Toulouse plays its home matches at the Stadium de Toulouse lo ...

and PSG. After his departure, he signed for Saudi Arabian side Al-Ittihad.

International career

Wendel was first capped for Brazil at the

2004 CONMEBOL Men Pre-Olympic Tournament The 2004 CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament began on 7 January 2004, and is the 12th CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament The CONMEBOL Preolímpico ( en, Pre-Olympic Tournament) is an international association football event in the South America region or ...

. Wendel received

French nationality French nationality law is historically based on the principles of ''jus soli'' (Latin for "right of soil") and ''jus sanguinis'', according to Ernest Renan's definition, in opposition to the German definition of nationality, ''jus sanguinis'' ( ...

in 2011 and it was reported that he desired to play for

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

,. However, in fact, he is ineligible to play for a national team other than his native Brazil because he only held Brazilian nationality when he represented Brazil.

Career statistics

Correct as of 7 March 2010

Honours

Cruzeiro *

Brazil Cup 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 P ...

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

* South-Minas Cup:

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

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 ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

Campeonato Brasileiro Série A The Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (; English: "Brazilian Championship A Series"), commonly referred to as the Brasileirão (; English: "Big Brazilian"), and also known as Brasileirão Assaí due to sponsorship with Assaí Atacadista, is a Br ...

Santos *

Campeonato Paulista The Campeonato Paulista Série A1, commonly known as Campeonato Paulista, nicknamed Paulistão, is the top-flight professional association football, football league in the Brazilian States of Brazil, state of São Paulo (state), São Paulo. Run b ...

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

Bordeaux *

: 2008–09 *

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

Trophée des Champions The Trophée des Champions (, ) is a French association football trophy contested in an annual match between the champions of Ligue 1 and the winners of the Coupe de France. It is equivalent to the super cups found in many other countries. His ...

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; ...

Al-Shabab *

Saudi Professional League The Saudi Pro League (SPL for short) ( ar, دوري المحترفين السعودي, link=no, ''Dawriyy al-Muḥtarifayni as-Suʿūdī''), known as the Roshn Saudi League (RSL for short) for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of associat ...

: 2011-12 Sport Recife *

Copa do Nordeste Copa do Nordeste (''Cup of the North-East''), also known as Campeonato do Nordeste (''Championship of the North-East'') or Copa Nordeste (''Northeastern Cup''), and sometimes informally referred as Lampions League – in reference to the UEFA Ch ...

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 ...

Campeonato Pernambucano The Campeonato Pernambucano de Futebol (Pernambucan Football Championship, in English) is the football championship of Pernambuco state, Brazil, and is organized by the FPF. The first edition of the Campeonato Pernambucano was played in 1915, a ...

Goiás *

Campeonato Goiano The Campeonato Goiano is the football league of the state of Goiás, Brazil. Format First Division First stage *Teams are divided in two groups of six teams. *Double round-robin, in which all teams home-and-away games against the team fro ...

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 ...

References

External links

* *
Portuguese Liga stats
at LPFP.pt
Brazilian League stats. at Futpedia
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wendel 1982 births Living people Brazilian footballers Association football midfielders Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Primeira Liga players Ligue 1 players Saudi Professional League players Cruzeiro Esporte Clube players C.D. Nacional players Santos FC players FC Girondins de Bordeaux players Ittihad FC players Al-Shabab FC (Riyadh) players CR Vasco da Gama players Sport Club do Recife players Brazilian expatriate footballers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate footballers in France Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Expatriate footballers in Portugal Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Expatriate footballers in Saudi Arabia