Gerlem Willian de Jesus Almeida (born August 7, 1984), known as just Gerlem Willian, 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 ...

Career

Early career

Gerlem Willian was born on 7 August 1984 in

Linhares Linhares is the name of a municipality in the state of Espírito Santo, Brazil, north of the state capital, Vitória. It is the largest municipality by area in the state, at 9,501.6 km², and has a population of 176,688 people (2020). The ...

Espírito Santo Espírito Santo (, , ; ) is a state in southeastern Brazil. Its capital is Vitória, and its largest city is Serra. With an extensive coastline, the state hosts some of the country's main ports, and its beaches are significant tourist attra ...

, Brazil, playing on 15 June 2003 his first Série A game, appearing for

Bahia Bahia ( , , ; meaning "bay") is one of the 26 Federative units of Brazil, states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo (sta ...

when coach

Evaristo Evaristo is both a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name: * Evaristo Avalos (born 1933), Mexican equestrian * Evaristo Barrera (1911–1982), Argentine football striker * Evaristo Baschenis (1617–1677), Ital ...

sent him on the field at half-time in a 2–1 home win over Vitória. In 2005 he went to play in the Portuguese second league for

Estoril Estoril () is a town in the Municipality of Cascais, Portugal, on the Portuguese Riviera. It is a tourist destination, with luxury hotels, beaches, and the Casino Estoril. It has been home to numerous royal families and celebrities, and has host ...

where in his first season he showed an appetite for goal, scoring seven goals in 20 matches. In the middle of the following season, Gerlem had to leave the team after having a conflict with the coach.

Farul Constanța and Vaslui

In 2007, Farul Constanța paid 100.000€ to Estoril in order to transfer Gerlem. He made his debut in the first tier of the Romanian league,

Liga I The Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1, is a Romanian professional league for men's association football clubs. Currently sponsored by betting company Superbet, it is officially known as the SuperLiga. It is the country's top ...

on 14 April 2007 when coach Basarab Panduru sent him on the field in the 68th minute to replace

Cosmin Băcilă Cosmin Nicolae Băcilă (born 10 September 1983) is a Romanian former professional footballer. On 18 September 2011, Băcilă suffered a broken left tibia and fibula following a tackle by Florin Gardoș in a match between Pandurii and Steaua B ...

in a 2–1 home loss with

Rapid București Rapids are sections of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep gradient, causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence. Rapids are hydrological features between a ''run'' (a smoothly flowing part of a stream) and a '' cascade' ...

. He scored his first goal in the league on 13 May when he closed the score in a 2–0 win over Politehnica Iași. In the following season on 21 September, Gerlem received a red card in a game with

Pandurii Târgu Jiu The uprising of 1821 was a social and political rebellion in Wallachia, which was at the time a tributary state of the Ottoman Empire. It originated as a movement against the Phanariote administration, with backing from the more conservative bo ...

because of an altercation with Constant Djakpa, after which he got in a verbal conflict with one of the assistant referees, for which he received a ban for the following eight games. After the ban, he scored three goals in three victories against Universitatea Craiova,

Vaslui Vaslui (), a city in eastern Romania, is the seat of Vaslui County, in the historical region of Western Moldavia. The city administers five villages: Bahnari, Brodoc, Moara Grecilor, Rediu, and Viișoara. History Archaeological surveys indicate ...

and

Dacia Mioveni Clubul Sportiv Mioveni (; ''Mioveni Sports Club''), commonly known as CS Mioveni, or simply as Mioveni, is a Romanian professional football club based in Mioveni, Argeș County, currently playing in the Liga I. They were founded in 2000 as ''A ...

until the end of the season. In the first half of the 2008–09 season he scored a goal in a loss with "U" Craiova and the only goal in a win with Vaslui with a spectacular shot from outside the penalty box, being named Farul's footballer of the year in 2008. In the second half of the season, Gerlem scored one goal in a 2–0 win over Gaz Metan Mediaș but the team relegated. Following Farul's relegation, Gerlem moved to Vaslui for a transfer fee of 700.000€. In his first season, he scored once in each of the three victories against

Astra Ploiești Asociația Fotbal Club Astra Giurgiu (), commonly known as Astra Giurgiu or simply Astra, was a Romanian football club based in the city of Giurgiu, Giurgiu County. Founded in 1921 in Ploiești as ''Clubul Sportiv Astra-Română'', it spent the m ...

Unirea Urziceni Asociația Sportivă Fotbal Club Urziceni, commonly known as FC Urziceni (), is a Romanian professional football club based in Urziceni, Ialomița County which currently plays in fourth division, Ialomița County. Unirea became national champion ...

and Pandurii and one in a loss with Steaua București, also he started playing in European competitions, helping ''The Yellow-Greens'' eliminate

Omonia Nicosia Athletic Club Omonia Nicosia ( el, Αθλητικός Σύλλογος Oμόνοιας Λευκωσίας, ΑΣΟΛ; ''Athlitikos Sillogos Omonias Lefkosias'', ''ASOL''), commonly known as Omonia Nicosia, or simply Omonia (" Harmony"; also tran ...

in the third qualifying round of the

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

, being eliminated by

AEK Athens A.E.K ( el, AEK , formally Αθλητική Ένωσις Κωνσταντινουπόλεως; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople''), known as A.E.K, is a major Greece, Greek multi-sport club based in Nea ...

in the play-off. In the next two seasons he played rarely, scoring only one goal in August 2011 in a 2–1 away win over FC Brașov, also he helped the team together with coach

Viorel Hizo Viorel Doru Hizo (born 6 February 1947) is a Romanian football manager. Coaching career Hizo coached several top teams in Romania, his first job as head coach was with his hometown club Inter Sibiu capturing the Balkans Cup title in 1991. He ...

eliminate

Sparta Prague ) but refer to Spartans as "''Rudí''" ( en, The Dark Reds/The Maroons).'' Letenští'' , ground = Generali Česká pojišťovna Arena , capacity = 19,416 , clubname = Sparta Prague , image = Sparta Praha logo.png , image_size = 160px , fu ...

and reach the 2011–12 Europa League group stage where he played only one game, a 2–0 away loss in front of

FC Zürich Fussballclub Zürich, commonly abbreviated to FC Zürich or simply FCZ, is a Swiss football club based in Zürich. The club was founded in 1896 and has won the Swiss Super League 13 times and the Swiss Cup 10 times. The most recent titles a ...

. Gerlem made his last Liga I appearance on 4 December 2011, playing for Vaslui in a 1–0 home win with Oțelul Galați, having a total of 83 matches with 12 goals scored in the competition, also having six games without scoring in the

Late career

In 2012, Gerlem returned to Brazil, playing in the lower leagues. He had a brief return to Europe when in 2013 he went to play in the Swedish top-league for Syrianska, making his debut when coach Özcan Melkemichel sent him on the field in the 73rd minute in order to replace Anders Bååth in a 6–1 away loss in front of

IFK Norrköping Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Norrköping, more commonly known as IFK Norrköping or simply Norrköping, is a Swedish professional football club based in Norrköping. The club is affiliated to Östergötlands Fotbollförbund and play their ...

, the team relegating by the end of the season, with him making only seven appearances but continuing to play for them in the second league. After playing in 2014 for

AFC United Athletic Football Club Eskilstuna, also known as AFC Eskilstuna or simply AFC, is a Swedish football club located in Eskilstuna. The club has previously been known under the names FC Café Opera and Väsby United before switching ownership and t ...

in the Swedish third league, Gerlem returned to play in the Brazilian lower leagues until the end of his career.

Statistics

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Willian, Gerlem 1984 births People from Linhares Living people Brazilian men's footballers Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Men's association football forwards Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Romania Expatriate men's footballers in Sweden Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Campeonato Brasileiro Série B players Syrianska FC players Allsvenskan players Superettan players Liga I players Esporte Clube Bahia players G.D. Estoril Praia players FCV Farul Constanța players CS Sporting Vaslui players Esporte Clube Vitória players Linhares Futebol Clube players Macaé Esporte Futebol Clube players AFC Eskilstuna players Colo Colo de Futebol e Regatas players Rio Branco Atlético Clube players Espírito Santo Futebol Clube players Footballers from Espírito Santo