Charles Dias de Oliveira (born 4 April 1984), known simply as Charles, 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 lea ...

who played as a striker. He spent most of his career in Spain, representing clubs in

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

and

Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: second division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish ...

after starting out at

Pontevedra Pontevedra (, ) is a city in the autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, in northwestern Spain. It is the capital of both the ''Pontevedra (comarca), Comarca'' and Province of Pontevedra, and the capital of the Rías Baixas. It is als ...

. In the top flight, he achieved figures of 208 games and 57 goals over seven seasons.

Club career

Born in

Belém Belém (; Portuguese for Bethlehem; initially called Nossa Senhora de Belém do Grão-Pará, in English Our Lady of Bethlehem of Great Pará), often called Belém of Pará, is the capital and largest city of the state of Pará in the north of B ...

Pará Pará () is a Federative units of Brazil, state of Brazil, located in northern Brazil and traversed by the lower Amazon River. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins (state), Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas (Brazilian st ...

, Charles started playing football with

Santos FC Santos Futebol Clube () is a Brazilian sports club based in Vila Belmiro, a ''bairro'' in the city of Santos, São Paulo, Santos. It plays in the Campeonato Paulista, the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo's premier State football lea ...

, then completed his development with

Tuna Luso Brasileira Tuna Luso Brasileira, commonly referred to as Tuna Luso, is a Brazilian professional football club based in Belém, Pará Pará () is a Federative units of Brazil, state of Brazil, located in northern Brazil and traversed by the lower Amazon ...

still in his country and

C.D. Feirense Clube Desportivo Feirense, commonly known as CD Feirense or just Feirense, is a Portuguese association football, football club based in Santa Maria da Feira. Founded on 18 March 1918, Feirense play in the LigaPro, the second tier of football in ...

in Portugal. He started his senior career with the latter club, competing in both the

second The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of U ...

and third divisions. In the summer of 2004, Charles moved to Spain, signing with

Pontevedra CF Pontevedra Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team in Pontevedra, in the autonomous community of Galicia. Founded on 16 October 1941 it currently plays in , holding home matches at '' Estadio Municipal de Pasarón'', with a capacity o ...

in the

. He made his league debut on 28 August in a 0–1 home loss against

Polideportivo Ejido Poli Ejido 2012 Sociedad Deportiva was a Spanish football team based in El Ejido, Province of Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1969 and dissolved in 2012, it held home matches at '' Estadio Municipal Santo Domingo'' ...

, being

sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...

after only three minutes on the pitch. Charles spent the following five seasons with the

Galicians Galicians ( or ''pobo galego''; ) are an ethnic group primarily residing in Galicia, northwest Iberian Peninsula. Historical emigration resulted in populations in other parts of Spain, Europe, and the Americas. Galicians possess distinct cu ...

in the

. In his last he led them to the

promotion playoffs Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

after scoring 15 goals in the

regular season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of S ...

, but they eventually fell short. In early July 2010, Charles signed for second-tier

Córdoba CF Córdoba Club de Fútbol (), is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Córdoba, Andalusia, Córdoba, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1954 after the dissolution of RCD Córdoba. Currently it plays ...

as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

. He again netted 15 times in his first campaign, notably grabbing braces in wins against

Xerez CD Xerez Club Deportivo S. A. D. is a Spanish association football, football club based in the city of Jerez de la Frontera. It was founded in 1947 and plays in . History Due to the link between Jerez de la Frontera and the United Kingdom created b ...

(3–1 away) and

Albacete Balompié Albacete Balompié is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Albacete, in the autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha. Founded on 5 July 1939, it currently plays in Segunda División, the second tier of Spanish foo ...

(5–1, home). Charles joined

UD Almería Unión Deportiva Almería, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish professional football club based in Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded on 26 July 1989 and known as ''Almería Club de Fútbol'' until 2001 ...

– also in

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

– for the 2012–13 season, after engaging in extensive and fruitless conversations with Córdoba to renew his contract. On 2 December 2012 he scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

past

Racing de Santander Real Racing Club de Santander, S.A.D. (), also known as Racing de Santander () or simply Racing, is a football club based in Santander, Spain, Santander, Cantabria, Spain, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spani ...

in a 4–3 away win and, already fully reconverted as a striker after having started his career as a winger, was crowned the competition's

Pichichi Trophy In Spanish Association football, football, the Pichichi Trophy () is awarded by the sports newspaper ''Marca (newspaper), Marca'' to the top goalscorer of each La Liga season. Named after the Athletic Bilbao striker Pichichi (footballer), Rafael ...

at 27 goals (plus five in the playoffs) to help his team back to

after two years. On 27 June 2013, Charles penned a four-year contract with

RC Celta de Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta Vigo, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues), the club was fou ...

, as a replacement for

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

-bound

Iago Aspas Iago Aspas Juncal (; born 1 August 1987) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a striker for La Liga club Celta, which he captains. He has spent most of his career with Celta, appearing in 524 official games across 16 seasons and ...

. He scored in his top-flight debut at the age of 29, in a 2–2 home draw against

RCD Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as RCD Espanyol, is a Spanish professional sports club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The club competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spa ...

. Charles was the author of the first-ever goal at the new San Mamés Stadium on 16 September 2013, but in a 3–2 loss to

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club (; ), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao (), or simply Athletic, is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Southern Basque Country, Basque Country, Spain. They are known ...

. He took his league tally to seven on 11 January of the following year, netting a brace to help the hosts come from behind and defeat

Valencia CF Valencia Club de Fútbol, S. A. D. (; ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF or simply Valencia, is a Spanish professional Association football, football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top tier of the Spani ...

2–1. Charles scored both goals in the 2–0 home victory over

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

on 11 May 2014, which ended his opponents chances of winning the league. On 24 June 2015, he signed a two-year deal with fellow top-division

Málaga CF Málaga Club de Fútbol (, ''Málaga Football Club''), or simply Málaga, is a club based in Málaga, Andalusia, Spain, who compete in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, Spanish league system, following the ...

. On 3 October 2015, in matchday seven, Charles netted all of his side's goals – also their first of the new season – to help defeat

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad ( ; ''Royal Society'') in English, and Erreala or Reala in Basque language, Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Donostia / San Sebastián, ...

3–1 at the

La Rosaleda Stadium Estadio La Rosaleda (; literally The Rose Garden) is a football stadium in the city of Málaga, in Andalusia, southern Spain. It is the home stadium of Málaga CF in Segunda División and was previously that of Club Deportivo Málaga, of which M ...

. In July 2017 he joined

SD Eibar Sociedad Deportiva Eibar (in ) is a Spanish football league teams, Spanish professional football club based in Eibar, Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country. Founded on 30 November 1940, the men’s te ...

also from the main division, agreeing to a one-year contract on a free transfer. On 31 July 2020, the 36-year-old Charles returned to Pontevedra. Three years later, following the club's

relegation Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...

Segunda Federación Segunda Federación, previously called Segunda RFEF, also officially known as Segunda B, is the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system containing 90 teams divided into five groups. It is administered by the Royal Spanish Football Fede ...

, he retired.

Personal life

Charles' father,

Careca Antônio de Oliveira Filho (born 5 October 1960), better known as Careca (), is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a forward. During his career, Careca played for several clubs, most notably with Italian side Napoli. He ...

, was also a footballer. A

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

, he played for

Paysandu Sport Club Paysandu Sport Club, commonly referred to as Paysandu, is a Brazilian professional club based in Belém, Pará founded on 2 February 1914. It competes in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série B, the second tier of Brazilian football, as well as in th ...

, Santos and

Clube do Remo Clube do Remo, commonly referred to as Remo, is a Brazilian professional club based in Belém, Pará founded on 5 February 1905. It competes in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série B, the second tier of Brazilian football, as well as in the Campeon ...

before moving to Portugal in 1987. Charles was cousin to two other footballers, Igor de Souza and

Yuri de Souza Yuri de Souza Fonseca (born 8 August 1982), known simply as Yuri, is a Brazilian former footballer who played as a forward. He also held Portuguese citizenship, and spent the majority of his professional career in Portugal and Spain, mainly wit ...

. They too were forwards and also spent several seasons in Portugal and Spain, also representing Pontevedra.

Career statistics

Honours

Feirense *

Segunda Divisão : : The Segunda Divisão Portuguesa ( English: ''Portuguese Second Division'') was a football league situated at the third level of the Portuguese football league system. The division had previously been the second level of the Portuguese pyrami ...

: 2002–03 Individual *

(

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Charles 1984 births Living people 21st-century Brazilian sportsmen Brazilian men's footballers Footballers from Belém Men's association football forwards Liga Portugal 2 players Segunda Divisão players C.D. Feirense players La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Primera Federación players Segunda Federación players Pontevedra CF footballers Córdoba CF players UD Almería players RC Celta de Vigo players Málaga CF players SD Eibar footballers Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Spain