Cícero Santos (born 26 August 1984), simply known as Cícero, 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 lea ...

who played as a central or

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

Career

Early career

During his time at Fluminense, Cícero proved himself to be a versatile player. He featured as an attacking midfielder, a defensive midfielder, a wide player and a striker. Cícero featured heavily in

Fluminense Fluminense Football Club () is a Brazilian sports club based in the neighbourhood of Laranjeiras, in Rio de Janeiro, being the oldest football club in the state since its foundation in 1902. It competes in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, th ...

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as Copa Libertadores de América (), is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in South American club football. The tournam ...

Campaign of 2008, scoring vital goals in the group stages, including a beautiful free kick in the 6–0 demolition of

Arsenal de Sarandí Arsenal Fútbol Club (), usually referred as Arsenal de Sarandí , or simply Arsenal, is an Argentine sports club from the Sarandí district of Avellaneda Partido, Greater Buenos Aires. The football team currently plays in Primera Nacional, t ...

at the Maracaña in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

. Cícero was the only ''Flu'' player to convert his penalty kick during the shoot out in the final defeat against

LDU Quito Liga Deportiva Universitaria () is an Ecuadorian professional football club based in Quito. They play in the Serie A, the highest level of the Ecuadorian professional football league. They play their home games at the Estadio Rodrigo Paz Delgad ...

of Ecuador.

Hertha BSC

Cicero made his

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

debut for Hertha on 17 August 2008 against

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a German professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The club currently plays in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German footb ...

. He established himself as a regular, playing all but one game in the 2008–09 season.

São Paulo

After one and half-year playing for

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

, on 1 January 2013, Brazilian press confirmed that Cícero would break his contract with the club for 2013 season.

Santos

On 8 January 2013, Cícero signed a two-year deal with Santos. Cícero finished the

2013 Campeonato Paulista The 2013 Campeonato Paulista de Futebol Profissional da Primeira Divisão - Série A1 (officially the Paulistão Chevrolet 2013 for sponsorship reasons ) was the 112th season of São Paulo's top professional football league. It was won for the 2 ...

as the club's second topscorer, only behind

Neymar Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior (; born 5 February 1992), also known as Neymar Júnior or simply Neymar, is a Brazilian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a left winger, attacking midfielder or Forward (association foo ...

Fluminense

In July 2014, Cícero re-joined

for his third spell at the club.

Return to São Paulo

In December 2016, Cícero has returned to

. After Cícero 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 ...

against PSTC, in a 4–2 winning match valid for

2017 Copa do Brasil The 2017 Copa do Brasil (officially the Copa Continental Pneus do Brasil 2017 for sponsorship reasons) was the 29th edition of the Copa do Brasil football competition. It was held between February 8 and September 27, 2017. The competition was con ...

, coach

Rogério Ceni Rogério Ceni (; born 22 January 1973) is a Brazilian professional Association football, football Coach (sport), coach and former player who is in charge of Esporte Clube Bahia, Bahia. He is considered one of the all-time greatest Brazilian Goalk ...

praised him as a key player of squad. According to Ceni: "He is a 32-year-old player, that adds experience, with a good head game and a good finalization from out of area."

Grêmio

After the sacking of São Paulo manager Rogerio Ceni, Cícero received less playtime, eventually leading to a mutual contract termination. He soon after signed with Grêmio in order to bolster their squad for continental play.

Botafogo

In February 2019, Cícero joined

Botafogo Botafogo (local/standard alternative Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation: ) is a beachfront neighborhood (''bairro'') in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is a mostly upper middle class and small commerce community, and is located between the hills of M ...

on a free transfer.

Career statistics

Honours

Figueirense *

Campeonato Catarinense The Campeonato Catarinense is the top-flight professional state football league in the Brazilian state of Santa Catarina. It is run by the Santa Catarina Football Federation (FCF). History The Catarinense has had different names throughout ...

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

Fluminense *

Copa do Brasil The Copa do Brasil () 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 it is the Brazilian equivalent of the FA Cup, Taça de Portugal, ...

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

São Paulo *

Copa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Sudamericana, also known as Copa Sudamericana (; ), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL, the governing body of football in South America, since 2002. It is the second-most prestigious club com ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

Grêmio *

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

Recopa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Recopa Sudamericana (), also known as Recopa Sudamericana or CONMEBOL Recopa, and simply as Recopa (, ; "Winners' Cup"), is an annual international club Association football, football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1988. It ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cicero 1984 births Living people Copa Sudamericana–winning players Footballers from Espírito Santo Brazilian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Campeonato Brasileiro Série B players Tombense Futebol Clube players Esporte Clube Bahia players Figueirense FC players Fluminense FC players São Paulo FC players Santos FC players Grêmio FBPA players Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas players Bundesliga players Hertha BSC players VfL Wolfsburg players Qatar Stars League players Al-Gharafa SC players Copa Libertadores–winning players Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Qatar Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Qatar People from Castelo, Espírito Santo 21st-century Brazilian sportsmen