Guilherme de Souza (born 18 January 1990), commonly known as Choco, is a Brazilian

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 ...

. He normally plays in the

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

position, but can also play on the right side of

midfield Midfield is the part of a sports field that lies approximately in the center. In American football, association football (soccer) and field hockey, it is the area in and around the center circle, as well as the players who occupy that region. In ...

Career

Ludogorets Razgrad

Choco went through the youth academy of

Santos Futebol Clube Santos Futebol Clube (), commonly known simply as Santos or Santos FC and nicknamed the ''Peixe'' (; "fish"), is a Brazilian sports club based in Vila Belmiro, a ''bairro'' in the city of Santos. It is also the team with the most goals in ...

. On 7 January 2011, he moved from Santos to Bulgarian side Ludogorets Razgrad, signing a three and a half-year contract and becoming the team's first foreign signing of the Domuschiev era. Choco scored his first goal for Ludogorets on 15 October 2011, netting the second goal in a 4–1 home win over

Minyor Pernik FC Minyor ( bg, ФК Миньор) is a football club in Pernik, Bulgaria, that competes in the Second League, the second tier of Bulgarian football. Founded in 1919 as SC Krakra, the club's home ground since 1954 has been Stadion Minyor. The c ...

. He was primarily a starter during the 2011–12 season, being a key part of Petev's team that won its first top division title, but made only very sporadic appearances over the course of the 2012–13 championship. He continued to feature only on rare occasions during the 2013–14 (though he did play a part in the

2013–14 UEFA Europa League group stage The group stage of the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League was played from 19 September to 12 December 2013. A total of 48 teams competed in the group stage. Draw The draw was held on 30 August 2013, 13:00 CEST (UTC+2), at the Grimaldi Forum, Monaco. Th ...

, appearing in three of their victories) and 2014–15 campaigns (not being registered for the

2014–15 UEFA Champions League group stage The 2014–15 UEFA Champions League group stage was played from 16 September to 10 December 2014. A total of 32 teams competed in the group stage to decide the 16 places in the knockout phase of the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League. Draw The draw w ...

). Choco left the team by mutual consent at the end of November 2014. He stated that Ludogorets will always remain in his heart. Following his release from Ludogorets, Choco attracted interest from the

Kazakhstan Premier League The Kazakhstan Professional Football League ( kk, Қазақстан Премьер Лигасы, ''Qazaqstan Premer Ligasy''), commonly referred to as Kazakh Premier League or simply Premier League, is the top division of football in Kazakhstan ...

, but eventually he didn't complete any move there.

APOEL

On 27 May 2015, Choco signed a two-year contract, with the option of a further season with

APOEL APOEL FC ( el, ΑΠΟΕΛ; short for Αθλητικός Ποδοσφαιρικός Όμιλος Ελλήνων Λευκωσίας, ''Athletikos Podosferikos Omilos Ellinon Lefkosias'', literally "Athletic Football Club of Greeks of Nicosia") ...

from

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

. His contract with APOEL was terminated in December 2015, leaving the team after only seven months and without managing to appear in any official match.

Sampaio Corrêa

On 23 December 2015, he moved back to his country and signed a contract with the

Campeonato Brasileiro Série B The Campeonato Brasileiro Série B is commonly referred to as the Brasileirão Série B (Série B), and until 2022 was officially called Brasileirão Sportingbet by sponsorship reasons. It is the second tier of the Brazilian football league system ...

club Sampaio Corrêa.

Lokomotiv Plovdiv

On 19 December 2016, Choco signed with

Bulgarian First League The First Professional Football League ( bg, Първа професионална футболна лига, Parva Profesionalna Futbolna Liga), also known as the Bulgarian First League or Parva Liga, currently known as the efbet League for spon ...

club

Lokomotiv Plovdiv PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv ( bg, ПФК Локомотив Пловдив), commonly known as Loko Plovdiv, is a Bulgarian professional football club based in Plovdiv. Lokomotiv's home ground is the Lokomotiv Stadium which is situated in Lauta Park ...

. In May 2017, his contract was terminated by mutual consent.

Sūduva Marijampolė

On 5 September 2017, Choco signed with

A Lyga The A Lyga is the top division of professional football in Lithuania. The A Lyga is an abbreviation of Aukščiausia lyga meaning Highest League. It is organized by Lithuanian Football Federation LFF ( lt, Lietuvos Futbolo Federacija). The Aukš� ...

club Sūduva Marijampolė.

Return to Ludogorets

In July 2020 Choco returned to Ludogorets, but this time he signed with their double – Ludogorets Razgrad II, to help the young players.

FK Kauno Žalgiris

In January 2021 he returned back to Lithuania and became a member of

FK Kauno Žalgiris Futbolo klubas Kauno Žalgiris (''Football club Kauno Žalgiris'') is a professional football club based in Kaunas, Lithuania, that competes in the A lyga, the top tier of Lithuania. The club was founded as FM Spyris Kaunas in 2004, became the ...

Career statistics

International career

On 26 October 2011, Choco received a

Bulgarian passport A Bulgarian passport ( bg, Български паспорт, Bŭlgarski pasport) is an international travel document issued to nationals of Bulgaria, and may also serve as proof of Bulgarian nationality law, Bulgarian citizenship. Besides enabl ...

and potentially became able to play for

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

Honours

Club

; Ludogorets * Bulgarian A Group: 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14 *

Bulgarian Cup The Bulgarian Cup ( bg, Купа на България, Kupa na Bulgaria) is a Bulgarian annual football competition. It is the country's main cup competition and all officially registered Bulgarian football teams take part in it. The tournament ...

: 2011–12, 2013–14 *

Bulgarian Supercup The Bulgarian Supercup ( bg, Суперкупа на България) is the trophy won in a football match held between the football club that has won the Bulgarian first football division in the season that ended in the year of the match and ...

: 2012, 2014 ;Sūduva *

: 2017

References

External links

APOEL official profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Choco 1990 births Living people Brazilian footballers Brazilian expatriate footballers Association football fullbacks Sport Club Corinthians Paulista players Santos FC players Red Bull Brasil players PFC Ludogorets Razgrad players APOEL FC players Sampaio Corrêa Futebol Clube players Associação Olímpica de Itabaiana players FC Montana players PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv players FK Sūduva Marijampolė players Esporte Clube Juventude players Ituano FC players FC Lokomotiv 1929 Sofia players PFC Ludogorets Razgrad II players FK Riteriai players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Second Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Cypriot First Division players A Lyga players Brazilian emigrants to Bulgaria Naturalised citizens of Bulgaria Expatriate footballers in Bulgaria Expatriate footballers in Cyprus Expatriate footballers in Lithuania Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Lithuania Footballers from São Paulo (state)