Jefferson de Oliveira Galvão, simply known as Jefferson (born 2 January 1983), 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

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

. Having begun his career at Cruzeiro and spent time on loan at

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 ...

, Jefferson then spent four seasons in the Turkish

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), also known as Trendyol Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Turkey and the highest level of the Turkish football league system. In the 2023–2024 season, twen ...

in service of

Trabzonspor Trabzonspor Kulübü is a Turkish professional sports club located in the city of Trabzon, located in Black Sea region, northeastern Turkey. Established in 1967 through the merger of several local clubs, Trabzonspor is one of the most prominent A ...

and

Konyaspor Konyaspor Kulübü (, Konya Sports Club), commonly referred to as Konyaspor, is a Turkish professional football club based in Konya, one of the largest cities in central Anatolia. Due to sponsorship agreements, the club is also officially known ...

before returning to Botafogo. He is one of the eight footballers with the most appearances Botafogo club history, with 459 between the years of 2003 to 2005 and 2009 to 2018. A former world champion at under-20 level, Jefferson made his senior debut for Brazil in 2011 and was named in their squads for two

Copa América The CONMEBOL Copa América (; known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship), often simply called the Copa America, is the top men's quadrennial association football, football tournament contested among list of men's national ass ...

tournaments, the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...

and their victory at the

2013 FIFA Confederations Cup The 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup was the ninth FIFA Confederations Cup, which was held in Brazil from 15 to 30 June 2013 as a prelude to the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The most recent winners of the six continental championships appeared in the tourn ...

Club career

Early career and Brazil

Born in São Vicente,

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 ...

, Jefferson was an amateur sprinter before joining Ferroviária's youth setup in 1995, aged 12. He was a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

during his starts at the club, but was reconverted to goalkeeper in the process. In 1997, Jefferson joined Cruzeiro after a successful trial period. He was called up to the first-team three years later by

Luiz Felipe Scolari Luiz Felipe Scolari (; born 9 November 1948), also known as Felipão ("Big Phil"), is a Brazilian football manager and former player who currently serves as the technical director of Grêmio. Considered to be one of the greatest and most su ...

. In 2003, after committing a number of high-profile mistakes at Cruzeiro, he was loaned to

in the same division.

Turkey

In the summer of 2005, Jefferson joined Turkish

team

in a four-year deal as a replacement for Australian goalkeeper

Michael Petkovic Michael Petkovic (born 16 July 1976) is an Australian former goalkeeper. Club career Petkovic is of Croatian origin and is the brother of former Perth Glory goalkeeper Jason Petkovic. South Melbourne Petkovic started off his career with S ...

. He made his debut abroad on 8 June, starting in a 2–1 home success against

Kayserispor Kayseri Spor Kulübü, commonly known as Kayserispor, and also called Bellona Kayserispor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional football club based in Kayseri. They play their home matches at the RHG Enertürk Enerji Stadium ...

. After three full seasons with Trabzonspor, he moved to

, in the same division, but could not prevent their relegation in his only season.

Botafogo

On 25 August 2009, Jefferson returned to Botafogo on a free transfer. He made his second debut for the club on 13 September, keeping a

clean sheet In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which the losing team fails to score. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usually seen as a result of ...

in a home draw against city rivals

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 ...

. Jefferson appeared in further 14 matches in the season as Botafogo narrowly avoided relegation. On 18 April 2010, he saved a

penalty Penalty, The Penalty, Penalization, Penalisation, Penalize or Penalise may refer to: Sports * Foul (sports) ** Penalty (golf) ** Penalty (gridiron football) ** Penalty (ice hockey) ** Penalty (rugby) ** Penalty (rugby union) ** Penalty kick (assoc ...

from

Adriano Adriano is the form of the Latin given name ''Hadrianus'' commonly used in the Italian language; the form Adrião can be used in the Portuguese language while the form Adrian is used in the English language. Notable people with the name include: ...

, which granted his side's title of Campeonato Carioca. On 28 June 2011, Jefferson signed a contract extension through to the end of 2014. He was also elected the best goalkeeper of that year.

International career

Jefferson was a starter for the Brazil under-20 team which became world champions in 2003, in the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

. In July 2011, he was called up to the main squad ahead of

2011 Copa América The 2011 Campeonato Sudamericano Copa América, better known as the 2011 Copa América or the Copa América 2011 Argentina, was the 43rd edition of the Copa América, the main international association football, football tournament for national ...

, acting as a backup to Júlio César, who started in all matches. On 14 September 2011, he made his first international appearance with the main squad, starting in a 0–0 draw at

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

, for that year's

Superclásico de las Américas The Superclassic of the Americas (, ), was an annual Exhibition game, friendly association football, football match between the national teams of Argentina national football team, Argentina and Brazil national football team, Brazil. Established ...

. Jefferson also started in the second leg, a 2–0 home success. Jefferson was named to the 23-man squad ahead of the

and the

, both on home soil, with Brazil winning the Confederations Cup and reaching the semi-finals in World Cup. Jefferson played in Brazil's 2–0 win over Argentina in the

2014 Superclásico de las Américas The 2014 Superclásico de las Américas – Copa Doctor Nicolás Leoz was the 3rd edition of the Superclásico de las Américas, an annual friendly football match between the national teams of Argentina and Brazil. The match was played at Beijing ...

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

, saving a penalty from

Lionel Messi Lionel Andrés "Leo" Messi (; born 24 June 1987) is an Argentine professional Association football, footballer who plays as a forward (association football), forward for and Captain (association football), captains both Major League Soccer ...

. He was Brazil's starting goalkeeper at the

2015 Copa América The 2015 Copa América was the 44th edition of the Copa América, the main international football tournament for national teams in South America, and took place in Chile between 11 June and 4 July 2015. The competition was organized by CONMEBOL, ...

, playing every minute as they reached the quarter-finals, losing in a

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

against

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

Personal life

Jefferson is known for being a devout

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

. On 22 October 2017, he was the victim of a

carjacking Carjacking is a robbery in which a motor vehicle is taken over.Michael Cherbonneau, "Carjacking," in ''Encyclopedia of Social Problems'', Vol. 1 (SAGE, 2008: ed. Vincent N. Parrillo), pp. 110-11. In contrast to car theft, carjacking is usually i ...

when he was forced from his vehicle at gun point on his way to training 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 ...

. He was unharmed during the incident and his vehicle, a black

Range Rover The Land Rover Range Rover, generally shortened to Range Rover, is a Sport utility vehicle, 4x4 Luxury car, luxury SUV produced by Land Rover, a marque and sub-brand of Jaguar Land Rover, owned by Tata Motors. The Range Rover line was launched ...

, was recovered by police later that day.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Cruzeiro *

Copa Sul-Minas Copa Sul-Minas was a Brazilian football competition that ran between 2000 and 2002, with teams from the three Southern states of Brazil, plus the Southeastern state of Minas Gerais. It is a successor competition to the 1999 Tournament called Copa ...

: 2001, 2002 * Supercampeonato Mineiro: 2002 Botafogo * Rio de Janeiro State League: 2010,

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

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 ...

Taça Guanabara The Taça Guanabara ( English: Guanabara Cup) is an annual football tournament attached to the Campeonato Carioca, the state football league in the Rio de Janeiro state. It has been organized since 1965 by the Rio de Janeiro State Football Fe ...

: 2010,

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

Taça Rio Taça Rio ( English: Rio Cup) is an annual football tournament attached to Campeonato Carioca, the state football league in the Rio de Janeiro state. It has been organized since 1982 by the Rio de Janeiro State Football Federation. It has had ...

: 2010,

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 ...

Campeonato Brasileiro Série B The Campeonato Brasileiro Série B (commonly referred to as the Brasileirão Série B, the Série B or the Brazilian Série B to distinguish it from the Italian and the Ecuadorian Serie B), and currently officially called Brasileirão Série B ...

Brazil *

FIFA Confederations Cup The FIFA Confederations Cup was an international association football tournament for men's national teams, held every four years by FIFA. It was contested by the holders of each of the six continental championships ( AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBO ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

Brazil U20 *

FIFA World Youth Championship The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members' men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 when i ...

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

Individual * Campeonato Brasileiro Série A Team of the Year:

References

External links

CBF profile
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jefferson 1983 births Living people Footballers from São Vicente, São Paulo Brazilian Christians Brazilian men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Cruzeiro Esporte Clube players Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas players Trabzonspor footballers Konyaspor footballers Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Campeonato Brasileiro Série B players Süper Lig players Brazil men's under-20 international footballers Brazil men's international footballers Footballers at the 2003 Pan American Games 2011 Copa América players 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2014 FIFA World Cup players 2015 Copa América players Pan American Games silver medalists in football Pan American Games silver medalists for Brazil Pan American Games footballers for Brazil FIFA Confederations Cup–winning players Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Medalists at the 2003 Pan American Games 21st-century Brazilian sportsmen