José Kléberson Pereira (born 19 June 1979), commonly known as José Kléberson or simply Kléberson, is a Brazilian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach and former player who is currently the assistant coach of

New York City FC New York City Football Club (often referred to as NYCFC) is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in New York City. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern C ...

. A former

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 previously played for

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

32 times between 2002 and 2010, scoring two goals, and was part of the squad that won the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea/Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

Playing career

Club

Atlético Paranaense

Kléberson was born and raised in the provincial town of Uraí in the southern Brazilian state of Paraná. He began his football career with Atlético Paranaense. There, Kléberson won the Paraná State League in 2000 and 2001, and the

Brazilian Série A Brazilian commonly refers to: * Brazil, a country * Brazilians, its people * Brazilian Portuguese, its dialect Brazilian may also refer to: * "The Brazilian", a 1986 instrumental music piece by Genesis * Brazilian Café, Baghdad, Iraq (1937) * Bra ...

title in

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

. His performances for Atlético Paranaense led to

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 ...

calling him up to the Brazil national team for the

in South Korea and Japan.

Manchester United

His World Cup performances led to Scolari declaring Kléberson the driving force behind Brazil's cup-winning side, and drew interest from several European teams;

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

and

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

all expressed an interest. Leeds, failed to secure the signing after Kléberson decided against leaving Brazil without his girlfriend, who he was unable to marry until her 16th birthday, and eventually it was

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

who signed Kléberson, paying a fee of £6.5 million on 12 August 2003 alongside 4 other signings, including notable winger

Cristiano Ronaldo Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (; born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for and Captain (association football), captains both Saudi Pr ...

. Seen as a replacement for Juan Sebastián Verón, Kléberson was injured in his second appearance for the club and made only 20 appearances in two seasons. He scored two league goals in his time at Manchester United, both coming in home wins against

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

and Everton.

Beşiktaş

On 6 August 2005, Kléberson signed for Turkish club

Beşiktaş Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 18 km2 and its population is 175,190 (2022). It is located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and ...

for €2.95 million. He signed a three-year deal, with the option of a further 12 months. Kléberson unilaterally terminated the contract after claiming the club failed to pay his wages on time.

Flamengo

Kléberson signed with

Flamengo Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (; ), more commonly referred to as simply Flamengo, is a Brazilian multi sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, in the neighborhood of Gávea. It was founded and named after the Flamengo, Rio de Janeiro, Flamengo n ...

on 27 September 2007 as a free agent, but he was unable to play for the club until February 2008, due to problems related to his resignation from Beşiktaş. On 10 August 2007 (announced on 27 August), the FIFA Dispute Resolution Chamber passed a decision that Kléberson had to pay Beşiktaş €3.18 million as for the compensation of breach of contract. and Besiktas had to pay US$461,112 as outstanding wage. Furthermore, Kléberson was suspended for four months (retroactively from 27 September 2007) Kléberson and the club later agreed to reduce the compensation from €3.18 million to €1 million. Kléberson's first matches for his new club were on the reserves team in several matches of the Rio State League. His climb to the first team started slowly as he began to play consistently in the

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 ...

. Kléberson earned an important spot in the midfield after the transfers of Renato Augusto and Marcinho. After returning to the first team, Kléberson's good spell in 2009 was interrupted on 12 August, in a friendly match against

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

, where he suffered a foul and fell, causing him a dislocated shoulder. Kléberson had surgery and was expected to miss the rest of the year. He managed to recover quickly being able to return on 22 November in a 0–0 draw against

Goiás Goiás () is a Brazilian States of Brazil, state located in the Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region. Goiás borders the Federal District (Brazil), Federal District and the states of (from north clockwise) Tocantins, Bahia, Minas Ge ...

and also playing in the 2–1 win over Grêmio and winning the 2009 Brazilian Série A, the second in his career. In the 2010 pre-season, Palmeiras speculated the possibility of involving Kléberson in a trade for

Vágner Love Vágner Silva de Souza (born 11 June 1984), known as Vágner Love, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Série B club Avaí. He is a forward who has been described by '' World Soccer Magazine'' as possessing "mo ...

, but Flamengo refused to accept the idea.

Bahia

After a poor year playing on loan for Atlético Paranaense, when the club was relegated to Série B, Kléberson signed for

Bahia Bahia () 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 (state), São Paulo, Mina ...

on a two-year contract in July 2012. He scored his first goal for Bahia on his debut, against his former club Flamengo.

Later career in the U.S.

Kléberson was acquired on loan by the

Philadelphia Union The Philadelphia Union are an American professional soccer club based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Founded on February 28, 2008, the Union began ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

(MLS) on 25 March 2013. He scored the game-winning goal in the 95th minute from a free kick against

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matc ...

on 10 October 2013. On 25 March 2014, Kléberson reportedly signed a two-year deal with

Indy Eleven Indy Eleven is an American professional association football, soccer team based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Founded in 2013, the team made its debut in the North American Soccer League (2011–2017), North American Soccer League (NASL) in 2014, b ...

of the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League (NASL) was the top-level major professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984. It is considered the first soccer league to be successful on a national scale in the ...

(NASL). Kléberson was released by Indy Eleven in December 2015 after two seasons at the club. Kléberson signed with NASL side Fort Lauderdale Strikers on 4 January 2016.

International

Kléberson made his first international appearance for

in a friendly match against

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

on 31 January 2002. He also marked his debut by scoring Brazil's fourth goal in a 6–0 win. He also scored against

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

in March 2002. He was subsequently selected by Luiz Felipe Scolari for Brazil's squad for the

. He was initially relegated to the bench for the first four matches in the tournament. He was brought into the starting line-up for Brazil's game against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, with Scolari feeling his tenacity would help counter the high work-rate of the English side. His tackle on his future teammate Paul Scholes led to Brazil's equaliser before Brazil ended up winning 2–1. He then was included in the starting lineup for the rest of the tournament. Brazil defeated

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

in the final, with Kléberson setting up one of the two Brazilian goals, as Brazil won the World Cup for a record fifth time. After the World Cup, Kléberson retained his starting position in Brazil's team under the new coach

Carlos Alberto Parreira Carlos Alberto Gomes Parreira (born 27 February 1943) is a Brazilian former football manager who holds the record for attending the most FIFA World Cup final tournaments as manager with six appearances. He also managed five different national t ...

and was also included in Brazil's squad for

2003 FIFA Confederations Cup The 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup football tournament was the sixth FIFA Confederations Cup, held in France in June 2003. France retained the title they had won in 2001, but the tournament was overshadowed by the death of Cameroon player Marc-Vivi ...

, where Brazil were eliminated in the group stage. That summer, Kléberson moved to Europe to join Manchester United. He failed to achieve regular playing time with his club, and as a result he lost his position in the national team. He managed to be included in Brazil's squad for the 2004 Copa América. He made five appearances in the tournament, starting in every match he played as Brazil went on to win the tournament. After more than four years in the international wilderness, Kléberson was recalled to the national team by Dunga on 28 May 2009. He was recalled to replace Anderson in two matches for

2010 World Cup qualification 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 ...

and the

2009 FIFA Confederations Cup The 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup was the eighth FIFA Confederations Cup, Confederations Cup, and was held in South Africa from 14 June to 28 June 2009, as a prelude to the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The draw was held on 22 November 2008 at the Sandton ...

in South Africa. After recovering from his shoulder surgery, once again Kléberson was called up for the national team on 9 February 2010 for a friendly match against the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

on 2 March in London. Kléberson was then called up to Brazil's 2010 World Cup squad by Dunga on 11 May. The 23-man squad was almost exactly the same as the squad against Ireland but included one additional player, Heurelho Gomes. His only appearance in the 2010 World Cup was in the round of 16 game against

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

Style of play

Kléberson was a midfielder who was known for his passing ability with either foot, which allowed him to create chances for his teammates. His playing style was based on speed, getting forward on the counterattack, and distributing the ball to other players. He was also a powerful shooter from outside the box.

Management career

In 2017, Kléberson rejoined the

as a coach in the youth academy. In 2022, he was promoted to assistant coach of Philadelphia Union II for their inaugural season in

MLS Next Pro MLS Next Pro (MLSNP) is a men's professional association football, soccer league in the United States and Canada that is affiliated with Major League Soccer (MLS). It launched in 2022 with 21 teams and now comprises 27 reserve sides of MLS clu ...

Personal life

After Kleberson's starring role at the 2002 World Cup, Europe's top sides competed to sign him, but he chose to stay in Brazil for another year so he could marry his 15-year-old fiancée when she reached the age of consent, having met her when she was 14.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Brazil's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Kléberson goal.''

Honours

;Atlético Paranaense *

* Paraná State League: 2000, 2001 ;Manchester United *

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

: 2003–04 ;Beşiktaş *

Turkish Cup The Turkish Cup () is a football cup competition in Turkish football, run by the Turkish Football Federation since 1962. During a brief sponsorship period with Fortis, its sponsored name was ''Fortis Türkiye Kupası''. Now Ziraat Bankası is ...

: 2005–06 *

Turkish Super Cup The Turkish Super Cup, known as Turkcell Super Cup () for sponsorship reasons, is a super cup tournament in Turkish football. Founded in 1966 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2025 by four teams: the winners ...

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 ...

;Flamengo *

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

;Brazil *

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

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 ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

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 ...

;Individual * Bola de Prata: 2001

References

External links

* *
José Kléberson
at ManUtd.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Jose Kleberson 1979 births Living people Footballers from Paraná (state) Brazilian men's footballers Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Club Athletico Paranaense players Manchester United F.C. players Beşiktaş J.K. footballers CR Flamengo footballers Esporte Clube Bahia players Philadelphia Union players Indy Eleven players Fort Lauderdale Strikers players 2002 FIFA World Cup players 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2004 Copa América players 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2010 FIFA World Cup players Copa América–winning players FIFA World Cup–winning players FIFA Confederations Cup–winning players Brazil men's international footballers Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Premier League players Süper Lig players Major League Soccer players Designated Players (MLS) North American Soccer League (2011–2017) players Expatriate men's footballers in England Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Men's association football midfielders New York City FC non-playing staff