José Leandro de Souza Ferreira (born 17 March 1959), known as Leandro, is a Brazilian former

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 defender. He played for

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 ...

during his whole professional career, first as a right-sided full-back and, from 1983 on, as a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

. He also played for the Brazil national team in the 1980s, including at the

1982 FIFA World Cup The 1982 FIFA World Cup was the 12th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Spain from 13 June to 11 July 1982. The tournament was won by Italy national footbal ...

Club career

Leandro spent his entire club career Flamengo, where he won four Brazilian national leagues, five Rio State championships, one Libertadores da América, and one Intercontinental Cup against

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 ...

. In total, he played 417 matches and scored 14 goals for Flamengo.

International career

Leandro was capped 27 times for Brazil between September 1981 and May 1986, scoring two goals. He took part at the

, where he was part of a star-studded Brazilian team, along with Zico, Júnior, Falcão,

Sócrates Sócrates Brasileiro Sampaio de Souza Vieira de Oliveira (19 February 1954 – 4 December 2011), simply known as Sócrates , was a Brazilian footballer who played as a midfielder. His medical degree and his political awareness, combined with s ...

, and many others, including Éder and

Toninho Cerezo Antônio Carlos Cerezo (born 21 April 1955), known as Toninho Cerezo (), is a Brazilian former footballer. Cerezo is commonly regarded as one of the finest Brazilian defensive midfielders of all time, most notably having played for his hometown ...

. Despite the plethora of creative midfield talent in the team, and the exciting brand of attacking football that they displayed throughout the tournament, Brazil were eliminated in the second round, after placing second in the so-called "Group of Death" with

rivals A rivalry is the state of two people or Social group, groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each ...

and defending champions

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 ...

, as well as the eventual champions

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. Leandro also took part at the

1983 Copa América The 1983 Copa América football tournament was played between 10 August and 4 November, with all ten CONMEBOL members participating. Defending champions Paraguay received a bye into the semi-finals. The cup was won by Uruguay, that beat Brazil ...

, where Brazil finished in second place. A principled man, he refused to go to

1986 FIFA World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-tea ...

in Mexico, however, after a disagreement with the coach

Telê Santana Telê Santana da Silva, also known as Telê Santana (July 26, 1931 – April 21, 2006) was a Brazilian football manager and former player (right winger). He was born in Itabirito, Minas Gerais. Telê was the manager responsible for putting to ...

over the exclusion of his teammate

Renato Renato is a masculine given name. It is derived from the Latin name Renatus. Notable people with the name used mononymously include: * Renato Mirze (born 1982), International brand chef, TV presenter * San Renato, a saint of the Catholic Church ...

from the squad.

After retirement

Leandro prematurely retired in 1990 at 31 years of age. He currently owns and manages a restaurant and hotel in his hometown

Cabo Frio Cabo Frio (, ''Cold Cape'') is a tourist destination located in the state of Rio de Janeiro. The Brazilian coast runs east from Rio de Janeiro to Cabo Frio where it turns sharply north. North of Cabo Frio is Cabo de São Tomé. It was named aft ...

Style of play

Considered one of the greatest Brazilian defenders of all-time, Leandro started his career as an offensive-minded right-sided full-back or wing-back. In this role, he was capable of delivering decisive crosses to the forwards, or indeed taking a shot at goal himself. He also had an ability to

dribble In sports, dribbling is maneuvering a ball by one player while moving in a given direction, avoiding defenders' attempts to intercept the ball. A successful dribble will bring the ball past defenders legally and create opportunities to score. As ...

past opposing players and get forward. Leandro was also able to cover the flank both offensively and defensively: he could often be found in the outside right position, yet would get back to defence when needed. After several knee injuries and some surgeries in 1985, Leandro started to play as a centre-back, also achieving much success in this role, and was still called up to the Brazil national squad to play in this new position.

Honours

Club

;FlamengoLeandro – Trophies
*

Campeonato Carioca The Campeonato Carioca (Carioca Championship), officially known as Campeonato Estadual do Rio de Janeiro (Rio de Janeiro State Championship), also commonly known as the Cariocão, is the top-flight professional state football league in the Br ...

: 1978, 1979, 1979, 1981, 1986 *

Campeonato Brasileiro Série A The Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (; English: "Brazilian Championship A Series"), commonly referred to as the Brasileirão (; English: "Big Brazilian" or "Great Brazilian"), the Série A or the Brazilian Série A (to distinguish it from the I ...

: 1980, 1982, 1983 *

Copa União Copa União (Union Cup) was the official name given by the Clube dos 13 (Club Of The 13) organization to the Green Module of the 1987 Campeonato Brasileiro de Futebol. The 1987 edition of Campeonato Brasileiro had two modules: Green (Copa União ...

: 1987 * Intercontinental Cup: 1981 *

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 ...

: 1981 *

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, ...

: 1990

Individual

* Bola de Prata: 1982, 1985

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Leandro 1959 births Living people Brazilian men's footballers Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players CR Flamengo footballers Copa Libertadores–winning players 1982 FIFA World Cup players 1983 Copa América players Brazil men's international footballers Men's association football defenders People from Cabo Frio Footballers from Rio de Janeiro (state) 20th-century Brazilian sportsmen