Leonardo José Aparecido Moura (born 9 March 1986), simply known as Leonardo, is a Brazilian retired 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 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 ...

Club career

Leonardo was born in

Guarulhos Guarulhos () is a Brazilian Municipalities of Brazil, municipality. It is the second most populous city in the Brazilian States of Brazil, state of São Paulo (state), São Paulo, the List of largest cities in Brazil, 13th most populous city in ...

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 ...

, and joined Santos' youth setup in 1998, aged 12. He was promoted to the main squad in 2004, and made his first team – and Série A – debut on 16 October, starting in a 4–0 home win against Ponte Preta. On 22 July 2005, Leonardo signed a five-year contract with

Shakhtar Donetsk Football Club Shakhtar Donetsk () is a Ukrainian professional Association football, football club that was based in the city of Donetsk until 2014 when, due to the War in Donbas (2014–2022), War in Donbas, the club was forced to move to Lvi ...

, for a $1.8 million fee. Despite being regularly used, mainly in the 2006–07 campaign, he was shown the door by the club due to the new rules of the league. Leonardo was loaned to Santos in February 2007, but after struggling with fitness, moved to São Caetano in March 2008 also in a temporary deal. He was more utilized during his spell at the latter, On 9 February 2009, Leonardo was again loaned, this time to

Vasco da Gama Vasco da Gama ( , ; – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and nobleman who was the Portuguese discovery of the sea route to India, first European to reach India by sea. Da Gama's first voyage (1497–1499) was the first to link ...

. On 18 June, after appearing rarely with the side, he returned to Shakhtar, being used only as a backup during the season. Leonardo was subsequently loaned to Grêmio Prudente,

Avaí Avaí is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil. The population is 5,436 (2020 est.) in an area of 540 km2. Media In telecommunications, the city was served by Companhia Telefônica Brasileira until 1973, when it began to be serve ...

and

Atlético Goianiense Atlético, Spanish for ''athletics'', or Athletico in English, may refer to: Sports Teams Athletico *Athletico SC (Lebanon), a Lebanese football academy *Athletic Bilbao, or Atletico Bilbao, Basque students athletic club (also forming Athletic Cl ...

, signing permanently with the latter in 2012. On 18 June 2013, Leonardo joined

Criciúma Criciúma () is a city in the Brazilian state of Santa Catarina. At , it is located 180 km south of Florianópolis, the state capital and around 900 km south of São Paulo. The city is the center of Brazil's flooring and home material ...

, He subsequently represented Ponte Preta,

Bragantino Red Bull Bragantino () is a Brazilian football club based in Bragança Paulista, São Paulo. It competes in the Série A, the top tier of the Brazilian football league system, as well as in the Campeonato Paulista Série A1, the highest level ...

and Ituano, all in his native state. On 15 May 2015, Leonardo returned to Santos, signing until the end of 2016. On 6 January of the following year, after being rarely used, he rescinded his link, and joined

Mersin İdmanyurdu Mersin İdman Yurdu was a Turkish sports club from Mersin, Turkey in the eastern Mediterranean Region. The team played in the Turkish first division for 15 seasons, and after the 1983–84 season the football team played in the Turkish second and ...

a day later. After only one league game in the 2018–19 season, Leonardos contract was terminated by mutual consent.

International career

After representing

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 ...

in the under-17 and under-20 levels, Leonardo was called up to the main squad by manager

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 ...

on 18 April 2005, for a friendly against

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

. However, he did not play the match.

Career statistics

Leonardo First team
Shakhtar's official website. Retrieved on 14 May 2015

Honours

Santos * Série A:

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 ...

Campeonato Paulista The Campeonato Paulista Série A1, commonly known as Campeonato Paulista, nicknamed Paulistão, is the top-flight professional state football league in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. Run by the São Paulo State Football Federation (FPF), ...

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 ...

Shakhtar Donetsk *

Ukrainian Premier League The Ukrainian Premier League ( ) or UPL is a professional association football league in Ukraine and the highest level of the Ukrainian football league system. Originally known as the Vyshcha Liha ( , ) it was formed in 1991 during the 1992 in ...

: 2005–06 Atlético Goianiense *

Campeonato Goiano The Campeonato Goiano is the top-flight professional state football league in the Brazilian state of Goiás Goiás () is a Brazilian States of Brazil, state located in the Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region. Goiás borders th ...

: 2011, 2013 Brazil U17 *

FIFA U-17 World Cup The FIFA U-17 World Cup, founded as the FIFA U-16 World Championship, later changed to U-17 in 1991 and to its current name in 2007, is the annual world championship of association football for male players under the age of 17 organized by ''Fé ...

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 ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Leonardo 1986 births Living people Footballers from Guarulhos Brazilian men's footballers Men's association football central defenders Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Campeonato Brasileiro Série B players Ukrainian Premier League players Super League Greece players Santos FC players FC Shakhtar Donetsk players Associação Desportiva São Caetano players CR Vasco da Gama players Grêmio Barueri Futebol players Avaí FC players Atlético Clube Goianiense players Criciúma Esporte Clube players Associação Atlética Ponte Preta players Clube Atlético Bragantino players Ituano FC players Mersin Talim Yurdu footballers Santa Cruz Futebol Clube players Paraná Clube players Esporte Clube Santo André players Levadiakos F.C. players Brazil men's youth international footballers Brazil men's under-20 international footballers Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine Expatriate men's footballers in Ukraine Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Greece 21st-century Brazilian sportsmen