Luís Fabiano Clemente (born 8 November 1980), commonly known as Luís Fabiano, is a retired Brazilian professional footballer who played as a striker most notably for Sevilla,

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 the Brazil national team. He is a prolific goalscorer and was ranked the second-highest-scoring Brazilian of the 21st century, according to the International Federation of Football History & Statistics.

Club career

Early career

Luís Fabiano enjoyed great success during two spells with Brazilian side

, with a disappointing period at French side

Rennes Rennes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in Northwestern France at the confluence of the rivers Ille and Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the Brittany (administrative region), Brittany Regions of F ...

sandwiched in between. His strength on the ball, accurate finishing and pace made him a vital part of the side that fell in the semi-finals of the 2004 Copa Libertadores de América. Luís Fabiano was labeled the "bad boy" of Brazilian football when playing for São Paulo after a number of brawls. During a 2003 Copa Sudamericana match for São Paulo against River Plate of Argentina, a fight between the players broke out. Luís Fabiano ran behind a River player and kicked him just below the neck. While being escorted off the field, Luís Fabiano said that he "would rather fight than take a penalty". He was given a three-match ban from all competitions.

Porto

Luís Fabiano moved to

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

to play for

Porto Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Portugal, second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto c ...

in 2004 for a €1.875 million transfer fee; Porto, however, only bought 25% of his rights, the other 75% belonging to Global Soccer Investments (later renamed to Rio Football Services). At Porto, Luís Fabiano was reunited with his international teammate Diego, who he played with on the

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 ...

squad In military terminology, a squad is among the smallest of Military organization, military organizations and is led by a non-commissioned officer. NATO and United States, U.S. doctrine define a squad as an organization "larger than a fireteam, ...

at the 2004 Copa América. Luís Fabiano had a troublesome season, however, scoring only three goals in 22 matches. This led to him being transferred to

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

side Sevilla. Sevilla signed 25% economic right from Porto and later signed a further 10% from Rio Football Services for €1.2 million, with a pre-set price of remains 65% rights for €7.15 million to be excised on or before 15 April 2007, although it was never excised. Moreover, Sevilla had to pay Rio Football Services €450,000 annually. Eventually, the third parties ownership had brought to the court.''Rio Football Services Hungary KFT v Sevilla Futbal Club SAD'' 010 EWHC 2446 (QB) (6 October 2010)

Sevilla

Luís Fabiano transferred to Sevilla ahead of the 2005–06 season, replacing his compatriot and former

teammate Júlio Baptista, who in turn had just become a

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

player. On 10 May 2006, Luís Fabiano scored a header during Sevilla's 4–0 victory over

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

in the UEFA Cup Final. The success continued in the 2007–08 season, as Luís Fabiano finished runner-up in the Pichichi Trophy with 24 goals (including two from the penalty spot), second only to Daniel Güiza's 27 goals. This led to Luís Fabiano being recalled to the Brazilian ''Seleção''. On 29 November, Luís Fabiano was sent off for elbowing

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 ...

's Sergio Busquets. He had to be restrained by the Sevilla staff. In 2008, Luís Fabiano extended his contract with Sevilla to 2011. On 4 July 2009, according to Luís Fabiano's agent,

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

made an official offer for him, with Luís Fabiano reportedly pleading with his club Sevilla to allow him to make the switch to the San Siro. The deal, however, did not go through. On 30 August 2010, Luís Fabiano put an end to the speculation with a move away from Sevilla by signing a contract extension until 2013. On the renewal, he stated his intentions: "This is my home, I've been here six seasons and I will try to continue scoring goals and continue making history for Sevilla."

Return to São Paulo

On 13 March 2011, Luís Fabiano returned to Brazil to rejoin São Paulo. The Brazilian club paid €7.6 million for the striker, who signed a four-year deal. He was welcomed by 45,000 fans at his presentation at Estádio do Morumbi. On 29 July 2012, playing against Flamengo, Luís Fabiano scored two goals and thus became the seventh-most prolific goalscorer of São Paulo's history, outscoring Leônidas. On 26 August 2012, Luís Fabiano scored twice in São Paulo's 2–1 win over Corinthians. In 2013, however, after a year in which he was injured or had been out of form, Luís Fabiano was charged by Muricy Ramalho, then the coach of club. According to Ramalho, using Ganso (who recovered his good shape) as an example, Ramalho stated Luís Fabiano needs "wanting more". In December 2015, he was released from São Paulo and joined Chinese club Tianjin Quanjian as a free agent.

International career

Luís Fabiano made his debut for

on 11 June 2003 in a friendly against

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

, marking his international debut with a goal before being substituted. He was also included in Brazil's squad for 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup, but did not make any appearances. He won the 2004 Copa América with Brazil, where he started in all five matches alongside striker Adriano. With his poor form in Europe with Porto and Sevilla, however, he did not make any further international appearances for more than three years. He was finally recalled to the national team in November 2007 for 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification matches. On 19 November 2008, he scored his first international hat-trick in a friendly match against

in Brasília. The match ended in a 6–2 victory for Brazil. On 28 June 2009, Luís Fabiano scored two goals in the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup final win against the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. He won the golden boot as the tournament's top scorer with five goals. Luís Fabiano scored his first international goal in nine months with a right-footed strike against

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci ...

on 20 June 2010 in the 2010 World Cup. He followed it up with a second goal, which he scored after touching the ball with his hands on two occasions. His third goal of the competition came 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 ...

in the round of 16 on 29 June 2010, as Brazil won 3–0. On 11 September 2012, Luís Fabiano was called up for the first time since the 2010 World Cup by then coach Mano Menezes for the two Superclásico de las Américas matches against national rivals

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 ...

, held in both Brazil and Argentina respectively.

Style of play

Luís Fabiano was a prolific, skilful and powerful goalscorer, with excellent creativity,

dribbling 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 ...

skills, and technical ability; he also had a strong physical presence against defenders and goalkeepers. Nonetheless, he had a poor disciplinary record, despite playing as a forward. Even as the top goalscorer in the 2013 season with 16 goals by June, he had received several red cards, hindering São Paulo in important games.

Personal life

Luís Fabiano married Juliana Paradela Clemente in 2005, and they had three children, Giovanna, Gabriella and Giulie. In March 2023, they divorced after it was alleged by Juliana that Luis Fabiano had an affair. In 2005, his mother was kidnapped by gunmen in

Campinas Campinas (, ''Plains'' or ''Meadows'') is a Brazilian Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in São Paulo (state), São Paulo State, part of the country's Southeast Region, Brazil, Southeast Region. According to the 2020 estimate, the city's popul ...

. She was rescued by police 62 days later.

Career statistics

Club

:Sources:

International

:Source: :''Scores and results list Brazil's goal tally first. Score column indicates score after each Luís Fabiano goal.''

Honours

São Paulo * Copa Sudamericana:

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 ...

* Torneio Rio-São Paulo: 2001 Porto * Intercontinental Cup:

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 ...

Sevilla *

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

: 2006–07, 2009–10 * Supercopa de España: 2007 *

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

: 2005–06, 2006–07 *

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup Association football, football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions: the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's offic ...

: 2006 Tianjin Quanjian * China League One: 2016 Brazil * Copa América:

* FIFA Confederations Cup:

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 ...

Individual *

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 ...

Top Scorer: 2002 * Bola de Prata: 2002, 2003 * Placar Golden Boot: 2003 (most goals in all competitions in Brazil) *

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 ...

Top Scorer:

* Copa Libertadores Team of the Year: 2004 * Samba Gold: 2009 Gold, 2008 Bronze * La Liga Team of the Season: 2007–08 * FIFA Confederations Cup Golden Shoe:

* FIFA Confederations Cup Silver Ball: 2009 * FIFA Confederations Cup Best XI: 2009 * Copa do Brasil Top Scorer:

* China League One Most Valuable Player: 2016 * China League One Top Scorer: 2016 * IFFHS Brazilian Top Scorer of The 21st Century

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Luis Fabiano Living people 1980 births Footballers from Campinas Men's association football forwards Brazilian men's footballers Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Brazil men's international footballers Naturalised citizens of Spain 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2004 Copa América players 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2010 FIFA World Cup players Copa América–winning players Copa Sudamericana–winning players FIFA Confederations Cup–winning players Associação Atlética Ponte Preta players Stade Rennais FC players São Paulo FC players FC Porto players Sevilla FC players UEFA Europa League–winning players Tianjin Tianhai F.C. players CR Vasco da Gama players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Ligue 1 players Primeira Liga players La Liga players Copa Libertadores top scorers China League One players Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in China Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in China 21st-century Brazilian sportsmen