Leonardo "Léo" da Silva Moura (born 23 October 1978) is a former

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 ...

ian 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 for several clubs, including Fluminense,

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 ...

and Grêmio. Mainly a

right back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

, he also played as a

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 ...

. Léo Moura previously played for

, for over ten years, where he was the team's

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

, and Grêmio with whom he won his biggest title, the

2017 Copa Libertadores The 2017 Copa CONMEBOL Libertadores (officially the Copa CONMEBOL Libertadores Bridgestone 2017 for sponsorship reasons) was the 58th edition of the CONMEBOL Libertadores (also referred to as the ''Copa Libertadores''), South America's premier c ...

. He is famous being one of the few players who represented all four of the big

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 ...

teams,

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 ...

, Vasco, Fluminense, and Flamengo.

Club career

Early career

Léo Moura begun his footballing career at the youth division of Linhares Esporte Clube, acting as a midfielder. Still at the youth level, he was transferred to the Rio club

. Making his professional debut for the Botafogo team in 1998, Moura has transferred to Belgian side Germinal Beerschot where he played for one season. Afterwards, he has transferred to

ADO Den Haag Alles Door Oefening Den Haag (), commonly known by the abbreviated name ADO Den Haag (), is a Dutch association football club from the city of The Hague. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following relegation ...

, then at the Dutch second division,

Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (; ) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as the Keuken Kampioen Divisie due to sponsorship reasons, while ...

, where he adapted to play as a right back and had a remarkable season.

Return to Brazil

On the second semester of 2001, he returned to Brazil and to Botafogo. Once there, Leo Moura sought a position as a midfielder, but lost it due to being sidelined by an injury. After his recovery, Leonardo switched to the role of right back, which suited him well and solved his club's lack of players for that role since César Prates's departure in 1999. However, Leo Moura surprisingly left Botafogo, moving 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 ...

. At Vasco, Leo Moura showed good chemistry with

Romário Romário de Souza Faria (born 29 January 1966), known simply as Romário (), is a Brazilian politician and former professional association football, footballer who is currently a Senator for Rio de Janeiro (state), Rio de Janeiro and the presi ...

and Euller, the attacking duo for the club. In spite of his success, Leo Moura decided to move to

Palmeiras The Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras (), commonly known as Palmeiras, is a Brazilian professional association football, football club based in the city of São Paulo, in the district of Perdizes (district of São Paulo), Perdizes. Palmeiras is ...

in 2002, a move which he regretted, as he was part of the Palmeiras squad that was relegated to the

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 ...

. In 2003, he joined

São Paulo FC São Paulo Futebol Clube () is a professional Association football, football club in the Morumbi, São Paulo, Morumbi district of São Paulo, Brazil. It plays in Campeonato Paulista, São Paulo (state), São Paulo's premier State football lea ...

, and due to the presence of another full back named Leonardo on the squad, Leonardo adopted the name of Leonardo Moura. After poor showings for the club, Leo returned to Rio de Janeiro, this time to defend Fluminense. At Fluminense, he showed great potential and became a crowd favorite, once again playing with Romário, and playing by the side of his future teammate at Flamengo Júnior César. However, Léo Moura departed the club for Portugal's

Sporting Braga Sporting Clube de Braga (), commonly known as Sporting de Braga or just Braga, is a Portuguese sports club from the city of Braga. Best known for the men's professional association football, football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top fl ...

in 2005, where he briefly stayed.

Flamengo

Joining

in 2005, Léo Moura arrived with certain suspicion from the fans, as he was known as a "nomadic player" who played for all of Flamengo's major rivals before. However, Léo soon made its mark for the

Gávea Gávea is an affluent residential neighborhood located in the South Zone of the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It borders São Conrado, Leblon, Lagoa and Jardim Botânico neighborhoods and is famous for its high concentration of artists. ...

club, being an important part of the squad and helping it avoid relegation. A skilled passer and dribbler, Leo Moura cemented his status as a key player for the Rio Club. In 2006, the well-travelled Léo Moura won his first career title, the

2006 Copa do Brasil The 2006 Copa do Brasil was the 18th staging of the Copa do Brasil. The competition started on February 15, 2006 and concluded on July 26, 2006 with the second leg of the final, held at the Estádio do Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro, in which Fla ...

. With this victory, Flamengo earned a place at the

2007 Copa Libertadores The 2007 Copa Libertadores de América (officially the 2007 Copa Toyota Libertadores de América for sponsorship reasons) was the 48th edition of the Copa Libertadores. It started on January 24, 2007, and finished on June 20, 2007. It was won by ...

after a four-year-long absence, and Moura cemented his place as a definite starter for the team. Falling at the good graces of the supporters of the club, Leo Moura formed a competent full back duo with

Juan ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of '' John''. The name is of Hebrew origin and has the meaning "God has been gracious." It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking countries around the world and in the Philip ...

, a partnership which would last until Juan's departure from the club in 2010. Alongside the versatile midfielder Renato Abreu and the goalkeeper

Bruno Bruno may refer to: People and fictional characters * Bruno (name), including lists of people and fictional characters with either the given name or surname * Bruno, Duke of Saxony (died 880) * Bruno the Great (925–965), Archbishop of Cologn ...

, Moura was one of the highlights of the squad. In spite of a poor showing at the

, Leo Moura had a good year in 2007, winning the

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 ...

and being chosen by

Placar ''Placar'' (; stylized in all caps) is a monthly Brazilian sports magazine. Its first edition was issued by Editora Abril. on March 20, 1970, and since then it has become the most successful sports publication in Brazil, even though it focuses ...

magazine as the best right back of the season, winning the Bola de Prata award. In 2008, after extending his contract with Flamengo, Leo Moura was called up to defend the Brazil national team in a friendly against

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. Moura was part of the squad which won the

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 ...

and the

, and was once again the winner of the Bola de Prata. 2009 proved to be a very successful year for the right back and a very memorable year for the ''rubro-negro'' team, as Flamengo went on to win its sixth Campeonato Brasileiro title. Leo Moura was an instrumental player for Flamengo's third consecutive Campeonato Carioca win, a feat that Flamengo has repeated six times in its history. 2010, however, proved to be a more tumultuous year for the club. Leonardo Moura earned his place as captain of the team after the club's captain, Bruno, was suspected of murder. Flamengo flirted with relegation throughout the year, staying dangerously close to the relegation zone in the league table, but it eventually reached the

Copa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Sudamericana, also known as Copa Sudamericana (; ), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL, the governing body of football in South America, since 2002. It is the second-most prestigious club com ...

qualifying zone by the final round. Leo Moura's time for the Rio club seemed to be at an end in 2011, as he was hinted to join

SC Internacional Sport Club Internacional (), commonly known as Internacional, Inter de Porto Alegre, a cidade do Grêmio or simply Inter, is a Brazilian professional football club based in Porto Alegre. They play in the Série A, the first division of the ...

. The departure of his long-time partner at Flamengo's defense, Juan, reinforced the club's need for Moura to be on its team. Nonetheless, his time as the captain came to an end as 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 ...

and

2005 Ballon d'Or The 2005 Ballon d'Or, given to the best football player in Europe as judged by a panel of sports journalists from UEFA member countries, was delivered to the Brazilian midfielder Ronaldinho on 28 November 2005. On 24 October 2005, was announced ...

winner and Brazilian international

Ronaldinho Ronaldo de Assis Moreira (born 21 March 1980), commonly known as Ronaldinho Gaúcho () or simply Ronaldinho, is a Brazilian former professional Association football, footballer who played as an attacking midfielder or left winger. Widely reg ...

joined the club, earning the club captaincy. Winning the 2011 state league title after winning both rounds of the competition, the

and the

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 ...

, the Flamengo squad had great success at the first semester of the year, being a favorite to win the 2011 season of the Brazilian league. Flamengo mounted an impressive undefeated streak throughout the year, which was broken by Ceará SC in the Copa do Brasil quarter finals, and stayed unbeaten in the league season for 16 rounds, losing against

Goiânia Goiânia ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian federative units of Brazil, state of Goiás. With a population of 1,536,097, it is the second-largest city in the Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West Region and the 10th-larges ...

club

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 ...

in the 17th round, on a match Moura played as a midfielder. However, Flamengo did not follow up in the second semester, barely earning a place at the next year's Libertadores by the end of the season. Leonardo Moura's last game at Flamengo was on 4 March 2015, when he played a

testimonial match A testimonial match or testimonial game, often referred to simply as a testimonial, is a practice in some sports, particularly in association football in the United Kingdom and South America, where a club has a match to honour a player for servic ...

against

Nacional Nacional, the Portuguese and Spanish word for "national", may refer to: Airlines * Nacional Transportes Aéreos, a Brazilian airline defunct in 2002 * Transportes Aéreos Nacional, a Brazilian airline defunct in 1961 Bank * Banco Nacional, a ...

at the Maracanã, the right-back made one of the assists as Flamengo beat the Uruguayan side 2–0.

FC Goa

In 2015, he signed for

FC Goa Futebol Clube de Goa is an India, Indian professional association football, football club based in Fatorda, Goa, that competes in the Indian Super League (ISL), the top tier of Football in India, Indian football. The club was established on 2 ...

, who at the time were under head coach Zico. He scored 2 goals and had 8 assists and was a crowd favourite. He helped his team to the finals of ISL and was one of the most valuable assets of the club. In the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

, against Chennaiyin, he was injured and couldn't help his team win the 2015 Indian Super League.

Metropolitano

On February 2, 2016, Moura was announced by

Metropolitano Metropolitano S.A. was a privately owned consortium formed in 1994 to take over concessions granted by the Argentine government as part of railway privatisation during the presidency of Carlos Menem for the operation of commuter rail services i ...

, from Santa Catarina, as their new player. He comes to club for playing League of Santa Catarina.

Santa Cruz, Grêmio and Botafogo of Paraíba

In second semester, Moura was appointed by Santa Cruz. In 2017, Moura was contracted by Grêmio. In both teams won many titles. In 2020, at 41 years old, he signed with Botafogo-PB.

International career

Leonardo debuted for the Brazil national team in a friendly match played in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

against

on 6 February 2008, which they won by 1–0.

Career statistics

¹South American competitions include 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 ...

, and

Recopa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Recopa Sudamericana (), also known as Recopa Sudamericana or CONMEBOL Recopa, and simply as Recopa (, ; "Winners' Cup"), is an annual international club Association football, football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1988. It ...

. ''according to combined sources on the Flamengo official website, Flaestatística and Futpédia.''

Honours

Flamengo *

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 ...

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 ...

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, ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

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 ...

Santa Cruz *

Copa do Nordeste Copa do Nordeste (English: ''Cup of the North-East''), also known as Campeonato do Nordeste (''English: Championship of the North-East'') or Copa Nordeste (English: ''Northeastern Cup'') is a Brazilian football competition among Northeastern re ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

Campeonato Pernambucano The Campeonato Pernambucano is the top-flight professional state football league in the Brazilian state of Pernambuco. It is run by the Pernambuco Football Federation (FPF). History The first edition of the Campeonato Pernambucano was played i ...

Grêmio *

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

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 ...

Campeonato Gaúcho The Campeonato Gaúcho (English: Gaúcho Championship), officially named as Campeonato Gaúcho de Futebol Série A and commonly known as the Gauchão or the Gauchão Ipiranga (company), Ipiranga for sponsorship reasons, is the top-flight profess ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

Individual * Campeonato Brasileiro Série A Team of the Year:

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Moura, Leo 1978 births Living people Brazilian men's footballers Men's association football defenders Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Campeonato Brasileiro Série C players Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas players CR Vasco da Gama players SE Palmeiras players São Paulo FC players Fluminense FC players CR Flamengo footballers Clube Atlético Metropolitano players Santa Cruz Futebol Clube players Grêmio FBPA players Botafogo Futebol Clube (PB) players Belgian Pro League players Beerschot A.C. players Eerste Divisie players ADO Den Haag players Primeira Liga players S.C. Braga players North American Soccer League (2011–2017) players Fort Lauderdale Strikers players Indian Super League players FC Goa players Copa Libertadores–winning players Brazil men's international footballers Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in India Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in India Footballers from Niterói