Hugo Leonardo da Silva Serejo or simply Léo Silva (レオ・シルバ, born December 24, 1985, in São Luis, Brasil), is a Brazilian

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 plays as a

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for Moto Club.

Club career

Léo Silva started his youth career at URT and was signed by Cruzeiro in 2003. In 2004, he was loaned to

Ipatinga Ipatinga is a Municipalities of Brazil, Brazilian municipality located in the interior of the Federative units of Brazil, state of Minas Gerais, in the Southeast Region, Brazil, Southeast Region of Brazil. Situated in the Vale do Rio Doce (meso ...

, where he ended up playing for four seasons. During that time, he was part of the team that won the

Campeonato Mineiro The Campeonato Mineiro is the top-flight professional state football league in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. It is run by the Minas Gerais Football Federation (FMF). The history of Campeonato Mineiro can be divided into two parts: bef ...

state league in 2005, although he only made three appearances that season. The following season he made 7 more appearances in all competitions for Ipatinga, until he moved back to Cruzeiro for the rest of the season where he made his debut in the Brasileirão. He also scored his first top flight goal in the 2006 season, in a 3-1 win over Botafogo. After making 20 more appearances for Cruzeiro in 2007 season, Silva then was sent on a series of loans: firstly back to Ipatinga in 2008 and then to Botafogo in 2009. At the end of the 2009 season, he was released by Cruzeiro and eventually signed by

Guaratinguetá Guaratinguetá is a municipality in the state of São Paulo (state), São Paulo in Brazil. It is part of the Metropolitan Region of Vale do Paraíba e Litoral Norte. The population is 122,505 (2020 est.) in an area of 752.64 km2. It is locate ...

where he spent two seasons in Série B. Following two successful seasons with Guaratinguetá, Silva was signed by Portuguesa to again play in the Brasileirão. After making almost 60 appearances in one season for Portuguesa, Silva moved on quickly and was signed by

J-League The , commonly a.k.a. shortened to the , and officially known as the for sponsorship with Meiji Yasuda Life, is the men's association football league in Japan. It is responsible for organizing Japan's major professional football tournaments, in ...

club

Albirex Niigata is a professional football club based in Niigata, Japan. Formed in 1955 as Niigata Eleven SC, it was renamed Albireo Niigata FC in 1995, and Albirex Niigata in 1997. They currently play in J1 League after being promoted from J2 League as cha ...

on a free transfer. Silva went on to make 149 appearances over four seasons with Albirex Niigata, but never managed to win any team silverware, however he was included in the J-League Best XI for his performances in the 2014 season. He then signed for the champions

Kashima Antlers The are a professional association football, football club based in Kashima, Ibaraki, Japan. They currently play in the J1 League, the top tier of Japanese professional football leagues. The club has financial backing from Mercari, a Japanese ...

for the 2017 season. It wasn't long before tasting success, as Kashima won the 2017 Japanese Super Cup with a 3-2 victory over

Urawa Red Diamonds The or simply Urawa Reds (浦和レッズ, ''Urawa Rezzu''), also known as Mitsubishi Urawa Football Club from April 1992 to January 1996, are a professional association football, football club in the city of Saitama (city), Saitama, part of t ...

with Silva in the starting XI for the final. Domestically, Kashima finished runners up in the league, only losing out on goal difference to

Kawasaki Frontale is a Japanese professional football club based in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, south of Tokyo. The club currently compete in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. Their home stadium is Kawasaki Todoroki Stadium i ...

on the final day of the season. Silva also made his

AFC Champions League The AFC Champions League Elite (abbreviated as the ACL Elite) is an annual continental club association football, football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's List of top-division football clubs i ...

debut in the 2017 season in a 2-0 win over

K-League K League () is South Korea's professional football league. It includes the first division K League 1 and the second division K League 2. Clubs competing in the K League have won a record total of twelve AFC Champions League titles, the top conti ...

outfit

Ulsan Hyundai Ulsan HD FC (), formerly Ulsan Hyundai FC, is a South Korean professional football club based in Ulsan that competes in the K League 1, the top tier of South Korean football. Founded in 1983 as Hyundai Horang-i, they joined the K League in 198 ...

. In the 2018 season, Kashima again missed out on the J-League title but Silva was a key part of the squad that won the

2018 AFC Champions League The 2018 AFC Champions League was the 37th edition of Asia's premier club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 16th under the current AFC Champions League title. Kashima Antlers won the title for t ...

– playing 11 games and scoring 2 goals during the competition, including a goal in the quarter-final against Tianjin Quanjian. In the final against Iranian club

Persepolis Persepolis (; ; ) was the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire (). It is situated in the plains of Marvdasht, encircled by the southern Zagros mountains, Fars province of Iran. It is one of the key Iranian cultural heritage sites and ...

, Silva scored his second goal in the competition with a low left-footed drive from the edge of the box and was later named man of the match for his performance in the first leg of the final. Silva has also made appearances in the Club World Cup after Kashima's results in the AFC Champions League and was part of the team in the 1-3 defeat to

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 ...

in 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 ...

semi-finals. In December 2021, it was announced Silva would be leaving Kashima and joining Nagoya Grampus on a free transfer, where he would take the number 16 shirt. In his only season with Nagoya, he appeared in the majority of their games and played well over 2000 minutes. However, at the end of the 2022 season, it was announced that Silva would be leaving the club and moving back to Brazil with his hometown team Moto Club.

Club statistics

Honours

Club

;

* Minas Gerais State League: 2005 ; Cruzeiro * Minas Gerais State League: 2008 ;

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 ...

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 ...

: 2009 ;

Japanese Super Cup The , the for sponsorship reasons, is an annual one-match association football competition in Japan organised by J.League and the Japan Football Association. This competition serves as the season opener and is played between the reigning J1 Leag ...

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 ...

Individual

* J-League Best XI:

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 ...

References

External links

*
Profile at Kashima Antlers
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Silva, Leo 1985 births Living people Brazilian men's footballers Brazil men's under-20 international footballers Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Cruzeiro Esporte Clube players Ipatinga Futebol Clube players Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas players Guaratinguetá Futebol players Associação Portuguesa de Desportos players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Campeonato Brasileiro Série B players J1 League players Albirex Niigata players Kashima Antlers players Nagoya Grampus players Footballers from São Luís, Maranhão Expatriate men's footballers in Japan Men's association football midfielders AFC Champions League Elite–winning players 21st-century Brazilian sportsmen Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Japan