Lúcio Wagner Freitas de Souza (born 15 June 1976), known simply as Lúcio Wagner, is a retired

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-born

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

n international

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

left-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 ...

. Achieving successes in Bulgaria, where he won eight major titles during a seven year span with

Levski Sofia PFC Levski Sofia () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which competes in the First League, the top division of the Bulgarian football league system. The club was founded on 24 May 1914 by a group of high sc ...

, he received Bulgarian citizenship in 2006 and played for their

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

on 15 occasions.

Club career

Born in

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 ...

, Wagner started at Náutico, a club competing in the

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 ...

. During his time there, the club was runner-up in the 1994 Pernambucano State Championship. In 1995, he signed with Corinthians Alagoano, who loans him to Benfica in 1997, together with Marcos Alemão, Cáju and

Deco Anderson Luís de Souza (born 27 August 1977), also known as Deco (), is a Brazilian-born Portuguese former professional footballer who primarily played as an attacking or central midfielder. Born and raised in Brazil, he acquired Portuguese ...

. After spending time at the

farm team In sports, a farm team (also referred to as farm system, developmental system, feeder team, or nursery club) is generally a Team sport, team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any s ...

, he moved to Benfica in March 1997, making three appearances during his time in Da Luz, making his league debut on 12 April 1997 against Boavista. After the failed stint in Portugal, Corinthians loaned him to

Sevilla Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Seville ...

, at the time playing in the second tier. In 2000, Wagner joined CA Juventus in the

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), ...

, playing 39 matches, scoring two goals during the two seasons there. In 2002, he moved to Cherno More in the Bulgarian league, racking up twenty league appearances in 2002–03 season, which led to a move to the larger

in 2003. Appearing for the first time on 8 August 2003, he would assume regular starter role, winning three league titles in 2005-06, 2006–07, 2008–09 and helping Levski reach the quarter-finals of the

2005–06 UEFA Cup The 2005–06 UEFA Cup, the 35th edition of the UEFA Cup, was won by Sevilla, beating Middlesbrough in the final. It was the first victory for Sevilla in a European competition, and the first appearance by Middlesbrough in a European final. The ...

where they were stopped by

Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as Schalke 04 (), and abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional sports club from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its football team, w ...

, and the group stage of the

2006–07 UEFA Champions League The 2006–07 UEFA Champions League was the 15th season of UEFA's premier European club football tournament, the UEFA Champions League, since it was rebranded from the European Cup, and the 52nd season overall. The final was contested by Milan ...

, after eliminating

Sioni Bolnisi FC Sioni ('' Georgian:'' საფეხბურთო კლუბი სიონი) is a Georgian professional football club based in Bolnisi. They compete in Erovnuli Liga Liga 2, the second tier of the Georgian league system. The team ha ...

and

Chievo Chievo (4,500 inhabitants) is a frazione of Verona located to the west of the city, around from the historic city centre, on the shores of the river Adige. It is best known for its football team, A.C. ChievoVerona. History The name came from t ...

, being the first Bulgarian team to do so. In 2010, the 34 year-old was released by Levski Sofia after 173 appearances for the Bulgarians.

International career

In 2006, Wagner was granted Bulgarian nationality, and made his debut for the

on 9 May, in a

Kirin Cup The is an association football tournament organised in Japan by the Kirin Brewery Company. The host, Japan national football team, Japan, is a participant in every edition. The tournament was founded in 1978 then known as Japan Cup (Internatio ...

match against

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. He would represent Bulgaria five times during the

qualifying Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

stages of

UEFA Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial association football, football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA ( ...

, and once in the qualification for the

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

Career statistics

Honours

;Levski Sofia * A Group (3): 2005-06, 2006–07, 2008–09 *

Bulgarian Cup The Bulgarian Cup () is a Bulgarian annual football competition. It is the country's main cup competition and all officially registered Bulgarian football teams take part in it. The tournament's format is ''single-elimination'', with all matche ...

(2): 2004-05, 2006–07 *

Bulgarian Supercup The Bulgarian Supercup () is the trophy won in a football match held between the football club that has won the Bulgarian first football division in the season that ended in the year of the match and the holder of the Bulgarian Cup at that time. ...

(3):

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

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 ...

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 ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lucio Wagner 1976 births Living people Brazilian men's footballers Bulgarian men's footballers Bulgaria men's international footballers Brazilian emigrants to Bulgaria Naturalised citizens of Bulgaria Clube Náutico Capibaribe players Sport Club Corinthians Alagoano players S.L. Benfica footballers Sevilla FC players Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas players Rio Branco Esporte Clube players Clube Atlético Juventus players PFC Cherno More Varna players PFC Levski Sofia players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Primeira Liga players Segunda División players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Men's association football fullbacks Footballers from Rio de Janeiro (city)