Vítor Rodrigues Saba (born 11 July 1990) is a former Brazilian 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 an

attacking 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. ...

and last played for

Hong Kong Premier League The Hong Kong Premier League () is a Hong Kong professional football league organised by the Football Association of Hong Kong, China. It is currently sponsored by BOC Life and officially known as BOC Life Hong Kong Premier League (). The inau ...

team,

Eastern SC Eastern Athletic Association Football Team Limited, also known as Eastern Sports Club (), is a Hong Kong professional sports club whose association football, football section competes in the Hong Kong Premier League, the top flight of Football ...

Club career

Born in Sukakerta, Saba arrived in

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 ...

's youth team at the age of 10. In 2007, he joined

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 ...

's youth team and was promoted to the professional team in 2010. Saba made his professional debut on 25 September 2010, as a first-half substitute for

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 ...

, playing as

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 ...

in a

Brazilian Série A Brazilian commonly refers to: * Brazil, a country * Brazilians, its people * Brazilian Portuguese, its dialect Brazilian may also refer to: * "The Brazilian", a 1986 instrumental music piece by Genesis * Brazilian Café, Baghdad, Iraq (1937) * Bra ...

1–3 loss 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 ...

at Engenhão Stadium. After loans to Brazilian state league sides

Macaé Macaé () is a municipality located in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro, 180 km northeast of the state capital. It is the birthplace of the 13th president of Brazil, Washington Luís. Geography Location Macaé is generally consider ...

, Vitória and Boavista in 2011 and 2012 proved unsuccessful, with Saba failing to make an appearance at either club, he returned to Flamengo. On 14 August 2012, Saba transferred to Italian

Serie B The Serie B (), officially known as Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had b ...

club

Brescia Brescia (, ; ; or ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the region of Lombardy, in Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Lake Garda, Garda and Lake Iseo, Iseo. With a population of 199,949, it is the se ...

. During his two-season stint, Saba made 35 appearances (including 2

Coppa Italia Coppa Italia () is the annual domestic cup of Italian football. The knockout competition was organized by the DDS and the Lega Calcio until the 2009–10 season and by Lega Serie A ever since. Juventus is the competition's most successf ...

matches) and scored 13 goals. On 20 June 2014, Australian

A-League A-League Men, also known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional soccer league in Australia and New Zealand and the highest level of the Australian soccer league system. Established in 2004 as the A-League by the ...

club

Western Sydney Wanderers Western Sydney Wanderers Football Club (colloquially known as Western Sydney, Wanderers, or simply as WSW) is an Australian professional association football club based in the Western Sydney region of Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in t ...

signed Saba on a two-year contract. Saba made his first appearance for the club in the first leg of the

2014 AFC Champions League The 2014 AFC Champions League was the 33rd edition of the top-level Asian club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 12th under the current AFC Champions League title. Guangzhou Evergrande were the d ...

quarter-final against Chinese club

Guangzhou Evergrande Guangzhou Football Club (), previously Guangzhou Evergrande (), was a Chinese professional football club based in Guangzhou, Guangdong. Historically, Guangzhou FC played its home matches at various grounds in their home city, most notably at T ...

, with the player also appearing in the 2014 AFC Champions League Final. In the

2014 FIFA Club World Cup The 2014 FIFA Club World Cup (officially known as the FIFA Club World Cup Morocco 2014 presented by Toyota for sponsorship reasons) was the 11th edition of the FIFA Club World Cup, a FIFA-organised international club association football, football ...

, Saba scored at the 89th minute against

ES Sétif Entente Sportive Sétifienne (), known as Entente de Sétif, commonly referred to as ES Sétif or ESS for short, is an Algerian professional association football, football club based in Sétif. The club was founded in 1958 and its colours are bl ...

of Algeria to level the scoreline 2–2. On January 26, 2015, Saba left Western Sydney Wanderers, later attributing his departure to a poor relationship with the manager,

Tony Popovic Tony Popovic (born 4 July 1973) is an Australian association football manager and former player. He is currently head coach of the Australia men's national soccer team, Australia national football team. He guided the team to qualify for the 202 ...

. On 2 February 2015, Saba signed with Italian second tier club F.C. Crotone on a free transfer. In June, he received an offer from his old club Botafogo. In February 2016, he switched to the Italian third tier with A.C. Siena after a stint with Greek club AEL Kalloni F.C. After a stint with Bahrani club

Al-Muharraq SC Al-Muharraq Sports Club is a professional association football, football club based in Muharraq, Bahrain. Founded in 1928, it is one of the oldest and most successful football clubs in Bahrain. The club has won numerous domestic and regional titl ...

, he joined

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 ...

(Dutch second tier) club

Fortuna Sittard Fortuna Sittard (; ) is a professional football club from the municipality of Sittard-Geleen, Netherlands. The club currently plays its football in the 12,500 capacity Fortuna Sittard Stadion and features in the Eredivisie. The club was establi ...

on a one-year deal on 27 January 2017. On 4 July 2017, Saba returned to Asia to continue his career by signing with Hong Kong club

. On 17 April 2018, Saba confirmed via his Instagram account that he would not return for the following season. Vitor Saba announced his retirement from football on 26 January 2019 citing heart-related health issues.

Honours

;

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 ...

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 ...

Club statistics

statistics are included in season ending during group stages (i.e. ACL 2014 and A-League season 2013–14 etc.)

References

External links

Player profile
@ Flamengo
Player profile
@ Flapédia * {{DEFAULTSORT:Saba, Vitor Brazilian men's footballers CR Flamengo footballers Macaé Esporte Futebol Clube players Esporte Clube Vitória players Boavista Sport Club players Brescia Calcio players Western Sydney Wanderers FC players FC Crotone players AEL Kalloni F.C. players Siena FC SSD players Fortuna Sittard players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Campeonato Brasileiro Série B players Serie B players A-League Men players Super League Greece players Serie C players Eerste Divisie players Hong Kong Premier League players Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate men's soccer players in Australia Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Men's association football midfielders Eastern Sports Club footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Hong Kong Footballers from Rio de Janeiro (city) 1990 births Living people Al-Muharraq SC players Expatriate men's footballers in Bahrain AFC Champions League Elite–winning players 21st-century Brazilian sportsmen