Washington Stecanela Cerqueira, or simply Washington (born 1 April 1975), is a Brazilian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

pundit, coach, and former player who played as a striker.

Career

Washington started his senior career from Caxias in 1991, aged 16, playing there for 8 years, until 1999. He then signed for

Paraná Clube Paraná Clube, commonly referred to as Paraná, is a Brazilian professional club based in Curitiba Curitiba () is the capital and largest city in the state of Paraná (state), Paraná in Southern Brazil. The city's population was 1,773,718 ...

where he scored 10 goals in 20 matches. After enjoying a fruitful spell with Ponte Preta (2000-02) scoring a record at the time 12 goals on the 2001 Copa do Brasil an interest from European clubs like Greek champions

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós (, Olympic Association of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number of different competitive departments which participate in football, ...

and Fenerbahçe came up. Washington eventually signed with Fenerbahçe in the summer of 2002. During 2001 and 2002 he was also called up to the Brazil national team by Felipe Scolari scoring 2 goals in 9 games and became a candidate for the 2002 World Cup. In the 2002–03

Turkish league Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The w ...

season Washington scored 9 goals in 12 games but was subsequently released by Fenerbahçe because of his health problems. Washington was submitted to a

coronary catheterization A coronary catheterization is a minimally invasive procedure to access the coronary circulation and blood filled chambers of the heart using a catheter. It is performed for both diagnostic and interventional (treatment) purposes. Coronary cathet ...

. Once recovered, physicians told him that playing football would not represent a risk to his condition. He then signed with Brazilian club Atlético Paranaense where he was

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 ...

Série A top-scorer with 34 goals and broke the league's record. For his recovery, he was dubbed ''Coração Valente'', the title of the movie ''

Braveheart ''Braveheart'' is a 1995 American epic film, epic historical drama, historical war drama film directed and produced by Mel Gibson, who portrays Scottish warrior William Wallace in the First War of Scottish Independence against Edward I of Engl ...

'' in Brazil. In 2005, he moved to Japan to play for

Tokyo Verdy is a Japanese professional football club based in Inagi, Tokyo. The club currently competes in the J1 League, following promotion from the J2 League in 2023. History Founded as Yomiuri Football Club in 1969, Tokyo Verdy is one of the mo ...

in the

J1 League The , the J.League or the for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Japan and the highest level of the Japanese football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation ...

. He had a successful season there with 22 goals in 33 games but could not save his club from relegation. In 2006, he transferred to

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 ...

and helped the Reds win their first ever J1 League title, becoming the top scorer in the league with 26 goals in 26 games. In 2007, he scored three goals at the

FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup (FIFA CWC) is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (FIFA), the sport's global sports governing body, governing body. The compe ...

as the Reds finished third. On 21 December 2007, Washington returned to Brazil to play for Fluminense. His contract was valid through the end of 2008. Washington finished as the 2008 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A top scorer, with 21 goals, tied with Keirrison and Kléber Pereira. Even though he renewed his contract with

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 ...

until the end of the 2010 seasonSão Paulo acerta com Washington por mais um ano
he eventually returned to Fluminense on July 27, 2010. He played a major role in the team's run to win the 2010 Série A, scoring 10 goals throughout the competition and being involved in the play that guaranteed the team's championship (in the last game of the season). On 13 January 2011, while training with Fluminense in Mangaratiba, Washington announced his retirement from football.

Career statistics

Club

* includes

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 ...

and Club World Cup

International

International goals

Honours

Club

;Tokyo Verdy *

: 2005 ;Urawa Reds *

: 2006 *

Emperor's Cup , commonly known as or Japan FA Cup, and rebranded as The JFA Emperor's Cup from 2024 onwards, is a Japanese annual football competition. It has the longest tradition of any football tournament in Japan, dating back to 1921, before the formatio ...

: 2006 *

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

;Fluminense *

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 ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

Individual

* FIFA Club World Cup Top Scorer:

* Brazilian League Top Scorer:

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 ...

* São Paulo State Championship Top Scorer: 2001 * Brazilian Cup Top Scorer:

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

* J.League Top Scorer:

* J.League Best Eleven:

* Troféu Mesa Redonda best player: 2004

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Washington (footballer 1975 04 01) 1975 births Living people Brazilian men's footballers Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Club Athletico Paranaense players Associação Atlética Ponte Preta players Sociedade Esportiva e Recreativa Caxias do Sul players Fenerbahçe S.K. footballers Süper Lig players Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Grêmio FBPA players SC Internacional players Tokyo Verdy players Urawa Red Diamonds players J1 League players Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in Japan Brazil men's international footballers 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup players São Paulo FC players Footballers from Brasília Fluminense FC players Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Japan Men's association football forwards Brazilian football managers AFC Champions League Elite–winning players Associação Olímpica de Itabaiana managers