Brazilian footballer (1981-2016)
Cleber Santana Loureiro
(27 June 1981 ? 28 November 2016) was a Brazilian professional
footballer
who played as a
central midfielder
.
He won
state championships
with
Sport
,
Vitoria
,
Santos
and
Avai
. He also had spells abroad, with
Kashiwa Reysol
in Japan and
Atletico Madrid
and
Mallorca
in Spain.
Santana was the captain of the
Chapecoense
team aboard
LaMia Flight 2933
that crashed, killing him and 70 others.
Born in
Abreu e Lima
,
Pernambuco
, Santana started playing professionally with
Sport Club do Recife
. He then went on to represent in Brazil
Esporte Clube Vitoria
and
Santos FC
, punctuated by a stint with
J1 League
's
Kashiwa Reysol
in
2005
.
In July 2007, Santana was signed from Santos by
Atletico Madrid
, on a three-year contract worth
€
6 million.
[1]
Although not an undisputed starter, he still contributed with 23
league
matches as the
Colchoneros
returned
to the
UEFA Champions League
after a 12-year
hiatus
, being played mostly after
Maniche
's loan departure to
Inter Milan
in January 2008.
[2]
For the
2008?09 season
, Santana was loaned to fellow
La Liga
club
RCD Mallorca
.
[3]
On 9 November 2008 he scored his first goal for the
Balearic Islands
team, in a 3?3 home draw against
Athletic Bilbao
,
[4]
and finished the campaign (in which he featured heavily, alongside another player loaned by Atletico,
Jose Manuel Jurado
) with five, which also included the 2?1 winner against already crowned champions
FC Barcelona
on 17 May 2009,
[5]
and a solo effort the following week, a 3?1 triumph at
Real Madrid
.
[6]
Cleber then returned to Atletico, being used sparingly but managing to net in a 2?2 home draw against
UD Almeria
, on 23 September 2009.
[7]
In late January of the following year, even though he had renewed his contract until June 2012,
[8]
he returned to his country, signing with
Sao Paulo FC
.
[9]
On 21 September 2012, Santana was announced at
Clube de Regatas do Flamengo
, claiming the team could "not afford to think about relegation" even though it was playing below the general expectations ? going on to
finish in 11th position
. He signed a two-year contract, and the
Rio de Janeiro
side bought 70% of his rights;
[10]
he scored on his official debut two days later, against
Atletico Clube Goianiense
for the
Serie A
.
[11]
In the following years, Santana represented
Avai Futebol Clube
in the
Serie B
,
Criciuma Esporte Clube
in that level and also
Serie A
and
Associacao Chapecoense de Futebol
in the top division. He captained the latter, helping the
Santa Catarina
-based team to
the finals
of the
2016 Copa Sudamericana
.
[12]
Death
[
edit
]
On 28 November 2016, whilst travelling with Chapecoense to the aforementioned finals, 35-year-old Santana was among the fatalities of the
LaMia Flight 2933
accident in the Colombian village of Cerro Gordo,
La Union, Antioquia
.
[13]
Career statistics
[
edit
]
[14]
Honours
[
edit
]
Sport
Vitoria
Santos
Atletico Madrid
Avai
Chapecoense
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]