Alex Teixeira Santos (; born 6 January 1990) is a 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 ...

who plays as a forward for

Vasco da Gama Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira (; ; c. 1460s – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and the first European to reach India by sea. His initial voyage to India by way of Cape of Good Hope (1497–1499) was the first to link ...

. Teixeira began his career with

, making his debut for the senior team at the age of 18, before moving to

Shakhtar Donetsk Football Club Shakhtar Donetsk ( uk, Футбольний клуб «Шахтар» Донецьк , short nickname "miners") is a Ukrainian professional football club from the city of Donetsk. In 2014, due to the War in Donbass, the club was ...

in November 2009. He spent seven years at the club, scoring 89 goals in 222 appearances, while winning the

Ukrainian Premier League The Ukrainian Premier League ( uk, "Українська Прем'єр-ліга", ''Ukrayinska Premier Liha'') or UPL is the highest division of Ukrainian annual football championship. As the Vyshcha Liha ( uk, Вища ліга, ''Top League' ...

five times. In February 2016, he transferred to

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Association Super League, commonly known as Chinese Super League or CSL, currently known as the China Ping An Chinese Football Association Super League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest tier of professional football in ...

side Jiangsu Suning for an Asian record transfer fee of €50 million. Internationally, Teixeira has been capped at under-17 and under-20 level for Brazil.

Club career

Vasco de Gama

Early career

Teixeira began his career at

, playing for the youth team from 1999 to 2007. He was promoted to the senior team for the 2008 season.

2008 season

Teixeira was promoted to the senior squad for the tour of

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics ...

in January 2008. On 11 May 2008, he made his league debut for the club as a substitute in a 1–0 defeat to Internacional at the age of 18. His first goal for the club came on 28 June 2008 when he scored a brace in a 4–2 victory over

Ipatinga Ipatinga is a municipality in eastern Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is a state in Southeastern Brazil. It ranks as the second most populous, the third by gross domestic product (GDP), and the fourth largest by area in the country. The sta ...

. On 22 August, he netted the only goal in a 1–0 victory over Portuguesa. Vasco were relegated at the end of the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and po ...

, finishing in 18th position with 40 points, finishing four points off safety.

2009 season

On 8 February 2009, Teixeira was sent off in a

Campeonato Carioca The Campeonato Carioca (Carioca Championship), officially known as Campeonato Estadual do Rio de Janeiro (Port., Rio de Janeiro State Championship), was started in 1906 and is the annual football championship in the state of Rio de Janeiro, B ...

match against Fluminense. He scored his first Série B goal in a 2–1 defeat to

Bahia Bahia ( , , ; meaning "bay") is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo, Minas Gerais, and Rio de Janeiro) and the 5th-largest ...

on 25 July 2009. On 13 November 2009, he scored his final goal for the club in a 2–1 victory over América. He made his final appearance for the club on 28 November in a 2–0 defeat to Ipatinga. At the end of the

, Vasco were promoted back to the Série A after winning the league by a seven-point margin over the second-place team. This was Texeira's first, and only, trophy during his time with Vasco. On 21 December 2009, at the age of 19, he left Vasco da Gama to join Ukrainian side

, joining for a fee of around €6 million on a five-year deal. In total with Vasco, he made 92 appearances for the club, scoring 14 times, including 51 league appearances with 11 goals.

Shakhtar Donetsk

2009–10 season

Teixeira made his debut for the club on 20 March 2010. He started a

match against

Zorya Luhansk FC Zorya Luhansk ( uk, ФК «Зоря» Луганськ ) is a Ukrainian football team. Zorya Luhansk is based in the city of Luhansk, Ukraine. However, because of the Russo-Ukrainian War, the team play their games at Slavutych-Arena in Zap ...

before being taken off for compatriot Ilsinho after 55 minutes. Shakhtar won the match 2–0. His

home A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or many humans, and sometimes various companion animals. It is a fully or semi sheltered space and can have both interior and exterior aspects to it ...

debut came on 25 April in a 3–0 victory over Chornomorets Odesa. He was a 65th minute replacement for Ilsinho. His final appearance of the season came on 9 May in a 3–2 win against Tavryia Simferopol. He ended the season with three appearances for the club, all of which came in the league. Shakhtar won the 2009–10 Ukrainian Premier League by a six-point margin over second-placed

Dynamo Kyiv Football Club Dynamo Kyiv (, ) is a Ukrainian professional football club based in Kyiv. Founded in 1927 as a Kyivan football team of republican branch of the bigger Soviet Dynamo Sports Society, the club as a separate business entity was offic ...

, giving Teixeira his first trophy as a Shakhtar player.

2010–11 season

On 4 July 2010, Teixeira came on as a 68th-minute replacement for

Jádson Jádson Rodrigues da Silva, professionally known as Jádson (; born 5 October 1983), is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder. He is currently playing for Vitória. Having begun his career at Atlético Para ...

in Shakhtar's 7–1

Ukrainian Super Cup The Ukrainian Super Cup ( uk , Суперкубок України) is an association football game of the Ukrainian Premier League in traditional super cup format that acts as the grand-opening for every new football competition season in Ukrain ...

victory over Tavriya Simferopol. His European debut came in a 1–0

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concen ...

victory over

Partizan Partizan may refer to: Sport * JSD Partizan, a sports society from Belgrade, Serbia, which includes the following clubs: ** AK Partizan, athletics **Biciklistički Klub Partizan, cycling **Džudo Klub Partizan, judo ** FK Partizan, association fo ...

on 15 September. He scored his first goal for the club on 3 October in injury time against Dynamo Kyiv in a 2–0 win. On 23 October, he came on as a substitute for Vitaliy Vitsenets in the 46th minute and scored the only goal in a 1–0 victory over

Vorskla Poltava FC Vorskla Poltava ( uk, ФК «Во́рскла» Полта́ва ) is a Ukrainian professional football club based in Poltava that competes in the Ukrainian Premier League, the top flight of Ukrainian football. History Kolos Poltava The clu ...

in the 57th minute, before being sent off after 63 minutes for a second bookable offence. He replaced Willian in the 77th minute of Shakhtar's 2–0 Ukrainian Cup final victory against Dynamo Kyiv. He made 39 appearances for the club, 26 of which came in the league, and scored six goals, with five in the league, as Shakhtar secured the treble ( League,

Ukrainian Cup The Ukrainian Cup ( uk, Кубок України) is an association football national knockout cup competition run by the Ukrainian Association of Football. The competition is conducted almost exclusively among professional clubs. Since the 2003� ...

, and Super Cup).

2011–12 season

Teixeira's first match of the

came in the Super Cup. He came on as a 64th minute replacement for Henrikh Mkhitaryan but could not prevent Shakhtar from losing 3–1 to Dynamo Kyiv. This loss prevented Shakhtar from winning the treble for the second year in a row, although they did manage to recapture the Ukrainian Premier League title and the

. Teixeira's first goal of the season came on 24 July in a 2–1 league victory over

Karpaty Lviv Football Club Karpaty Lviv ( ) is a Ukrainian professional football club based in Lviv. History Early years (1963–68) The team of Karpaty was founded on 18 January, 1963. In 1961 Silmash Lviv won the championship of Lviv Oblast but lost its p ...

. He scored the first goal in Shakhtar's 2–1 extra time victory over

Metalurh Donetsk Football Club Metalurh Donetsk ( uk, Футбо́льний клуб «Металу́рг» Доне́цьк, ) was a Ukrainian professional football club based in Donetsk that went bankrupt in July 2015. History Club predecessor Football ...

in the 2012 Ukrainian Cup final. Shakhtar ended the 2011–12 Ukrainian Premier League as champions with 79 points, four ahead of nearest rivals Dynamo Kyiv, marking Teixeira's third league title in three seasons with the club. The cup success was also his second Ukrainian Cup win with the club. He made 37 appearances, scoring 10 goals. Twenty-six of the appearances and seven goals came in the league, while the other three goals came in the Ukrainian Cup. He finished the season as Shakhtar's top scorer in the Ukrainian Cup, two goals behind the overall top goalscorer Maicon of

Volyn Lutsk Volhynia (also spelled Volynia) ( ; uk, Воли́нь, Volyn' pl, Wołyń, russian: Волы́нь, Volýnʹ, ), is a historic region in Central and Eastern Europe, between south-eastern Poland, south-western Belarus, and western Ukraine. The ...

, who scored five.

2012–13 season

After losing out to Dynamo Kyiv in the Super Cup the previous year, Shakhtar overcame Metalurh Donetsk 2–0 to regain the trophy. Teixeira started the match but was replaced after 77 minutes for the newly signed Marko Dević. Teixeira then gave Shakhtar the lead in a Champions League group stage match against Italian side

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football league system. Founded in ...

on 2 October, although the match ended in a 1–1 draw. This marked his first ever goal in the competition. He scored the opener in a 2–1 victory against English side Chelsea in the Champions League on 23 October. On 27 October, Teixeira netted the only goal in a 1–0 victory against Tavriya Simferopol. After the departure of

Fernandinho Fernandinho is a hypocorism of the name Fernando and means "Little Fernando" or "Fernando Jr." in Portuguese. Fernandinho may refer to: Footballers *Fernandinho (footballer, born January 1981), Éldis Fernando Damasio, Brazilian footballer who ...

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The two ...

, Teixeira was asked to drop deeper in the pitch and act as a replacement. When asked about the decision, he stated, "Yes, indeed, after the departure of Fernandinho, we discussed this issue. I'm going to play in this position. It is important to adapt and get used to it, to operate up to the mark so that the team can continue winning". In July 2013, Teixeira signed a five-year contract extension with Shakhtar.

2013–14 season

During the 2013–14 season, Teixeira was part of a Shakhtar team that won a fifth consecutive Ukrainian Premier League title. In addition to his six league goals, he scored three times during the

of the Champions League. He contributed both goals in a 2–0 win over

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, S.A.D., more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad (; ''Royal Society''), La Real in Spanish, Erreala in Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Basque Country, founded on 7 Septemb ...

in San Sebastián, before scoring the second goal of a 4–0 defeat of the same opposition at the Donbass Arena. On 15 May 2014, he played the full 90 minutes of Shakhtar's

2014 Ukrainian Cup final The 2014 Ukrainian Cup Final is a football match that was played on 15 May 2014 in Poltava. The match is the 23rd Ukrainian Cup Final and was contested by Cup holders Shakhtar Donetsk and Dynamo Kyiv. Leadup crisis before the match The final ...

loss to Dynamo Kyiv.

2014–15 season

Teixeira ended the 2014–15 season as joint-top scorer in the

with 17 goals. He registered three goals in eight Champions League appearances; the opening goal of a 2–2 draw with

Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropo ...

and both home and away to BATE Borisov in respective 5–0 and 7–0 wins. On 4 June 2015, Teixeira played in a Ukrainian Cup final defeat to Dynamo Kyiv for the second consecutive year.

2015–16 season

At the winter break stage of the

2015–16 Ukrainian Premier League The 2015–16 Ukrainian Premier League season is the 25th top-level football competitions since the fall of the Soviet Union and the eighth since the establishment of the Ukrainian Premier League. Because of sponsorship the league changed its ...

season, Teixeira has scored 22 goals from 15 appearances, scoring at least one goal in all but two of his appearances and registering two goals on nine occasions. On 16 October 2015, he scored twice in a 3–0 win over champions Dynamo Kyiv at the

Olimpiyskiy The Olimpiyskiy National Sports Complex (also known as Olympic Stadium; uk, Національний спортивний комплекс "Олімпійський", translit=Natsionalnyi sportyvnyi kompleks "Olimpiiskyi") is a multi-use spo ...

to overtake the capital club at the top of the table. On 25 November, he scored twice in a 3–4 loss to

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

in the

of the 2015–16 Champions League.

Jiangsu Suning

In January 2016, English

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

club

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

submitted a bid of €32 million (£24.6m) to sign Teixeira, with him expressing a strong desire to move to

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Mersey Estuary and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wirral ...

. Shakhtar refused the bid, however, and on 5 February 2016, Teixeira joined Chinese club Jiangsu Suning on a four-year contract for a transfer fee of €50 million. This was the third time in ten days that China's transfer record had been broken, the first being for compatriot Ramires who also joined Jiangsu, from Chelsea. On 1 March 2016, Teixeira scored on his competitive debut for Jiangsu in a 3–2 win over

Jeonbuk Motors Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors ( ko, 전북 현대 모터스) is a South Korean professional football club based in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province that competes in the K League 1, the top tier of South Korean football. Playing at the Jeonju World Cup ...

in the

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

. On 5 March 2016, Teixeira scored two goals in a 3–0 win over

Shandong Luneng Shandong Taishan Football Club () is a professional football club that currently participates in the Chinese Super League under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team is based in Jinan, Shandong and their home stadium is ...

on his

debut. On 12 November 2020, Teixeira set up his side's first goal converted by Éder and scored the winning goal in the second-leg of the Chinese Super League finals against Guangzhou Evergrande. Jiangsu Suning won the match 2–1, with an aggregate victory of the same scoreline, securing the club's first league title in their history. Due to the club’s financial problems, Teixeira left Jiangsu Suning as a free agent in January 2021.

Beşiktaş

On 5 August 2021, Teixeira announced that he would join

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), officially known as Spor Toto Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system and is run by the ...

club

Beşiktaş Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul, Turkey, located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and Şişli, on the west by Kağıthane and Şişli, on the south by Beyoğlu, and ...

. On 10 August Beşiktaş announced that Teixeira had signed a three-year contract.

International career

Teixeira is capped at under-17 and under-20 level for Brazil. He played for Brazil at the 2007 Under-17 World Cup and the 2009 Under-20 World Cup. In the latter tournament, he scored three goals but missed the decisive penalty in the final shoot-out against

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in Ghana–Ivory Coast border, the west, Burkina ...

. He was voted the second best player in the tournament, behind Ghana's Dominic Adiyiah. Teixeira was named in the Brazil senior team's provisional squad for

Copa América Centenario The Copa América Centenario ( pt, Copa América Centenário, french: Coupe Amerique Centennaire, en, Centennial Cup America; literally ''Centennial America Cup'') was an international men's association football tournament that was hosted by the ...

, but was cut from the final squad.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Vasco da Gama *

Campeonato Brasileiro Série B The Campeonato Brasileiro Série B is commonly referred to as the Brasileirão Série B (Série B), and until 2022 was officially called Brasileirão Sportingbet by sponsorship reasons. It is the second tier of the Brazilian football league system ...

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

Shakhtar Donetsk *

: 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12,

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

, 2013–14 *

: 2010–11, 2011–12,

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

Jiangsu Suning *

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in ...

Beşiktaş *

Turkish Super Cup The Turkish Super Cup (Turkish: ''TFF Süper Kupa''), as it is currently known, is the annual super cup football match contested between the previous season's Süper Lig champions and the Turkish Cup winners in Turkey. It was originally known as ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

Brazil U-20 *

FIFA U-20 World Cup The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members’ men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 when ...

runner-up:

Individual *

Silver Ball: 2009 *

top scorer: 2014–15, 2015–16 * Ukrainian Premier League Footballer of the Year: 2015

References

External links

netvasco.com.br

CBF

oglobo.globo.com

netvasco statistics 2008

Alex Teixeira
at Topforward * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Teixeira, Alex 1990 births Living people Brazilian footballers Association football midfielders Brazil under-20 international footballers Brazil youth international footballers Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Ukrainian Premier League players Chinese Super League players Süper Lig players CR Vasco da Gama players FC Shakhtar Donetsk players Jiangsu F.C. players Beşiktaş J.K. footballers Footballers at the 2007 Pan American Games People from Duque de Caxias, Rio de Janeiro Ukrainian Cup top scorers Ukrainian Premier League top scorers Pan American Games competitors for Brazil Brazilian expatriate footballers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine Expatriate footballers in Ukraine Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in China Expatriate footballers in China Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate footballers in Turkey Sportspeople from Rio de Janeiro (state)