Chayene Medeiros Oliveira Santos (born 29 September 1990), commonly known as Chay, is a Brazilian

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 plays 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. ...

for

Volta Redonda Volta Redonda () is a Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in the Rio de Janeiro (state), Rio de Janeiro state of Brazil with an area of 182.81 km2, located from 350m to 707m above the sea level (22°31'23" S, 44°06'15" W) and with a pop ...

Early life

Named after the character from the

Sergio Leone Sergio Leone ( ; ; 3 January 1929 – 30 April 1989) was an Italian filmmaker, credited as the pioneer of the spaghetti Western genre. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest directors in the history of cinema. Leone's film-making style ...

spaghetti western

Once Upon a Time in the West ''Once Upon a Time in the West'' ( is a 1968 epic spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Leone, who co-wrote it with Sergio Donati, based on a story by Dario Argento, Bernardo Bertolucci and Leone. It stars Henry Fonda, playing against t ...

, Chay was born in

Maceió Maceió (), formerly anglicised as Maceio, is the capital and the largest city of the coastal state of Alagoas, Brazil. The name "Maceió" is an Indigenous term for a Spring (hydrology), spring. Most maceiós flow to the sea, but some get trapped ...

Alagoas Alagoas () is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil and is situated in the eastern part of the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region. It borders: Pernambuco (N and NW); Sergipe (S); Bahia (SW); and the Atlantic Ocean (E). Its capital is ...

, and moved to

Niterói Niterói () is a List of municipalities in Rio de Janeiro, municipality in the state of Rio de Janeiro (state), Rio de Janeiro, in the Southeast Region, Brazil, southeast region of Brazil. It lies across Guanabara Bay, facing the city of Rio de ...

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 ...

at the age of 4. Upon arriving at the new city, he started a treatment for a number of allergies, and started in

futsal Futsal is a variant of association football played between two teams of five players each on a court smaller than a football pitch. Its rules are based on the Laws of the Game (association football), Laws of the Game of association football, and i ...

after a recommendation from a doctor.

Club career

Chay began his senior career with Canto do Rio in 2008, playing in the

Campeonato Carioca Série C The Campeonato Carioca Série C is the fifth tier of the professional state football league in the Brazilian state of 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 ...

, before joining

Bonsucesso Bonsucesso is a neighborhood in the Rio de Janeiro#North Zone, North Zone of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil with a population of about 18,000. The name, formerly also spelt ''Bomsucesso'', may be translated with "good luck." Formerly the neighbourhood wa ...

, where he featured mainly for the under-20 side. He then moved abroad to Thailand in 2009, where he notably scored 17 goals in the

2011 Thai Division 1 League 2011 Thai League Division 1 is the 14th season of the League since its establishment in 1997. It is the feeder league for the Thai Premier League. A total of 18 teams will compete in the league. League expansion It was announced at the end of the ...

for

Songkhla Songkhla (, ), also known as Singgora or Singora (Kelantan-Pattani Malay, Pattani Malay: ซิงกอรอ, Singoro), is a city (''thesaban nakhon'') in Songkhla Province of southern Thailand, near the border with Malaysia. Songkhla lies ...

. In late 2011, back to Brazil during a holiday period, Chay was hit by a stray bullet. In 2013, Chay switched to Malaysia and signed for

Kedah FA Kedah Darul Aman Football Club () is a professional football club based in Alor Setar, Kedah. The team competes in the Malaysia A1 Semi-Pro League, the second tier of Malaysian football. They are the first team in the history of Malaysian footb ...

, but was allegedly "unsettled" at the club; he later returned to his home country and started to play

seven-a-side football Seven-a-side football is one of the minifootball variations of 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, ...

, featuring for the likes of

Fluminense Fluminense Football Club () is a Brazilian sports club based in the neighbourhood of Laranjeiras, in Rio de Janeiro, being the oldest football club in the state since its foundation in 1902. It competes in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, th ...

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 ...

and

Botafogo Botafogo (local/standard alternative Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation: ) is a beachfront neighborhood (''bairro'') in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is a mostly upper middle class and small commerce community, and is located between the hills of M ...

. In 2018, he was called up to the Brazil seven-a-side national team, winning the ''Copa América de Seleções'' and being named the best seven-a-side player in South America. Chay also returned to association football in 2017, with

Bela Vista Bela Vista (also known as ''Bexiga'' or ''Bixiga'') is one of the most traditional Italian neighborhoods in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. It belongs to the borough of Sé, and it has been a mixed neighborhood since its beginning, where free A ...

. On 15 January 2018, he moved to

Mogi Mirim Mogi Mirim is a municipality located in the eastern part of São Paulo State, in Brazil. The population is 93,650 (2020 est.) in an area of 498 km2. The elevation is 611 m. Mogi Mirim is around 65 km from Campinas, the biggest city in ...

, but left the club after nine goalless appearances and signed for on 22 May. On 16 January 2019, Chay was announced as new signing of Rio Branco-AC. He returned to the Rio de Janeiro state on 23 April, after agreeing to a contract with America-RJ. Chay moved to Portuguesa-RJ for the 2020 season, being a regular starter in the club's

Campeonato Carioca The Campeonato Carioca (Carioca Championship), officially known as Campeonato Estadual do Rio de Janeiro (Rio de Janeiro State Championship), also commonly known as the Cariocão, is the top-flight professional state football league in the Br ...

and Série D campaigns. He was a spotlight in the 2021 Carioca after scoring five times in only thirteen matches. On 25 May 2021, Chay was announced at Série B side

, He continued on loan until the end of the year. On 31 August, after scoring eight goals, he signed a permanent deal with the club until 2024; Portuguesa retained 50% of his economic rights. During his time at Botafogo a fan wrote a song called "Eu vi o Chay", a parody of "

I Will Survive "I Will Survive" is a song recorded by American singer Gloria Gaynor, released in October 1978 by Polydor Records as the second single from her sixth album, ''Love Tracks (Gloria Gaynor album), Love Tracks'' (1978). It was written by Freddie Pe ...

", comparing Chay to legends of football such as

Thierry Henry Thierry Daniel Henry (; born 17 August 1977) is a French professional football coach, pundit, sports broadcaster and former player. He is considered one of the greatest players of all time and widely regarded as the greatest player in Premi ...

, Ronaldo, Messi, and others.

Career statistics

Honours

;Botafogo *

Campeonato Brasileiro Série B The Campeonato Brasileiro Série B (commonly referred to as the Brasileirão Série B, the Série B or the Brazilian Série B to distinguish it from the Italian and the Ecuadorian Serie B), and currently officially called Brasileirão Série B ...

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

;Cruzeiro *

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

;Ceará *

Copa do Nordeste Copa do Nordeste (English: ''Cup of the North-East''), also known as Campeonato do Nordeste (''English: Championship of the North-East'') or Copa Nordeste (English: ''Northeastern Cup'') is a Brazilian football competition among Northeastern re ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

References

External links

Chayene Santos
at Goal.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Chay 1990 births Living people Footballers from Maceió Brazilian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Campeonato Brasileiro Série B players Campeonato Brasileiro Série D players Canto do Rio Foot-Ball Club players Mogi Mirim Esporte Clube players Rio Branco Football Club players America Football Club (Rio de Janeiro) players Associação Atlética Portuguesa (RJ) players Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas players Cruzeiro Esporte Clube players Ceará Sporting Club players Guarani FC players Clube de Regatas Brasil players Volta Redonda FC players Songkhla F.C. players Muangthong United F.C. players Buriram F.C. players Sisaket F.C. players Kedah Darul Aman F.C. players Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Thailand Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Malaysia Expatriate men's footballers in Thailand Expatriate men's footballers in Malaysia 21st-century Brazilian sportsmen