Cleiton Ribeiro Xavier ( uk, Клейтон Шав'єр; born 23 March 1983) is a Brazilian former 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 an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. He is known by his powerful and accurate free kicks, dribbling skills and passes.

Club career

In his early career, Cleiton Xavier played for

CSA CSA may refer to: Arts and media * Canadian Screen Awards, annual awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television * Commission on Superhuman Activities, a fictional American government agency in Marvel Comics * Crime Syndicate of Amer ...

and Internacional, and was loaned out various times.

Palmeiras

In early 2009,

Palmeiras 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 one ...

signed Cleiton from the relegated Figueirense. Cleiton Xavier proved he had good talent in Palmeiras's first matches in the Libertadores Cup and in the

São Paulo State Championship The Campeonato Paulista Série A1, commonly known as Campeonato Paulista, nicknamed Paulistão, is the top-flight professional football league in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. Run by the FPF, the league is contested between 16 clubs and t ...

. On 29 April 2009 Cleiton Xavier scored an 87th minute away-goal against

Colo-Colo Club Social y Deportivo Colo-Colo () is a Chilean professional football club based in Macul, Santiago. Founded in 1925 by David Arellano they play in the Chilean Primera División, from which they have never been relegated. The team has pla ...

in the Libertadores Cup that secured Palmeiras' progression to the knockout stages of the tournament, it was a very long-range shot inside the goalkeeper's left angle. Later in the Série A alongside teammate Diego Souza, Cleiton Xavier made an outstanding season with Palmeiras, leading the competition for 19 rounds, however Palmeiras finished 5th due to losses in the final matches and did not qualify for the Libertadores Cup. Cleiton Xavier was elected the 3rd best player of the season, even though he had an injury. In 2010, Cleiton Xavier remained with Palmeiras and also started well the year. He participated in Palmeiras's first ten goals in the

Metalist Kharkiv

On 14 July 2010, Cleiton Xavier transferred to FC Metalist Kharkiv for €4.5 million. In 2013, he became popular for scoring a fastest equalizing goal from the starting line after the restart of the match against local league rival, Chornomorets. He then inspired them to a 3 – 1 victory which boosted their chances to qualify for next season Champions League campaign in which the victory lift them above another local rival who competing for the same spot,

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 ...

Club statistics

Honours

;Internacional * Rio Grande do Sul State League: 2003, 2004 ;Figueirense * Santa Catarina State League: 2008 ;Palmeiras *

Copa do Brasil The Copa do Brasil ( en, Brazil Cup) is a knockout football competition played by 92 teams, representing all 26 Brazilian states plus the Federal District. It is the Brazilian domestic cup and the Brazilian equivalent of the FA Cup, Taça d ...

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 ...

* Campeonato Brasileiro: 2016 ;Vitória *

Campeonato Baiano The Campeonato Baiano is the football league of the state of Bahia, Brazil. The championship has been played since 1905 without interruption. 2020 format First stage: 10 teams are included in one group, playing once only against all teams i ...

: 2017

References

External links

* * *
figueirense.com
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Xavier, Cleiton 1983 births Living people Brazilian footballers Brazilian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Ukraine Centro Sportivo Alagoano players Sport Club Internacional players Sport Club do Recife players Brasiliense Futebol Clube players Sociedade Esportiva do Gama players Marília Atlético Clube players Figueirense FC players Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras players FC Metalist Kharkiv players Esporte Clube Vitória players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Ukrainian Premier League players Sportspeople from Alagoas Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine Pan American Games medalists in football Pan American Games silver medalists for Brazil Association football midfielders Footballers at the 2003 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2003 Pan American Games