Cléber Santana Loureiro (27 June 1981 – 28 November 2016) was 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 lea ...

who played as a

central midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. He won state championships with

Sport Sport is a physical activity or game, often Competition, competitive and organization, organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The numbe ...

, Vitória, Santos and

Avaí Avaí is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil. The population is 5,436 (2020 est.) in an area of 540 km2. Media In telecommunications, the city was served by Companhia Telefônica Brasileira until 1973, when it began to be serve ...

. He also had spells abroad, with

Kashiwa Reysol is a Japanese professional association football, football club based in Kashiwa, Chiba Prefecture, part of the Greater Tokyo Area. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. Their home stadium is Sankyo ...

in Japan and

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...

and

Mallorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest of the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, seventh largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. The capital of the island, Palma, Majorca, Palma, i ...

in Spain. Santana was the captain of the Chapecoense team aboard

LaMia Flight 2933 LaMia Flight 2933 was a Air charter, charter flight of an Avro RJ85, operated by LaMia, that on 28 November 2016 crashed near Medellín, Colombia, killing 71 of the 77 people on board. The aircraft was transporting the first-team squad of Brazili ...

that crashed, killing him and 70 others.

Football career

Born in

Abreu e Lima Abreu e Lima is a Brazilian municipality in the state of Pernambuco. It is located in the Metropolitan Region of Recife, also known as Greater Recife. Abreu e Lima covers , and has a population of 100,346 with a population density of 780 inhabit ...

Pernambuco Pernambuco ( , , ) is a States of Brazil, state of Brazil located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast region of the country. With an estimated population of 9.5 million people as of 2024, it is the List of Brazilian states by population, ...

, Santana started playing professionally with

Sport Club do Recife Sport Club do Recife (), commonly known as Sport Recife or simply Sport, is a Brazilian sports club, located in Recife, Pernambuco. Founded in 1905, the club currently competes in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, the top tier of football i ...

. He then went on to represent in Brazil

Esporte Clube Vitória Esporte Clube Vitória () is a Brazilian professional club based in Salvador, Bahia, Salvador, Bahia founded on 13 May 1899. It competes in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, as well as in the Campeonato Baiano, the top flight of the Bahia St ...

and

Santos FC Santos Futebol Clube () is a Brazilian sports club based in Vila Belmiro, a ''bairro'' in the city of Santos, São Paulo, Santos. It plays in the Campeonato Paulista, the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo's premier State football lea ...

, punctuated by a stint with

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 ...

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

. In July 2007, Santana was signed from Santos by

, on a three-year contract worth

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...

6 million. Although not an undisputed starter, he still contributed with 23

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football * ''League of Legends'', a 2009 multiplayer online battle a ...

matches as the ''Colchoneros'' returned to the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

after a 12-year

hiatus Hiatus may refer to: * Hiatus (anatomy), a natural fissure in a structure * Hiatus (stratigraphy), a discontinuity in the age of strata in stratigraphy *''Hiatus'', a genus of picture-winged flies with sole member species '' Hiatus fulvipes'' * G ...

, being played mostly after

Maniche Nuno Ricardo de Oliveira Ribeiro (born 11 November 1977), known as Maniche (), is a Portuguese retired professional footballer who played as a central midfielder. He played top-flight football in Portugal, Russia, England, Spain, Italy and G ...

's loan departure to

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football ...

in January 2008. For the 2008–09 season, Santana was loaned to fellow

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

club

RCD Mallorca Real Club Deportivo Mallorca, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (, , ''Royal Sporting Club Mallorca''), commonly known as Real Mallorca or RCD Mallorca, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Palma de Mallorca, ...

. On 9 November 2008 he scored his first goal for the

Balearic Islands The Balearic Islands are an archipelago in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago forms a Provinces of Spain, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain, ...

team, in a 3–3 home draw against

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club (; ), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao (), or simply Athletic, is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Southern Basque Country, Basque Country, Spain. They are known ...

, and finished the campaign (in which he featured heavily, alongside another player loaned by Atlético,

José Manuel Jurado José Manuel Jurado Marín (born 29 June 1986) is a Spanish former professional Association football, footballer who played as a midfielder. He played for both major teams in Madrid during his career, Real Madrid CF, Real and Atlético Madrid, ...

) with five, which also included the 2–1 winner against already crowned champions

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...

on 17 May 2009, and a solo effort the following week, a 3–1 triumph at

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

. Cléber then returned to Atlético, being used sparingly but managing to net in a 2–2 home draw against

UD Almería Unión Deportiva Almería, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish professional football club based in Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded on 26 July 1989 and known as ''Almería Club de Fútbol'' until 2001 ...

, on 23 September 2009. In late January of the following year, even though he had renewed his contract until June 2012, he returned to his country, signing with

São Paulo FC São Paulo Futebol Clube () is a professional Association football, football club in the Morumbi, São Paulo, Morumbi district of São Paulo, Brazil. It plays in Campeonato Paulista, São Paulo (state), São Paulo's premier State football lea ...

. On 21 September 2012, Santana was announced at

Clube de Regatas do 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 ...

, 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 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 ...

side bought 70% of his rights; he scored on his official debut two days later, against

Atlético Clube Goianiense Atlético Clube Goianiense, usually known as Atlético Goianiense, is a Brazilian football team from the city of Goiânia, capital city of the Brazilian state of Goiás. Atlético Goianiense is the oldest Goiânia city football club. The clu ...

for the Série A. In the following years, Santana represented

Avaí Futebol Clube Avaí is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil. The population is 5,436 (2020 est.) in an area of 540 km2. Media In telecommunications, the city was served by Companhia Telefônica Brasileira until 1973, when it began to be serve ...

in the Série B,

Criciúma Esporte Clube Criciúma Esporte Clube is a Brazilian professional club based in Criciúma, Santa Catarina (state), Santa Catarina founded on 13 May 1947. Criciúma is the most successful team from Santa Catarina, having won the 1991 Copa do Brasil, the 2002 ...

in that level and also Série A and

Associação Chapecoense de Futebol Associação Chapecoense de Futebol, commonly known as Chapecoense, is a Brazilian Association football, football club, based in the city of Chapecó in the state of Santa Catarina (state), Santa Catarina. The club was founded in 1973 with the ...

in the top division. He captained the latter, helping the Santa Catarina-based team to

the finals ''The Finals'' is a free-to-play first-person shooter, developed and published by Embark Studios. The game focuses on team-based matches on maps with a destructible environment, where players (who are divided into a number of distinct classes) ...

of the

2016 Copa Sudamericana The 2016 Copa Sudamericana () was the 15th edition of the Copa Sudamericana, South America's secondary club association football, football tournament organized by CONMEBOL. The 2016 Copa Sudamericana Finals, finals were originally to be played be ...

Death

On 28 November 2016, whilst travelling with Chapecoense to the aforementioned finals, 35-year-old Santana was among the fatalities of the

accident in the Colombian village of Cerro Gordo,

La Unión, Antioquia La Unión is a municipality in Colombia, located in the Eastern subregion of the department of Antioquia. It is bordered to the north by the municipalities of La Ceja and El Carmen de Viboral, to the east by El Carmen de Viboral, to the south ...

Career statistics

Honours

Sport * Copa Nordeste: 2000 *

Campeonato Pernambucano The Campeonato Pernambucano is the top-flight professional state football league in the Brazilian state of Pernambuco. It is run by the Pernambuco Football Federation (FPF). History The first edition of the Campeonato Pernambucano was played i ...

: 2000 Vitória *

Campeonato Baiano The Campeonato Baiano (), also known as the Baianão (), is the top-flight professional state football league in the Brazilian state of Bahia. Run by the Bahia Football Federation (FBF), it is the second-oldest state football championship o ...

: 2004 Santos *

Campeonato Paulista The Campeonato Paulista Série A1, commonly known as Campeonato Paulista, nicknamed Paulistão, is the top-flight professional state football league in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. Run by the São Paulo State Football Federation (FPF), ...

: 2006, 2007 Atlético Madrid *

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from , "between" and , " betting pool"),Most precisely, from ( football pool); cf. originally called the International Football Cup, was a summer football competition between European clubs. The competition was dis ...

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 ...

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

: Runner-up 2009–10 Avaí *

Campeonato Catarinense The Campeonato Catarinense is the top-flight professional state football league in the Brazilian state of Santa Catarina. It is run by the Santa Catarina Football Federation (FCF). History The Catarinense has had different names throughout ...

: 2012 Chapecoense *

Copa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Sudamericana, also known as Copa Sudamericana (; ), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL, the governing body of football in South America, since 2002. It is the second-most prestigious club com ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

(posthumously) *

: 2016

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Santana, Cleber 1981 births 2016 deaths Brazilian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Campeonato Brasileiro Série B players Sport Club do Recife players Esporte Clube Vitória players Santos FC players São Paulo FC players Club Athletico Paranaense players Avaí FC players CR Flamengo footballers Criciúma Esporte Clube players Associação Chapecoense de Futebol players J1 League players Kashiwa Reysol players La Liga players Atlético Madrid footballers RCD Mallorca players Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Japan Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Copa Sudamericana–winning players Footballers killed in the LaMia Flight 2933 crash 21st-century Brazilian sportsmen 20th-century Brazilian sportsmen Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Japan