Cristiane Rozeira de Souza Silva (born 15 May 1985), known as Cristiane (), 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 for

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 the Brazilian women's national team. A prolific forward, she was part of Brazil's silver medal-winning teams at the

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

and

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

Olympic football tournaments. In total she has participated in five

FIFA Women's World Cup The FIFA Women's World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior list of women's national association football teams, women's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internationale de Footb ...

s and four

Olympics The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...

. At club level, Cristiane has played professionally in France, Germany, Sweden, the United States, Russia and South Korea, as well as in her native Brazil.

Career

Early beginnings

Cristiane started her career at the local football clubs São Bernardo (in

São Bernardo do Campo São Bernardo do Campo () is a Brazilian Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in the state of São Paulo. It is part of the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo. The population is 810,729 (2022 census) in an area of . According to 2021 data from ...

) and

Clube Atlético Juventus Clube Atlético Juventus (Latin for ''Youth''), commonly referred to as Juventus da Mooca or simply Juventus, is a Brazilian professional football club in the district of Mooca, São Paulo, that competes in Campeonato Paulista Série A2, the s ...

(in

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

). At the age of 15, she debuted for the Brazil Under-19 team and took part in both the 2002 U-19 Women's World Championship in Canada and the 2004 U-19 Women's World Championship in

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

; Brazil finished fourth in both tournaments.Cristiane: Power and commitment
''FIFA.com''. 29 November 2007. Retrieved 19 February 2008. In 2003, Cristiane scored one goal during one appearance as a substitute, when Brazil successfully defended their title at the Sudamericano Femenino. She was also part of the squad for the 2003 Women's World Cup, appearing as a substitute in all four of Brazil's matches.

Breakthrough

Cristiane had her international breakthrough at the Olympic football tournament in Athens 2004. Brazil reached the final, which they lost to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, but still achieved their biggest international success until then, by winning the Olympic silver medal. With five goals, Cristiane was honored as the tournament's top scorer along with

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

's Birgit Prinz. In February 2005, Cristiane transferred from Atlético Juventus to the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

women's

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

club 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam. During the 2005–06 season she won the Bundesliga title and the German cup competition with Potsdam, although she was often used as a substitute and had difficulties to adjust to the physical play in Germany. In the following season she was transferred to the league rival

VfL Wolfsburg Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg e. V., commonly known as VfL Wolfsburg (), is a German professional sports club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. The club grew out of a multi-sports club for Volkswagen workers in the city of Wolfsburg. I ...

, where she scored seven goals during the 2006–07 season,Gelingt der Anschluss an die Spitzengruppe?
. ''VfL Wolfsburg''. Retrieved 19 February 2008. but her problems to adapt to the style of play in Germany continued. In August 2007, Cristiane did not renew her contract in Wolfsburg and returned to Brazil to support the newly created Brazilian cup competition, the Copa do Brasil de Futebol Feminino. Cristiane was the top scorer at the 2006 Sudamericano Femenino with 12 goals, even though Brazil competed with a weakened team and only finished second behind

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

for the first time after four consecutive title defenses. In 2007, she scored eight goals at the

Pan American Games The Pan American Games, known as the Pan Am Games, is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas. It features thousands of athletes participating in competitions to win different summer sports. It is held among athletes from nations of th ...

, hosted by Brazil. In the final, the Brazilian national team defeated the United States Under-20 squad before a crowd of 68,000 at the

Maracanã Stadium Maracanã Stadium (, ; named after the Maracanã River), officially known as Jornalista Mário Filho Stadium (, ; , named after Mário Filho), is an association football stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Located in the Maracanã neighbor ...

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 2007 Women's World Cup Cristiane was voted the third-best player of the tournament. She scored five goals and she was the second best scorer of her team next to her strike partner, Marta. She was involved in a collision that resulted in a controversial red card for Shannon Boxx of the United States in the semifinal. Brazil reached the Women's World Cup final for the first time which they lost to defending champions

. Cristiane came in third for the 2007

FIFA World Player of the Year The FIFA World Player of the Year was an association football award presented annually by the sport's governing body, FIFA, between 1991 and 2015 at the FIFA World Player Gala. Coaches and captains of international teams and media representative ...

award. In February 2008, she signed a five-month contract until the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

with the Swedish

Damallsvenskan The (; ), known as OBOS for sponsorship reasons, is the highest division of women's football in Sweden. It is one of the best women's leagues in the world, and was founded in 1988. The division consists of a league of 14 teams. From 2013, t ...

club

Linköpings FC Linköpings may refer to: *Linköpings ASS, Linköpings Allmänna Simsällskap is a Swedish swim team *Linköpings FC, an association football club *Linköpings FF, premier men's football team *Linköpings HC, Linköpings Hockey Club See also< ...

. On 21 August 2008 at the Beijing Olympics, Cristiane was substituted in what looked like a repeat of the 2004 Olympics Women's Football final in that Brazil once again lost to the USA team in the final to end up with the silver. The match ended 1–0 after extra time. For the second straight Olympics, she scored 5 goals and was the tournament's leading scorer; unlike the 2004 tournament, Cristiane was the outright leading scorer. On 28 August 2008, Cristiane joined Corinthians to play in

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), ...

. On 30 August 2008, during her debut as a Corinthians player, she scored her first goal for the club, helping her team beat São José 3–1 in the Campeonato Paulista.

To the United States

On 24 September 2008, the

Women's Professional Soccer Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) was the top-level professional women's soccer league in the United States. It began play on March 29, 2009. The league was composed of seven teams for its first two seasons and fielded six teams for the 2011 ...

(WPS) rights to Cristiane were acquired by the

Chicago Red Stars Chicago Stars Football Club is an American professional soccer team based in the Chicago metropolitan area that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). A founding member of the Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) league as the Chic ...

at the inaugural International Draft. Cristiane completed her move to the Red Stars on 27 February 2009. On 12 July 2009, Cristiane scored the first

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

in WPS history, leading the Chicago Red Stars to a 3–1 victory against FC Gold Pride. She finished as the team top scorer with seven goals and was named to the league All-Star team. She returned to Chicago for the 2010 season, but showed less impressive form and was made a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

after only scoring three goals in 24 appearances. Chicago Red Stars suspended operations shortly afterwards and Cristiane decided to play the 2011 season in Brazil.

2009–present

Paulista Feminino Final Santos 0x1 Palmeiras - 52571017433 - Cristiane

Cristiane signed a three-month loan contract with Santos on 14 August 2009 to play in the

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as Copa Libertadores de América (), is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in South American club football. The tournam ...

. She helped her club win both competitions, and scored a goal in the Copa do Brasil final. In September 2011, she joined Russian Champions League contestant

WFC Rossiyanka WFC Rossiyanka was a Russian women's football club from Khimki. History The team was founded in 1990 as Nadezhda Krasnoarmeysk, being initially a futsal club. Futsal was played until 1998, when the club left it to concentrate in association foo ...

. A year later she moved to São José Esporte Clube of São José dos Campos, Brazil. Early in 2013 it was announced that Cristiane would join the

Icheon Daekyo WFC Icheon Daekyo Women's Football Club () was a South Korean women's football team based in Icheon, Gyeonggi-do. It was founded in 2002 and competed in the WK League, the top division of women's football in South Korea, from the league's inaugural ...

(Daekyo Kangaroos) in South Korea's WK-League. She quit South Korea shortly afterwards, in order to join Centro Olímpico in Brazil. In August 2015 Cristiane and compatriot Érika made a double transfer to French UEFA Women's Champions League contenders

Paris Saint-Germain Féminines Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain or simply PSG, are a French professional women's football club based in Paris. Founded in 1971, they compete in the Première Ligue, the top division of Fr ...

. Paris coach Farid Benstiti already knew Cristiane, having been her boss at Rossiyanka. In July 2017, Cristiane joined Changchun Zhuoyue on a transfer from

. In October 2017, Cristiane was one of five Brazil players to quit international football, disgruntled at pay and conditions, and the

Brazilian Football Confederation The Brazilian Football Confederation (, CBF) is the governing body of football in Brazil. It was founded on Monday, 8 June 1914, as , and renamed Confederação Brasileira de Desportos in 1916. The football confederation, as known today, sepa ...

's sacking of head coach Emily Lima. She soon relented and indicated a willingness to return to the national team in February 2018, ahead of the 2018 Copa América Femenina. On 16 January 2020, after a one-year spell at

, Cristiane returned to Santos. On 10 December 2022, she renewed her contract until the end of 2024. On 13 January 2024, Cristiane rescinded her contract with Santos, and was announced at

the following day.

Personal life

Cristiane is openly

lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...

, and has been in a relationship with Ana Paula Garcia Silva, a lawyer, since February 2019. On 15 August 2020, the two married in São Paulo, Brazil. Her son Bento was born on 26 April 2021.

Career statistics

International

Honours

;Santos *

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

Copa do Brasil The Copa do Brasil () 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 it is the Brazilian equivalent of the FA Cup, Taça de Portugal, ...

* Copa Paulista: 2020 ;1. FFC Turbine Potsdam * UEFA Women's Cup: 2004–05 *

: 2005–06 ;São Paulo * Campeonato Brasileiro de Futebol Feminino Série A2: 2019 Brazil *

runner-up: 2007 *

: 2007, 2015 *

Silver Medal:

* Sudamericano Femenino: 2003 * Copa América Femenina:

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

Individual * Copa América Femenina Top Scorer:

(6 goals) *

Third place award: 2007, 2008 * Third-best player at the

Bronze Ball : 2007 * Copa Libertadores Femenina Top Scorer: 2009, 2012 * Sudamericano Femenino Top Scorer: 2006 * Summer Olympics Top scorer:

* FIFA Women's World Cup Goal of the Tournament:

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

* IFFHS CONMEBOL Woman Team of the Decade 2011–2020 *

All-time Top Scorer: 14 goals * Has scored 2 hat tricks in Olympic play, including the fastest in Olympic history. Cristiane, Barbra Banda, Birgit Prinz and

Christine Sinclair Christine Margaret Sinclair (born June 12, 1983) is a retired Canadian professional Association football, soccer player who most recently played as a Forward (association football), forward for the Portland Thorns FC, Portland Thorns of the ...

are the only four women to have ever scored a hat trick in the Olympics.

References

External links

*
Video of an interview at FIFA headquarters in December 2007

Santos player profile
*
Linköpings player profile
* *
archive

Player French football stats
at statsfootofeminin.fr {{DEFAULTSORT:Cristiane 1985 births 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup players 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup players 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup players 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup players 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup players Living people Footballers from Osasco Brazilian women's footballers Brazil women's international footballers Brazilian expatriate women's footballers Women's association football forwards Olympic footballers for Brazil Olympic medalists in football Olympic silver medalists for Brazil Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 2007 Pan American Games Footballers at the 2015 Pan American Games FIFA Women's Century Club Expatriate women's footballers in Germany Expatriate women's footballers in Sweden Expatriate women's soccer players in the United States Expatriate women's footballers in Russia Expatriate women's footballers in South Korea Expatriate women's footballers in France Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in France Damallsvenskan players Women's Professional Soccer players 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam players VfL Wolfsburg (women) players Linköpings FC players Sport Club Corinthians Paulista (women) players Chicago Red Stars players Santos FC (women) players Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (women) players WFC Rossiyanka players São José Esporte Clube (women) players Associação Desportiva Centro Olímpico players Paris Saint-Germain FC (women) players Première Ligue players Changchun Zhuoyue players Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Russia Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in South Korea Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Brazilian LGBTQ footballers Brazilian lesbian sportswomen WK League players Pan American Games gold medalists in football Pan American Games gold medalists for Brazil Medalists at the 2007 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2015 Pan American Games Campeonato Brasileiro de Futebol Feminino Série A1 players São Paulo FC (women) players 21st-century Brazilian LGBTQ people 21st-century Brazilian sportswomen UEFA Women's Champions League–winning players