Dionatan do Nascimento Teixeira (24 July 1992 – 5 November 2017) was a 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

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

. Born in Brazil, he represented Slovakia at youth level. Teixeira began playing football with local side

Londrina EC Londrina Esporte Clube, more commonly referred to as Londrina, is a Brazilian professional football club in Londrina, Paraná, which currently plays in Série C, the third tier of Brazilian football, after being relegated from Série B in 202 ...

in Brazil before he was given the opportunity to play in Europe with Slovak side

MFK Košice MFK or mfk may refer to: * Movement for the Future of Curaçao, a political party in the island of Curaçao * Beigan Airport, an airport in Beigan, Taiwan, by IATA code * North Mofu language, a language spoken in northern Cameroon, by ISO 639 code ...

in 2008. He played in the youth teams at Košice and went on trials with a number of clubs in England. A failure to gain a work permit ended any chances of him joining an English club, and after playing on loan for Slovan Bratislava in 2011–12 he was released by Košice. After briefly playing amateur football he moved on to Baník Ružiná and then to

Slovak Super Liga The Slovak First Football League (), officially known as Niké liga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Slovakia and the highest level of the Football in Slovakia, Slovak football league system. It was formed ...

side

Dukla Banská Bystrica Dukla is a town and an eponymous municipality in southeastern Poland, in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship. As of December 2021, the town has a population of 2,017. The total area of the commune is . Dukla belongs to Lesser Poland, and until the Pa ...

. In 2013 Teixeira was granted Slovak citizenship and after impressing

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

whilst on trial he joined them on a three-year contract in June 2014. However, he failed to make any impact at Stoke and left in January 2017 and later joined Moldovan side

Sheriff Tiraspol Fotbal Club Sheriff Tiraspol (), commonly known as Sheriff Tiraspol or simply Sheriff, is a professional football club based in Tiraspol, a city located in the unrecognised breakaway state of Transnistria, that plays in the Liga, the top tier o ...

Career

Early career

Teixeira began his career with local team

in his native Brazil. At the age of 16 he decided to move into European football and earned a youth contract with Slovak side

. In 2009, Teixeria went on trial with a number of English teams including

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

and

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

. He returned to Košice in April 2009 and made his first team debut on 18 April 2009 against

MFK Dubnica MFK or mfk may refer to: * Movement for the Future of Curaçao, a political party in the island of Curaçao * Beigan Airport, an airport in Beigan, Taiwan, by IATA code * North Mofu language, a language spoken in northern Cameroon, by ISO 639 code ...

. After a lack of opportunity at Košice he went on loan to Slovan Bratislava for the 2011–12 season but spent his time in

Bratislava Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

playing in the B team. He left Košice in the summer of 2012 and after spending time playing for local amateur side Slovan Čeľadice he joined 2. Liga side Baník Ružiná. In March 2013 he joined

side

. In January 2014, Teixeira had a trial at

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

and at

in March 2014.

Stoke City

On 11 June 2014, he signed a three-year contract with

, with Chief Executive Tony Scholes saying — "We have been following Dionatan's progress for some time and we're delighted to have secured his services because there's no doubt he's a talented player with a great deal of potential." Stoke manager

Mark Hughes Leslie Mark Hughes (born 1 November 1963) is a Welsh association football, football coach and former player who is the head coach of club Carlisle United F.C., Carlisle United. During his playing career he usually operated as a Forward (asso ...

stated that whilst on trial Teixeira reminded him of

Ryan Nelsen Ryan William Nelsen (born 18 October 1977) is a former New Zealand professional football player and former head coach of Major League Soccer side Toronto FC. Nelsen commonly played as a defender, and his professional career began in 1995. He ...

who played for Hughes at

. —"Dionatan came in on trial and I've done that before with the likes of Chris Samba and Ryan Nelsen, who we had the opportunity to bring in at Blackburn. When you can look at players close up you get a better impression of what their capabilities are. We did it with Dionatan and he looked really good". Teixeira's start to his Stoke City career was hampered after he broke his foot in training which ruled him out for most of the 2014–15 season. He made his

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

debut for Stoke on 21 February 2015, coming on as a substitute in a 2–1 victory against

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

. On 3 October 2015, he joined

League One League One or League 1 may refer to: Association football * EFL League One, the third tier of football in England. * China League One, the second tier of football in China * K League 1, the top-tier football in South Korea * Lao League 1 * Lea ...

side

Fleetwood Town Fleetwood Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Fleetwood, Lancashire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Established in 1997, the current Flee ...

on loan. He spent three months with the club making ten appearances before returning to Stoke. Teixeira again featured just once as a substitute for Stoke in 2015–16, away at

Bournemouth Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...

in February 2016. In May 2016 he had a trial at MLS side Orlando City. Teixeira's contract with Stoke was terminated in January 2017 after making just two appearances as substitute.

Sheriff Tiraspol

On 17 February 2017, Teixeira signed for Moldovan club

Death

On 5 November 2017, Teixeira suffered a fatal

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

Londrina Londrina (, literally "Little London") is a city located in the north of the state of Paraná (state), Paraná, South Region, Brazil, and is 388 km (241 miles) away from the state capital, Curitiba. It is the second largest city in the state and f ...

, Brazil.

International career

Teixeira gained a Slovak passport in August 2013. After that he was a regular member of the Slovak U21 team.

Personal life

His younger brother Marcão also became a professional footballer.

Career statistics

Source:

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Teixeira, Dionatan 1992 births 2017 deaths Footballers from Londrina Slovak men's footballers Slovakia men's youth international footballers Brazilian men's footballers Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in England Men's association football defenders Londrina Esporte Clube players FC VSS Košice players ŠK Slovan Bratislava players TJ Baník Ružiná players FK Dukla Banská Bystrica players Stoke City F.C. players Fleetwood Town F.C. players Slovak First Football League players 2. Liga (Slovakia) players Expatriate men's footballers in Slovakia Slovak people of Brazilian descent Slovak expatriate sportspeople in England Slovak expatriate sportspeople in Moldova Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Moldova Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Slovakia Premier League players English Football League players Moldovan Super Liga players FC Sheriff Tiraspol players Naturalized citizens of Slovakia Naturalised association football players Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Moldova 21st-century Brazilian sportsmen