Kléber João Boas Pereira (or simply Kléber Pereira in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

; born 13 August 1975 in Peri Mirim-MA,

) is a retired Brazilian footballer who last played for Moto Club. A tall and gangly player with a good heading ability, Kléber played as a striker.

Career

Brazil

Described as a late bloomer by scouts, Kléber began his career in the Brazilian professional league Second Division, playing for Moto Club in 1996. Except for a six-month stint at Náutico, Kléber remained at Moto Club until 1999. In the middle of the 1999 season, Kléber was transferred to

Atlético Paranaense Club Athletico Paranaense (abbreviated CAP, commonly known as Athletico Paranaense and up to 2019 known as Atlético Paranaense) is a Brazilian football team from the city of Curitiba, capital city of the Brazilian state of Paraná, founded o ...

, where he enjoyed success, winning the goalscoring title in 2001. After his breakout season, he was courted by other teams in Brazil, as well as scouts from foreign clubs.

Mexico

Prior to the Clausura 2003 season, Kléber was announced as the star signing by the

UANL Tigres Club Tigres de la Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, abbreviated as Tigres UANL and simply known as Tigres or internationally as Tigres de México, is a Mexican professional football club based in the Monterrey metropolitan area, Nuevo Leó ...

Monterrey Monterrey (, , abbreviated as MtY) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern Mexican state of Nuevo León. It is the ninth-largest city and the second largest metropolitan area, after Greater Mexico City. Located at the foothills of th ...

, Mexico. In his first season, he scored ten goals and helped the team reach the semifinals in the playoffs. The following season, scored eight goals while helping the team to a berth in the Apertura 2003 finals, where they lost to

Pachuca Pachuca (; ), formally known as Pachuca de Soto, is the capital and largest city of the east-central Mexico, Mexican States of Mexico, state of Hidalgo (state), Hidalgo, located in the south-central part of the state. Pachuca Municipality, Pach ...

. After his immediate success at Tigres, Kléber' performance dropped off and he was mostly relegated to the bench for the Clausura 2004 season, scoring only one goal. Following the Clausura 2004 season, he was transferred to

Veracruz Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entit ...

, where he enjoyed limited success, scoring twice. Thanks to a recommendation by his ex-teammate

Cuauhtémoc Blanco Cuauhtémoc Blanco Bravo (; born 17 January 1973) is a Mexican politician and former professional footballer serving as a member of the Chamber of Deputies. He served as the Governor of Morelos from 2018 to 2024 under the coalition ''Juntos H ...

, Kléber was signed by

Club América Club de Fútbol América S.A. de C.V., commonly known as Club América, is a professional association football, football club based in Mexico City. Nicknamed ''Las Águilas'' (The Eagles), it competes in Liga MX, the top tier of Mexican football ...

following his lone season at Veracruz. There, he regained his goalscoring prowess, scoring 14 goals in his first season at the club, helping them to a championship in the Clausura 2005 season. Kléber did not actually play in the final, after being suspended for three games due to kicking Federico Lussenhoff of

Cruz Azul Club de Futbol Cruz Azul S.A. de C.V., commonly referred to as Cruz Azul, is a professional association football, football club based in Mexico City, Mexico. It competes in Liga MX, the top tier of Mexican football league system, Mexican footba ...

in the groin in one of the semifinal matches. The following season, Kléber won his second goalscoring title, sharing it with three other players ( Vicente Matías Vuoso, Walter Gaitán and

Sebastián Abreu Washington Sebastián Abreu Gallo (; born 17 October 1976), nicknamed ''El Loco'' (The Madman), is a Uruguayan football manager and former footballer who played as a striker. He is the head coach of Mexican club Tijuana. Abreu is best known f ...

). Prior to the Apertura 2006 season, he was loaned out to sister club Necaxa (Despite playing in the same league, Club América, Necaxa and Club San Luis are owned by the same conglomerate). Kléber is a member of the "Blanco Four", a group of players who once played at Veracruz with

Blanco Blanco (''white'' or ''blank'' in Spanish) or Los Blancos may refer to: People *Blanco (surname) Fictional characters *Blanco, a hobbit in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth *Blanco Webb, character in the BBC sitcom ''Porridge'' *Graboid#El Blanco, ...

and were signed by América after being recommended by the striker. The other members are Christian Giménez, Carlos Infante and

Armando Navarrete Armando Navarrete García (born 22 November 1980) is a Mexican former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Career Navarrete made his debut at the professional level in a game between Atlas and Puebla, on September 8, 2001. Nava ...

. On 5 July 2007 Kleber returned to Brazil with Santos and signed a deal until June 30, 2008. Kléber finished as the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A 2008 top scorer, with 21 goals, tied with

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

and Keirrison.

Honours

Club

Atlético-PR *

Brazilian Série A Brazilian commonly refers to: * Brazil, a country * Brazilians, its people * Brazilian Portuguese, its dialect Brazilian may also refer to: * "The Brazilian", a 1986 instrumental music piece by Genesis * Brazilian Café, Baghdad, Iraq (1937) * Bra ...

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

* Paraná State League: 2000, 2001, 2002

* Mexican Championship: Clausura 2005 * Mexican Championship Campeón De Campeones (Mexican Super Cup): 2004–05 *

CONCACAF Champions League The CONCACAF Champions Cup, formerly known as CONCACAF Champions League (2008–2023), is an international association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for clubs from North America, Central America, ...

: 2006

Individual

* Mexican Primera División Top scorer (Shared): Apertura 2005 * Campeonato Brasileiro Série A Team of the Year:

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 ...

Campeonato Brasileiro Série A The Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (; English: "Brazilian Championship A Series"), commonly referred to as the Brasileirão (; English: "Big Brazilian" or "Great Brazilian"), the Série A or the Brazilian Série A (to distinguish it from the I ...

top goalscorer:

References

External links

* *
footballdatabase.com
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pereira, Kleber 1975 births Living people Footballers from Maranhão Brazilian men's footballers Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Liga MX players Moto Club de São Luís players Clube Náutico Capibaribe players Club Athletico Paranaense players SC Internacional players FC Sion players Tigres UANL footballers C.D. Veracruz footballers Club América footballers Club Necaxa footballers Santos FC players Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland Men's association football forwards CONCACAF Champions Cup–winning players