Leonardo Rodrigues Lima (born 2 August 1998), known as Léo Jabá, is 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 plays as a forward for São Bernardo.

Club career

Corinthians

Born 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 ...

, Léo Jabá joined

Corinthians The First Epistle to the Corinthians () is one of the Pauline epistles, part of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The epistle is attributed to Paul the Apostle and a co-author, Sosthenes, and is addressed to the Christian church in C ...

' youth setup at the age of 11. He made his unofficial first team debut in a friendly on 22 July 2015, as he entered in the second half of Corinthians' 1–0 victory against

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

Natal NATAL or Natal may refer to: Places * Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil * Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa ** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843) ** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ( ...

. Léo Jabá was a part of the under-20 team which finished second in both the 2016

Copa São Paulo de Futebol Júnior The Copa São Paulo de Futebol Júnior (or ''São Paulo Youth Football Cup'', in English), also known as Copa São Paulo de Juniores (''São Paulo Youth Cup'') and Copinha (''Little Cup''), is a cup competition played by Brazilian under-20 assoc ...

and the 2016

Campeonato Brasileiro Sub-20 The Campeonato Brasileiro Sub-20 is the official Brazilian national football tournament for U-20 teams. The Rio Grande do Sul Football Association (FGF) created the competition in 2006 and since 2015 it is organized by the Brazilian Football C ...

, before being definitely promoted to the main squad in September of that year. He made his professional debut on 21 November, coming on as a late substitute for Marlone in a 1–0 home win over Internacional. Léo Jabá scored his first professional goal on 29 March 2017, netting the opener in a 3–1

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), ...

home win over Linense.

Akhmat Grozny

On 4 July 2017, Léo Jabá joined Akhmat Grozny of the

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; , ''Rossiyskaya premyer-liga''; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is a professional association football league in Russia and the highest level of the Russian football league system. It was establis ...

, for a rumoured fee of

€ 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 ...

2 million. He made his debut abroad twelve days later, starting and scoring the winner in a 1–0 home success over

Amkar Perm FC Amkar Perm ( ) is a professional football club. Originally founded in 1994, it is based in the city of Perm. It was a participant in second-tier football from 1995 and in the Russian Premier League from 2004 to 2018, after which it was dissol ...

. Initially a first-choice, Léo Jabá lost his starting spot in April 2018, and finished the season with three goals in 25 appearances overall.

PAOK

On 20 June 2018,

PAOK PAOK (, Πανθεσσαλονίκειος Αθλητικός Όμιλος Κωνσταντινοπολιτών, ''Panthessalonikeios Athlitikós Ómilos Constantinopoliton'', ''Pan-Thessalonian Athletic Club of Constantinopolitans''), commonly ...

signed Léo Jabá on a five-year deal, for a €3.5 million fee. He made his debut for his new side on 24 July, starting in a 2–1 home win over

FC Basel Fussball Club Basel 1893, widely known as FC Basel, FCB, or just Basel, is a Swiss professional Association football, football club based in Basel, in the Basel-Stadt, Canton of Basel-Stadt. Formed in 1893, the club has been List of Swiss footba ...

, for the campaign's

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 ...

. On 15 September 2018, Léo Jabá scored his first goal of the 2018–19 Super League season, netting his team's third in a 3–1 away win against OFI. On 4 October, he scored a brace and provided two assists in a 4–1 away routing of BATE Borisov in the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

group stage. On 3 March 2019, Léo Jabá scored a crucial goal, despite his red card in the second half, sealing a 2–0 away win against rivals Panathinaikos in his club's effort to win the title undefeated. Amidst interest from

Porto Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Portugal, second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto c ...

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

Anderlecht Anderlecht (; ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, B ...

, he finished the season with seven goals in 39 appearances in all competitions. In May 2020, after losing space under manager Abel Ferreira, Léo Jabá suffered a

knee In humans and other primates, the knee joins the thigh with the leg and consists of two joints: one between the femur and tibia (tibiofemoral joint), and one between the femur and patella (patellofemoral joint). It is the largest joint in the hu ...

injury, missing out the remainder of the season.

Loan to Vasco da Gama

On 25 March 2021, Jabá was loaned to

Vasco da Gama Vasco da Gama ( , ; – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and nobleman who was the Portuguese discovery of the sea route to India, first European to reach India by sea. Da Gama's first voyage (1497–1499) was the first to link ...

until December. He was regularly used by the club during the year, but did not sign a permanent deal as the club announced his departure on 2 December.

2022: return from loan

On 12 January 2022, Léo Jabá returned to action for PAOK after 488, scoring his team's second a 2–0 home win game against

Panetolikos Panetolikos Football Club (), or with its full name officially romanized as Panaitolikós Gymnastikós Filekpaideftikós Sýllogos (''; Pan- Aetolian Gymnastic and Educational Club''), is a Greek professional football club. It is based in Agrini ...

and knocking down manager

Răzvan Lucescu Răzvan Lucescu (; born 17 February 1969) is a Romanian professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player, who is currently managing Super League Greece, Greek Super League club PAOK FC, PAOK. ...

in his celebration. He played a further eleven matches during the remainder of the 2021–22 season, scoring another goal against

Lamia Lamia (; ), in ancient Greek mythology, was a child-eating monster and, in later tradition, was regarded as a type of night-haunting spirit or "daimon". In the earliest myths, Lamia was a beautiful queen of ancient Libya who had an affair with ...

on 6 March.

São Bernardo

On 8 December 2022, Léo Jabá returned to his home country and was announced as the new signing for Série C side São Bernardo. He scored three goals in ten appearances during the 2023 Campeonato Paulista, as the club lifted the Taça Independência, given to the eliminated sides of the countryside.

Personal life

Léo Jabá's younger brother Leandro was also a footballer and a forward. He played for several youth teams before moving to

FK Pardubice FK Pardubice is a Czech football club located in the city of Pardubice. Since 2020, the club has played in the Czech First League. The club is the successor of TJ Tesla Pardubice, which merged with FC Loko Pardubice in 2008. History The club ad ...

in 2022.

Career statistics

Honours

Corinthians *

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

PAOK *

Super League Greece The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repla ...

: 2018–19 *

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup (), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Betsson Greek Cup for sponsorship reasons is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second-most important domestic men's footba ...

: 2018–19;Runner-Up : 2021–22

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jaba, Leo 1998 births Living people Footballers from São Paulo Brazilian men's footballers Brazil men's under-20 international footballers Men's association football forwards Sport Club Corinthians Paulista players FC Akhmat Grozny players PAOK FC players CR Vasco da Gama players São Bernardo Futebol Clube players C.F. Estrela da Amadora players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Campeonato Brasileiro Série B players Russian Premier League players Super League Greece players Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Russia Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Russia Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal 21st-century Brazilian sportsmen