Nilmar Honorato da Silva (born 14 July 1984), commonly known as Nilmar, is a Brazilian former 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 striker. He won club and personal honours with

Internacional Sport Club Internacional (), commonly known as Internacional, Inter de Porto Alegre, a cidade do Grêmio or simply Inter, is a Brazilian professional football club based in Porto Alegre. They play in the Série A, the first division of the ...

and

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 ...

in Brazil, and also played in France for

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

and in Spain for

Villarreal Villarreal (officially, in ) is a city and municipality in the province of Castellón which is part of the Valencian Community in the east of Spain. The town is located at 42 m above sea level, 7 km to the south of the province's capital ( ...

. He also had several short spells in the Middle East towards the end of his career. Nilmar made his international debut for

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 ...

in 2003 and scored 9 goals in 24 appearances. He was part of their squad that won the

2009 FIFA Confederations Cup The 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup was the eighth FIFA Confederations Cup, Confederations Cup, and was held in South Africa from 14 June to 28 June 2009, as a prelude to the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The draw was held on 22 November 2008 at the Sandton ...

and represented his nation at the

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

Club career

Internacional

After coming through the youth ranks of

, Nilmar was promoted to the first team in 2002 and appeared regularly.

Lyon

Nilmar was signed by

in the summer of 2004, initially as cover for fellow Brazilian forward

Giovane Élber Élber de Souza (born 23 July 1972), commonly known as Giovane Élber, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a striker. A prolific goalscorer in various clubs, Élber's career was mostly spent in Germany, where he repre ...

. He signed with a clause in his contract that stated that he could be loaned back to Internacional once Élber was fit. Nilmar made an impressive start during his stint at Lyon, scoring two debut goals as a substitute against

Rennes Rennes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in Northwestern France at the confluence of the rivers Ille and Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the Brittany (administrative region), Brittany Regions of F ...

. He did not score any more goals in the

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

that season.

Corinthians

With the impending signing of

Fred Fred or FRED may refer to: People * Fred (name), including a list of people and characters with the name Mononym * Fred (cartoonist) (1931–2013), pen name of Fred Othon Aristidès, French * Fred (footballer, born 1949) (1949–2022), Fred ...

, Lyon chose to loan Nilmar out, this time to

in his native Brazil. They were somewhat forced to do this in order to stay within the limit of non-EU players. As well as this law, Lyon already had four established forwards, namely Fred,

Sylvain Wiltord Sylvain Claude Wiltord (born 10 May 1974) is a French former professional footballer. Mainly a right winger, he also played as a centre-forward, second striker and on the left wing. Wiltord had a four-season spell at Arsenal, with whom he w ...

Milan Baroš Milan Baroš (; born 28 October 1981) is a Czech former professional footballer who played as a forward. In 2005, he was part of the Liverpool team which won the UEFA Champions League. He went on to win Ligue 1 with Lyon in 2007, the FA Cup w ...

, and

Sidney Govou Sidney Rodrigue Noukpo Govou (born 27 July 1979) is a French former professional footballer who played primarily as a winger, but was occasionally deployed as a striker. He is most prominent for his lengthy playing career at Lyon where he won s ...

, and, despite his good performances with Corinthians, Nilmar was ultimately sold to the South American club, for €10 million. At Corinthians, the young striker hit the target on his debut against

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 ...

, with almost his first touch of the ball and he continued to impress fans and critics alike throughout his first season. His skill, speed, and mazy dribbles helped win him a place in the Brazilian League all-star team for the 2005 season.

Return to Internacional

On 17 August 2007, the Justiça do Trabalho (literally "court of employment") cancelled Nilmar's contract because Corinthians and third-party owner MSI owed the player €2 million. Nilmar was consequently available to sign for any club for free, while Corinthians must still pay the transfer debt of €8million they owed to Lyon for Nilmar's original transfer in 2006. Eventually Corinthians agreed to pay Lyon €6.5 million for the overdue portion of the transfer debt in December 2007. after losing the case in the

Court of Arbitration for Sport The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS; , TAS) is an international body established in 1984 to settle disputes related to sport through arbitration. Its headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland, and its courts are located in New York City, Sy ...

and FIFA Players' Status Committee. In the following month, Nilmar returned to Internacional for undisclosed fee to Corinthians and third-party owners., despite the interest of several major clubs in Europe and Brazil. It was reported that Inter partnered with D.I.S. to sign 50% economic rights for €3 million. Internacional had sold 20% economic rights for R$5.46 million to unknown parties in 2007. He made his new debut for the

Porto Alegre Porto Alegre (, ; , ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian Federative units of Brazil, state of Rio Grande do Sul. Its population of roughly 1.4 million inhabitants (2022) makes it the List of largest cities in Brazil, 11th-most p ...

team on 4 November 2007, when Inter beat

CR Vasco da Gama Club de Regatas Vasco da Gama (; English: Vasco da Gama Club of Rowing), commonly referred to as Vasco da Gama or simply Vasco, is a sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Although originally a rowing club and then a multi-sport club, Va ...

2–1. He was chosen as the Man of the Match. In January 2008, he scored an impressive goal against

Internazionale 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 football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Since 1 ...

of Italy in the Dubai Cup final, which helped his side win the game. In the summer of 2008,

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

offered €15 million, with a bonus of up to €3 million. This was rejected, however, and activated the clause that Internacional bought 20% economic rights from Nilmar for reported €2.4 million, with other parties retained 50% economic rights. In December 2008, he scored the winning goal in the

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 ...

final match, giving Internacional the title. It was the first time that the Copa Sudamericana was won by a Brazilian club.

Villarreal

In July 2009, Nilmar returned to Europe, signing for Spain's

Villarreal CF Villarreal Club de Fútbol, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D., usually abbreviated to Villarreal CF, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Villarreal, in the Province of Castellón, Castellón province of easte ...

for an estimated €10 million fee. He built up a prolific strike partnership with Italy international

Giuseppe Rossi Giuseppe Rossi (; born 1 February 1987) is a former professional association football, footballer who played as a forward (association football), forward. Born in the United States, Rossi spent most of his career in Europe with Villarreal CF, Vi ...

, which he likened to his title-winning alliance with

Carlos Tevez Carlos Alberto Tevez (; né Martínez; born 5 February 1984) is an Argentine professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player. A dynamic forward (association football), forward in his prime, Tevez ...

at Corinthians. On 17 September 2009, Nilmar scored the winning goal in the

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 clash against Bulgarian side

Levski Sofia PFC Levski Sofia () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which competes in the First League, the top division of the Bulgarian football league system. The club was founded on 24 May 1914 by a group of high sc ...

. On 10 March 2011, he netted twice (including a

last-minute goal The term "last-minute goal" is used in sport, primarily association football, to describe a goal scored very late in a game, usually one that affects the outcome of the game. The definition of a "last-minute goal" commonly used is one scored eith ...

) to help his team to a 3–2 away win against German club

Bayer Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen, officially known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH () and commonly known as Bayer Leverkusen or simply Leverkusen, is a German professional football club based in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It competes in the B ...

in the first leg of a last 16-round match of the

. He again netted twice against Twente which his side won 5–1 at home.

Al Rayyan

On 15 July 2012,

Qatar Stars League The Qatar Stars League (; abbreviated as QSL), known as Ooredoo Stars League for sponsorship reasons, is the top level football league in Qatar football league system. Contested by 12 teams, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation wi ...

side

Al Rayyan Al Rayyan (; also spelled ''Ar Rayyan'') is the third-largest municipalities of Qatar, municipality in Qatar. Its primary settlement is the Al Rayyan (city), city of the same name, which occupies the entire eastern section and is a part of the Do ...

announced that they signed Nilmar on a four-year deal, ahead of undergoing a medical. He was loaned to

Lekhwiya Al-Duhail Sports Club (), formerly Lekhwiya SC, is a Qatari sports club, best known for its football team, which plays in the Qatar Stars League. The club is based in the Duhail district in the city of Doha and plays its home games at Abdull ...

for one game on 31 December so that he could take part in the club's friendly match against PSG on 2 January 2013. He was selected as a cover for

Sebastián Soria Andrés Sebastián Soria Quintana (; ; born 8 November 1983) commonly known as Sebastián Soria, is a professional footballer who plays as a striker for Qatar SC. Born in Uruguay, he has represented the Qatar national team since 2007. He was ...

who was training with the Qatar national team for the upcoming Asian Cup. On 6 August 2013, he declared to Arabic news network Al Jazeera that he was looking to terminate his loan at Lekhwiya and return to Al Rayyan following a training ground bust up with Lekhwiya first team coach Oliver Rumbold.

El Jaish / Second return to Internacional

On 24 January 2014, Nilmar signed for El Jaish. On 16 September, already as 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 ...

, he returned to Internacional for a third spell, signing until December 2017.

Al-Nasr

On 30 July 2015, Nilmar moved to

Al-Nasr Al-Nassr Football Club () is a professional football club based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The club competes in the Saudi Pro League, the top tier of the Saudi football league system. Al-Nassr is one of only three clubs to have participated ...

for two seasons. After scoring 11 league goals in his first season, he was separated from the first team.

Santos

On 10 July 2017, Nilmar signed a contract with

Santos Santos may refer to: People *Santos (surname) * Santos Balmori Picazo (1899–1992), Spanish-Mexican painter * Santos Benavides (1823–1891), Confederate general in the American Civil War Places *Santos, São Paulo, a municipality in São Paulo ...

until December 2018, after being released by Al-Nasr. In September, after just 39 minutes of action in two appearances, his contract was suspended with the player alleging "personal reasons"; it was later revealed that he was suffering with depression. On 13 December 2017, Nilmar cut ties with Santos, after appearing in just two matches.

International career

Nilmar made his international debut for

2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the seventh edition of the Gold Cup, the soccer championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF). For the first time since 1993, the tournament was held in more than one country, with ga ...

match against

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

on 13 July 2003. He appeared three times in the tournament as Brazil was defeated by Mexico in the final. Although Brazil chose to send Brazil under-23 team to the tournament, all the international appearances in the tournament are recognized by

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

as full international

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

. His first international goal came against

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

on 18 August 2004, as Brazil won 6–0. After four years out of the national team, on 29 August 2008, Nilmar was recalled by coach

Dunga Carlos Caetano Bledorn Verri (born 31 October 1963), known as Dunga (), is a Brazilian football manager and former professional player who played as a defensive midfielder. Under his captaincy, Brazil won the 1994 FIFA World Cup and he lifte ...

as a replacement for the injured

Rafael Sóbis Rafael Augusto Sóbis (born 17 June 1985) is a Brazilian former professional association football, footballer who played as a forward (association football), forward. Before joining Ceará, Sóbis played for Sport Club Internacional, Internacio ...

for

World Cup qualifiers The FIFA World Cup qualification is a set of competitive matches that a national association football team plays in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the men's FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments ar ...

against

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

and

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

. On 21 May 2009, he was selected in Brazil squad for the

in South Africa. He made one substitute appearance in the tournament as Brazil went on to win the competition. On 9 September 2009, he scored a

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 ...

for Brazil in a 4–2 win against

. On 14 November 2009, Nilmar scored the only goal of the match with a header in a friendly against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. He then scored again in a second friendly match on 17 November 2009 against

Oman Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...

. He was a member of the Brazil squad that took part at the

, hosted by South Africa, appearing as a substitute. He scored Brazil's third goal in a friendly match on 7 October 2010 against

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

Personal life

Nilmar is married to Laura Guimarães.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Brazil's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Nilmar goal.''

Honours

Internacional *

Campeonato Gaúcho The Campeonato Gaúcho (English: Gaúcho Championship), officially named as Campeonato Gaúcho de Futebol Série A and commonly known as the Gauchão or the Gauchão Ipiranga (company), Ipiranga for sponsorship reasons, is the top-flight profess ...

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

Lyon *

: 2004–05 *

Trophée des Champions The Trophée des Champions (, ) is a French association football trophy contested in an annual match between the champions of Ligue 1 and the winners of the Coupe de France. It is equivalent to the Super cup, super cups found in many other count ...

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 ...

Corinthians *

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 ...

Al-Rayyan *

Qatar Emir Cup Emir of Qatar Cup (), also known as the Emir Cup, but changed to Amir Cup starting in 2019, is an association football tournament played every season by all first and second division teams in Qatar. The tournament is played in a knockout system, ...

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

Qatari Super Cup The Sheikh Jassim Cup () is an annual men's super cup competition in Qatari football held between the winner of the Qatar Stars League and the Emir of Qatar Cup. History The inaugural Sheikh Jassim Cup was held in 1977. Prior to the 2014 Sheikh ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

Brazil *

FIFA Confederations Cup The FIFA Confederations Cup was an international association football tournament for men's national teams, held every four years by FIFA. It was contested by the holders of each of the six continental championships ( AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBO ...

Brazil U20 *

FIFA World Youth Championship The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members' men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 when i ...

: 2003 Individual *

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), ...

top scorer: 2006 *

top scorer:

* Bola de Prata: 2008

References

External links

* * * *
2010 FIFA World Cup profile
*
UAEFA profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nilmar Honorato Da Silva 1984 births Living people People from Bandeirantes Brazilian men's footballers Men's association football forwards Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players SC Internacional players Sport Club Corinthians Paulista players Santos FC players Ligue 1 players Olympique Lyonnais players La Liga players Villarreal CF players Qatar Stars League players Al-Rayyan SC players El Jaish SC players UAE Pro League players Al-Nasr SC (Dubai) players Brazil men's under-20 international footballers Brazil men's international footballers 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup players FIFA Confederations Cup–winning players 2010 FIFA World Cup players Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Qatar Expatriate men's footballers in the United Arab Emirates Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in France Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Qatar Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates Copa Libertadores top scorers Footballers from Paraná (state) Copa Sudamericana–winning players Copa Sudamericana top scorers 21st-century Brazilian sportsmen