Wesley Henrique Lima Silva e Silva (born 7 March 1985), commonly known as Pipico, 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 as a striker for Botafogo-PB. Pipico began his career as a youth player for

Itaperuna Itaperuna () is a municipality in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro. It had a population of 101,041 in 2022, and has an area of 1.105,3 km2. History Itaperuna was founded in 1889, after being separated from the municipality of Campos do ...

, where he played for six months, before moving to Angra do Reis,

America 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 ...

and

Bahia Bahia () is one of the 26 Federative units of Brazil, states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo (state), São Paulo, Mina ...

, when Pipico started his professional career. After this, Pipico played for Floresta, Cabofriense, Bangu and

Macaé Macaé () is a municipality located in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro, 180 km northeast of the state capital. It is the birthplace of the 13th president of Brazil, Washington Luís. Geography Location Macaé is generally consider ...

, always having passages of great prominence, especially in

Campeonato Carioca The Campeonato Carioca (Carioca Championship), officially known as Campeonato Estadual do Rio de Janeiro (Rio de Janeiro State Championship), also commonly known as the Cariocão, is the top-flight professional state football league in the Br ...

. In 2012, after one and a half year of interest and negotiations, Pipico made a move 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 ...

to play

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 ...

, but wasn't very successful. He moved for first time to a foreign team, more precisely to play

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

for

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The franchise be ...

, but weeks later he returned to Brazil, signing with melhor

Atlético Goianiense Atlético, Spanish for ''athletics'', or Athletico in English, may refer to: Sports Teams Athletico *Athletico SC (Lebanon), a Lebanese football academy *Athletic Bilbao, or Atletico Bilbao, Basque students athletic club (also forming Athletic Cl ...

Career

Vasco da Gama

For years,

showed interest in having Pipico in their squad. However, Vasco da Gama's optimal phase team in 2011 season meant that negotiations were postponed. On 20 April 2012, Pipico rescinded his contract with

, to sign a contract for 8 months with Vasco da Gama. On the next day ( Brazilian holiday, Tiradentes Day), Pipico was presented discreetly, but with enough optimism, promising to "take this opportunity in the best way possible and helping Vasco da Gama making goals to win titles." Pipico made his debut for Vasco da Gama on 8 July in a 1-1 draw against

Figueirense Figueirense Futebol Clube, commonly referred to as Figueirense, is a Brazilian professional club based in Florianópolis, Santa Catarina founded on 12 June 1921. It competes in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série C, the third tier of Brazilian fo ...

, entering in the second half subbed

Alecsandro Alecsandro Barbosa Felisbino (born 4 February 1981), simply known as Alecsandro, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a forward. Career Alecsandro was born in Bauru. In the 2006–07 season, he played on loan for Portu ...

. Their games were against in the days following 21 July against

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 ...

, 19 August against

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 ...

(''

Clássico dos Milhões Clássico dos Milhões (Derby of the Millions) is the association football derby between CR Flamengo and CR Vasco da Gama, both from the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Considered one of the most fiercely contested derbies in Brazilian football ...

''), and 29 August against Grêmio, as always reserve (entering in place of Carlos Alberto, Éder Luís and Carlos Alberto again, respectively). On 1 September, in a 2-0 win over Portuguesa, Pipico receives his first red card of his career, after applying a possible dangerous sliding tackle in

Gustavo Gustavo is the Latinate form of a Germanic male given name with respective prevalence in Portuguese, Spanish, and Italian. It is derived from Gustav /ˈɡʊstɑːv/, also spelled Gustaf, a Swedish name, likely from Slavic Gostislav. People with ...

FC Dallas

Pipico moved to the United States on 18 December 2012 when he signed for

club

. Pipico was released by Dallas just 6-weeks later on 1 February 2013 during their pre-season camp.

Style of play

Pipico excelled at

Fluminense Fluminense Football Club () is a Brazilian sports club based in the neighbourhood of Laranjeiras, in Rio de Janeiro, being the oldest football club in the state since its foundation in 1902. It competes in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, th ...

football and is considered by the public as a complete

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

. He is described as a quick striker with good technique, tactical commitment with good pace, jumping and heading, despite not being all that tall. Two months before signing for

, players such as

Juninho Pernambucano Antônio Augusto Ribeiro Reis Júnior (born 30 January 1975), commonly known as Juninho Pernambucano or simply Juninho, is a Brazilian former professional Association football, footballer who was most recently the Director of football, sportin ...

and

Fellipe Bastos Fellipe Ramos Ignez Bastos (born 1 February 1990) is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a centre midfielder. Club career Fellipe Bastos started his career at Botafogo, one of the famous club from his birthplace. After captaining ...

asked the striker about a transfer, saying that "it was time for (Pipico) goes to a big club." Journalists like Lédio Carmona and Raphael Rezende, from

Globo Globo (meaning ''globe'' in Portuguese, Spanish and Italian) may refer to: *Grupo Globo, a Brazilian conglomerate primarily in mass media **TV Globo, a television network ***GloboNews, a television 24-hour news channel ***Globo (Portuguese TV cha ...

and

SporTV SporTV is a Brazilian pay television sports network owned by Canais Globo, part of Grupo Globo, launched in 1991. It is the most watched sports network in Brazil. On 18 January 2013, were launched High-definition simulcasts of SporTV and ...

, already was describing Pipico as an "extremely interesting and intelligent forward, with amazing speed, extreme pace and handling, can appear either as a

second striker In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on bein ...

, as a

centre forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on be ...

, making him an extremely dangerous player and deserving a special marking to stop him."

Career statistics

:''(Correct )''

¹Includes other competitive competitions, including the

Campeonato Brasileiro Série C The Campeonato Brasileiro Série C, commonly known as the Série C or the Brazilian Série C to distinguish it from the Italian Serie C, is the third tier of the Brazilian football league system. Unlike the first and second divisions, the Sér ...

Copa Rio (state cup) The Copa Rio () is a regional cup competition for football clubs in the Rio de Janeiro state. It is run by the Rio de Janeiro State Football Federation. Volta Redonda has the record for most trophies won. History The competition was founded in ...

and Campeonato Carioca Série B.

Honours

;Bangu * Copa Rio (runner-up):

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

Individual

* Campeonato Carioca Série B Most Valuable Player:

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

* Campeonato Carioca Série B top scorer:

* Campeonato Carioca Série B Newcomer of the Year:

* Campeonato Carioca Newcomer 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 ...

* Copa Rio Most Valuable Player:

* Copa Rio top scorer:

* Campeonato Carioca Best Supporting Striker:

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

* Copa do Brasil top scorer:

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 ...

References

External links

Vasco da Gama official profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pipico 1985 births Living people Brazilian men's footballers Footballers from Rio de Janeiro (state) Men's association football forwards People from Itaperuna Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Campeonato Brasileiro Série B players Campeonato Brasileiro Série C players Campeonato Brasileiro Série D players Maltese Premier League players America Football Club (Rio de Janeiro) players Esporte Clube Bahia players Associação Desportiva Cabofriense players Bangu Atlético Clube players Macaé Esporte Futebol Clube players CR Vasco da Gama players FC Dallas players Tarxien Rainbows F.C. players Atlético Clube Goianiense players Esporte Clube XV de Novembro (Piracicaba) players Red Bull Bragantino II players Guarani FC players Madureira Esporte Clube players Paysandu Sport Club players Santa Cruz Futebol Clube players Botafogo Futebol Clube (PB) players Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's footballers in Malta Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Malta 21st-century Brazilian sportsmen