Weligton Robson Pena de Oliveira (born 26 August 1979), known simply as Weligton, is a Brazilian former

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

central defender 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 ...

. He started playing professional football already well in his 20s, and spent the vast majority of his career with

Málaga Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...

. He also competed in Portugal and Switzerland.

Club career

Weligton was born in Fernandópolis,

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 ...

. He started his professional career with

Paraná Clube Paraná Clube, commonly referred to as Paraná, is a Brazilian professional club based in Curitiba Curitiba () is the capital and largest city in the state of Paraná (state), Paraná in Southern Brazil. The city's population was 1,773,718 ...

at the age of already 23, joining Portugal's F.C. Penafiel on 13 August 2003 with the club in the Segunda Liga. After achieving promotion to the

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

, he was first choice for a further two seasons, with relegation befalling in

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

. Subsequently, Weligton signed with

Grasshopper Club Zürich Grasshopper Club Zurich (GCZ), commonly referred to as Grasshopper Club or simply just GC, is a professional sports club, multisports club based in Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland. They are nicknamed the ''Grasshoppers'' or sometimes just ''Hopper ...

. After just one season in Switzerland, he was loaned to Spanish

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

side

Málaga CF Málaga Club de Fútbol (, ''Málaga Football Club''), or simply Málaga, is a club based in Málaga, Andalusia, Spain, who compete in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, Spanish league system, following the ...

, and was an essential defensive unit in another career

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

, only missing four league games out of 42. The move was made permanent on 18 June 2008, as Weligton agreed to a four-year deal. He scored his first goal for the

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

ns on 17 May of the following year against

Sporting de Gijón Real Sporting de Gijón, S.A.D. (), commonly known as Real Sporting, Sporting Gijón, or simply Sporting is a Spanish professional association football, football club from Gijón, Principality of Asturias. Founded on 1 July 1905, it plays in the ...

, in a 2–1 away loss. An undisputed starter again in 2009–10, Weligton suffered a serious ankle injury on 14 March 2010 in a 1–0 defeat at

UD Almería Unión Deportiva Almería, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish professional football club based in Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded on 26 July 1989 and known as ''Almería Club de Fútbol'' until 2001 ...

, going on to miss the rest of the campaign. He made his 100th league appearance for the club on 16 October, alongside teammate Apoño, in a 1–4 home loss to

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

. After the summer signing of Joris Mathijsen, Weligton found himself more often than not as a substitute. His first league appearance in 2011–12 was on 11 December 2011, in a 1−1 home draw against

CA Osasuna Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional football club based in Pamplona, Navarre. It was founded on 24 October 1920 and plays in La Liga, the top division of Spanish football. The team's ...

. On 15 May 2012, he renewed his contract for a further year. Weligton broke his

collarbone The clavicle, collarbone, or keybone is a slender, S-shaped long bone approximately long that serves as a strut between the shoulder blade and the sternum (breastbone). There are two clavicles, one on each side of the body. The clavicle is the ...

in a 2013 pre-season friendly with

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 ...

following a shoulder barge from opposing player

Christian Benteke Christian Benteke Liolo (born 3 December 1990) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Major League Soccer club D.C. United. Benteke began his career at Standard Liège, playing a part in their 2008–09 Belgian Firs ...

. He was sidelined for several weeks, and on 8 October he agreed to a further two-year extension to keep him at the

La Rosaleda Stadium Estadio La Rosaleda (; literally The Rose Garden) is a football stadium in the city of Málaga, in Andalusia, southern Spain. It is the home stadium of Málaga CF in Segunda División and was previously that of Club Deportivo Málaga, of which M ...

until June 2015. Weligton missed the vast majority of the 2016–17 season, due to a

meniscus Meniscus may refer to: *Meniscus (anatomy), crescent-shaped fibrocartilaginous structure that partly divides a joint cavity *Meniscus (liquid) In physics (particularly liquid statics), the meniscus (: menisci, ) is the curve in the upper sur ...

injury to his right knee. In May 2017, the 37-year-old announced his retirement from football.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Weligton 1979 births Living people People from Fernandópolis 20th-century Brazilian sportsmen Brazilian men's footballers Footballers from São Paulo (state) Men's association football central defenders Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Paraná Clube players Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players F.C. Penafiel players Swiss Super League players Grasshopper Club Zurich players La Liga players Segunda División players Málaga CF players Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Spain