Leonardo Araújo
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| Leonardo | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Leonardo Nascimento de Araújo | |
| Date of birth | September 5, 1969 | |
| Place of birth | Niterói, Brazil | |
| Playing position | Attacking midfielder |
|
| Youth clubs | ||
| 1984-1987 | Flamengo | |
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1987-1990 1990-1991 1991-1993 1993-1994 1994-1996 1996-1997 1997-2001 2001 2002 2002-2003 |
Flamengo São Paulo FC Valencia CF São Paulo FC Kashima Antlers Paris St. Germain AC Milan São Paulo FC Flamengo AC Milan |
168 (7) 40 (11) 71 (26) 15 (3) 49 (30) 32 (7) 114 (46) 12 (4) 8 (3) 3 (1) |
| National team | ||
| 1990-2002 | Brazil | 60 (18) |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
Leonardo Nascimento de Araújo, known simply as Leonardo (born September 5, 1969 in Niterói, Brazil), is a retired football midfielder, who played for the Brazil, playing in the side that won the 1994 FIFA World Cup and that came second in the 1998.
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[edit] Playing career
Leonardo began his career with the Brazilian club Flamengo in 1987; at just 17, he was given the opportunity to play with his hero Zico plus Leandro, Bebeto and Renato Gaúcho, and to take part in winning his first Brazilian championship. In 1990, Leonardo signed with São Paulo FC, and in 1991, Leonardo, Raí, and other young talents were assembled as part of the so-called "esquadrão tricolor" under the command of Brazilian legend Telê Santana, giving Leonardo his second Brazilian championship.
Later that year, he made the switch to European football, signing with the Spanish club Valencia CF. After two seasons with Valencia, he returned to Brazil for a brief stint with São Paulo in 1993, during which time the team won several titles, including the prestigious Toyota Cup.
Leonardo made his international debut in 1990. He was selected as a leftback for the 1994 World Cup, keeping the young Roberto Carlos out of the team, much to his chagrin. Leonardo played very well in the first games but was then given a four match suspension for elbowing the American midfielder Tab Ramos, resulting in a broken Malar bone. Leonardo personally apologized to Ramos, saying the vicious blow was quite unintentional. His suspension prevented him from playing the rest of the games of the World Cup. It was the second longest ban imposed in World Cup history.
In 1994, after the World Cup, Leonardo signed with the Kashima Antlers of the newly-formed J. League. Leonardo continued his success in Kashima, again playing with his idol and friend Zico. In 1996, he returned to Europe, this time signing with French club Paris St Germain, where he again proved to be successful, one of his goals helping them to oust Liverpool FC out of the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup.
At this point in his career, Leonardo had mostly stopped playing as a leftback and moved into the midfield, sometimes on the left, sometimes as a playmaker. In 1997, Leonardo was given the #10 shirt for the national team. He was an important member of the team that won the Copa America in 1997.
The following year, Leonardo played all seven games in his second 1998 FIFA World Cup, helping Brazil to a second-place finish. In the second opening round match against Morocco, he netted one shot and began celebrating, but was later called off-side. The previous year, 1997 he signed with Italian team AC Milan, for 8.5 million euros from Paris St Germain, and thus becoming a permanent attacking midfielder and becoming a prominent part of Milans star-studded lineup. He played four full seasons, scoring 62 goals and playing 177 games for Milan, placing himself amongst the greatest Rossoneri legends of all time, before returning to Brazil with São Paulo FC and Flamengo. He later returned to AC Milan and finished his career with them in 2003. He was last selected to play for Brazil in the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign and ended his career with 60 caps and 8 goals for Brazil.
[edit] Post-playing career
Since 2002, Leonardo has dedicated himself to social works with the Fundação Gol de Letra and Fondazione Milan.
Leonardo worked for BBC Television in the United Kingdom during the 2006 FIFA World Cup, as one of their Match of the Day analysts, alongside another former World Cup winner Marcel Desailly. He appeared again as a Match of the Day analyst on 1st June 2007 alongside Alan Hansen and Alan Shearer. This was the first England game at the new Wembley Stadium finishing 1-1 with Brazil.
Since Leonardo stopped playing for Milan he has become a sort of combination of scout and agent for the club in Brazil and the great respect he enjoys in his homeland has helped Milan to land several world-class players. He was instrumental in the process of getting Kaká to Milan and in July 2007 it was revealed that Leonardo had been one of the main factors in convincing Alexandre Pato to sign for Milan.
In December 2007 he was interviewed for the vacant position of director of football at English premiership side, West Ham United.[1]
[edit] Honours
[edit] Club honours
- Brazilian National Championship 1987, 1991
- Brazil Cup 1990
- São Paulo State Championship 1991
- South American Recup 1993, 1994
- South American Supercup 1993
- Intercontinental Cup 1993
- Japanese League 1996
- Italian League 1999
- Italian Cup 2003
[edit] International honours
- 1994 FIFA World Cup - Winner
- 1997 Copa America - Winner
- 1997 Confederations Cup - Winner
- 1998 FIFA World Cup - Runner-up
[edit] External links
- (Portuguese) Gol de Letra Website
- (Italian) Fondazione Milan Website
[edit] References
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