André Leão
Portuguese footballer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
André Filipe Ribeiro Leão (born 20 May 1985) is a Portuguese former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder.
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Leão being presented by Valladolid | |||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | André Filipe Ribeiro Leão[1] | ||||||||||
| Date of birth | 20 May 1985[1] | ||||||||||
| Place of birth | Freamunde, Portugal | ||||||||||
| Height | 1.84 m (6 ft 1⁄2 in)[1] | ||||||||||
| Position | Defensive midfielder | ||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||
| 1993–2003 | Freamunde | ||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||
| 2003–2005 | Freamunde | 30 | (1) | ||||||||
| 2005–2006 | Porto B | 23 | (0) | ||||||||
| 2006–2007 | Beira-Mar | 20 | (2) | ||||||||
| 2007–2010 | CFR Cluj | 25 | (0) | ||||||||
| 2010–2014 | Paços Ferreira | 108 | (3) | ||||||||
| 2014–2017 | Valladolid | 103 | (0) | ||||||||
| 2017–2019 | Paços Ferreira | 30 | (0) | ||||||||
| 2020–2021 | Trofense | 10 | (0) | ||||||||
| 2021–2022 | Varzim | 41 | (0) | ||||||||
| 2022–2023 | Salgueiros | 20 | (0) | ||||||||
| 2023–2024 | Leça | 25 | (0) | ||||||||
| 2024–2025 | Freamunde | 15 | (0) | ||||||||
| Total | 450 | (6) | |||||||||
| International career | |||||||||||
| 2005–2006 | Portugal U20 | 9 | (1) | ||||||||
Medal record
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| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||||||||||
Club career
Early years
Leão was born in Freamunde. After a brief spell with FC Porto's reserves, he made his professional debut at Aveiro's S.C. Beira-Mar,[2] his Primeira Liga debut coming on 17 September 2006 in a 2–0 home win against C.F. Estrela da Amadora where he came on as a 76th-minute substitute.[3]
Leão was used regularly during that season, but only won one of the matches in which he appeared and his club was relegated.[2]
CFR Cluj and Paços
Leão then moved to Romania with CFR Cluj, joining a host of compatriots and winning the Liga I championship in his debut campaign, appearing in 15 games. However, he would be rarely used during his two-and-a-half-year spell, and returned to his country in the late hours of the January 2010 transfer window, joining F.C. Paços de Ferreira.[4]
In the 2010 off-season, Swansea City of the Football League Championship made an offer to sign Leão,[5] but nothing came of it. He started in all his 29 league appearances in 2012–13 (two goals),[6][7] as Paços finished a best-ever third and qualified for the UEFA Champions League for the first time ever.[8]
Valladolid
On 12 June 2014, aged 29, Leão signed a three-year contract with Spanish club Real Valladolid.[9] He made his competitive debut on 23 August, playing the 90 minutes in a 2–1 Segunda División home defeat of RCD Mallorca.[10]
Leão was an undisputed starter in a three-year stint at the Estadio José Zorrilla,[11][12] taking part in 107 matches in all competitions.
Paços return
On 13 July 2017, after alleging personal problems, Leão was transferred back to his previous club Paços Ferreira.[13]