.jpg) Damião playing forInternacional in 2013 | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Leandro Damião da Silva dos Santos | |||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1989-07-22)22 July 1989 (age 36)[1] | |||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Jardim Alegre, Brazil | |||||||||||||
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[2] | |||||||||||||
| Position | Striker | |||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||
| Atlético Ibirama | ||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||
| 2007–2009 | Atlético Ibirama | 18 | (8) | |||||||||||
| 2007 | →XV de Indaial [pt] (loan) | |||||||||||||
| 2008 | →Marcílio Dias (loan) | 2 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2008 | →Cidade Azul (loan) | 0 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2009 | →Internacional B (loan) | 0 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2009–2013 | Internacional | 150 | (73) | |||||||||||
| 2014–2018 | Santos | 39 | (11) | |||||||||||
| 2015 | →Cruzeiro (loan) | 35 | (13) | |||||||||||
| 2016 | →Real Betis (loan) | 3 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2016–2017 | →Flamengo (loan) | 32 | (9) | |||||||||||
| 2017–2018 | →Internacional (loan) | 47 | (18) | |||||||||||
| 2019–2023 | Kawasaki Frontale | 127 | (53) | |||||||||||
| 2024 | Coritiba | 16 | (3) | |||||||||||
| Total | 469 | (188) | ||||||||||||
| International career | ||||||||||||||
| 2012 | Brazil U23 | 5 | (6) | |||||||||||
| 2011–2013 | Brazil | 17 | (3) | |||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | ||||||||||||||
Leandro Damião da Silva dos Santos (Brazilian Portuguese:[leˈɐ̃dɾudaˈmjɐ̃w]; born 22 July 1989), known asLeandro Damião or simplyDamião, is a Brazilian former professionalfootballer who played as astriker. He has beencapped at international level byBrazil.
Damião began his career as amidfielder, playing for local teams inJardim Alegre,Paraná.[3] Having failed a trial as a midfielder atAtlético Ibirama, he had a new opportunity as astriker and was signed by team.
Known asLeandrão at the time, Damião was first loaned toXV de Outubro de Indaial [pt] in 2007,[4] before playing the2008 Campeonato Brasileiro Série C forMarcílio Dias;[5] he would later joinCidade Azul in the same year.[6] Back to Atlético Ibirama, he scored eight goals in the2009 Campeonato Catarinense and was transferred toInternacional, initially for the under-20 team.[7][8]
At Internacional, he won three titles with the club's under-20 side and earned a call-up to the B team.[3] He scored twice in hisCampeonato Gaúcho debut and was then called up to the first team for their2010 Copa Libertadores campaign. Damião won his first major title in August 2010 when he helped Internacional defeatGuadalajara in theCopa Libertadores Finals.[9] He scored the club's second goal in their second leg victory inPorto Alegre to win the competition 5–3 on aggregate.[10] His performances at the Porto Alegre club earned him a place in theBrazil national football team and praise fromRonaldo, also drawing the interest of European clubs.
"Leandro Damiao, from Internacional de Porto Alegre. He's tall, strong, a very good goalscorer, a threat in the air and skilful with both feet. He'll play a big part in 2014."
During the 2013 summer, he had offers from English sideTottenham Hotspur[12] and Italian clubNapoli.[13] He was close to join the Italian side, but the deal fell through because "sponsorship contracts made it impossible".[14] Even though the club boughtGonzalo Higuaín after failing to land the Brazilian striker, Napoli chairmanAurelio De Laurentiis later stated thatRafa Benítez wanted Damião instead of Higuaín.[15]
After a season below standards with Internacional (only 13 goals in nearly 50 matches), Damião signed a five-year deal[16] with fellow top-divisionerSantos FC in December, who paid aR$ 41 million fee, supported by investors, to bring Damião toVila Belmiro.[17] He was presented on 9 January of the following year.[18] It was the highest fee ever paid by a Brazilian club to sign a national player,[19] only behind the R$60.5 million that broughtCarlos Tevez toCorinthians.[20]
Damião made his Santos debut on 6 February 2014, starting in a 2–1 away win overLinense, scoring a goal which was later disallowed due to offside.[21] He scored his first goal forPeixe on the 20th, netting his side's first of a 2–1 away success overAtlético Sorocaba; eight days later he netted his second, the last of a 5–0 home thrashing ofBragantino.
Despite scoring five goals in 13 appearances as Santos came second in the league, Damião was hugely criticised due to his lack of agility and pace, plus his inability to score on a regular basis. He only scored more than one goal with a Santos shirt on 30 November, netting both goals in a 2–0 home win againstBotafogo.
On 29 December 2014, after lengthy negotiations, Damião was loaned to league championsCruzeiro, in aseason-long deal, after a largely disappointing year at Santos.[22] He was the top goalscorer of2015 Campeonato Mineiro with nine goals, but had a disappointing2015 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A with only four goals scored.[23]
In 2015, Damião took legal action against Santos to terminate his contract after failing to receive payment for his image rights for three months and was granted the release of his contract in December 2015.[24] The decision was overturned the following month, with the fee of 200 million (reais for any national transfer andeuros for any international) being activated if he were to sign for another club.[25]
On 7 January 2016, Damião was again declared afree agent,[26] but on 26 January, after being on the verge of signing for Spanish club Real Betis for a fee of R$65 million.[27]
An agreement was reached between Damião and Santos on 30 January 2016, as the player was attempting to sign withReal Betis. On 1 February 2016, the Spanish club pulled out of the deal that would bring him on an 18-month loan, leaving the player as a free agent.[28]
On 4 February 2016, after a turnover in the club's board which involved the president's resignation, Damião signed a six-month deal with Betis with a buyout clause set on €12 million.[29] He made hisLa Liga debut 23 days later, replacingJorge Molina after 56 minutes of an eventual 2–2 draw againstRayo Vallecano at theEstadio Benito Villamarín.[30]
On 14 July 2016Flamengo signed Damião from Santos on a one-year loan deal.[31]
After his loan with Flamengo ended, Damião returned on loan toInternacional, who were at the time out of promotion spots in the2017 Campeonato Brasileiro Série B.[32][33] He scored 8 times in the competition[34] and helped Internacional to return to the first division after finishing in second place.[35] He stayed with Internacional in 2018, helping the team finish third in the2018 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A and scoring 10 goals in the competition, just one less than teammateNico López.[36] Damião scored a total of 19 goals in his second spell at Internacional, reaching a total of 109 goals scored for the club and becoming the team's 10th best all-time top scorer.[37]
On 11 December 2018, Internacional announced that Damião would not remain at the club after the player received an "irrefusable" offer from a Japanese club.[38]
On 14 December 2018,Kawasaki Frontale announced the signing of Leandro Damião in a one-year contract for the 2019 season.[39] On 10 March 2019 Damião scored his first goal for the club againstYokohama F. Marinos, also achieving a brace.[40] He scored 13 goals in the 2020 J.League campaign and helped the Frontale to win the J.League title.[41] On 1 January 2021, he assistedKaoru Mitoma's match winning goal in a 1–0 victory overGamba Osaka in the final of the2020 Emperor's Cup.[42] On 8 July, he scored a hat-trick in anAFC Champions League match againstDaegu FC.[43] He became the J.League's joint top scorer in the 2021 J.League campaign with 23 goals,[44] winning theJ.League MVP Award.[45]
After being without a club since leaving Coritiba, on 11 April 2025 Damião announced his retirement from football.[46]
Damião was given his first call-up to theBrazil national team in March 2011 for the friendly againstScotland afterAlexandre Pato withdrew from the squad due to injury. "I'm taking advantage of the circumstances to summon a player who has been playing well with Internacional and is young enough to play in the Olympics," said head coachMano Menezes.[47] He won his firstcap in the match at theEmirates Stadium inLondon, which Brazil won 2–0.[48][49]
Damião scored his first goal for Brazil in a 1–0 friendly win againstGhana on 5 September atCraven Cottage.[50] He also representedBrazil at the2012 Olympic football tournament inLondon, being the tournament's top scorer with six goals in five appearances as Brazil finished runners-up toMexico.[51]
| Club | Season | League | State league | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Atlético Ibirama | 2008[8] | Catarinense | — | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 2 | 0 | |||||
| 2009 | — | 16 | 8 | — | — | — | — | 16 | 8 | |||||||
| Total | 0 | 0 | 18 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 8 | ||
| Marcílio Dias (loan) | 2008 | Série C | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | 2 | 0 | |||||
| Cidade Azul (loan) | 2008[6] | Catarinense | — | — | — | — | — | 6[c] | 0 | 6 | 0 | |||||
| Internacional B | 2009 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 22[d] | 11 | 22 | 11 | |||||
| Internacional | 2010 | Série A | 25 | 7 | 8 | 4 | — | — | 1 | 1 | 1[e] | 0 | 35 | 12 | ||
| 2011 | 28 | 14 | 13 | 17 | — | — | 8 | 4 | 2[f] | 3 | 51 | 38 | ||||
| 2012 | 19 | 7 | 14 | 11 | — | — | 10 | 6 | — | 43 | 24 | |||||
| 2013 | 26 | 5 | 17 | 8 | 5 | 0 | — | — | — | 48 | 13 | |||||
| Total | 98 | 33 | 52 | 40 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 177 | 87 | ||
| Santos | 2014 | Série A | 26 | 6 | 13 | 5 | 5 | 0 | — | — | — | 44 | 11 | |||
| Cruzeiro (loan) | 2015 | Série A | 23 | 4 | 12 | 9 | 2 | 1 | — | 9 | 4 | — | 46 | 18 | ||
| Real Betis (loan) | 2015–16 | La Liga | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | 3 | 0 | |||||
| Flamengo (loan) | 2016 | Série A | 15 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | 15 | 2 | |||||
| 2017 | 7 | 3 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 0 | — | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 23 | 8 | |||
| Total | 22 | 5 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 38 | 10 | ||
| Internacional (loan) | 2017 | Série B | 17 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | 17 | 8 | |||||
| 2018 | Série A | 14 | 3 | 4 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 1 | — | 20 | 4 | ||||
| Total | 31 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 12 | ||
| Kawasaki Frontale | 2019 | J1 League | 23 | 9 | — | 1 | 0 | 5[g] | 1 | 6[h] | 2 | 1[i] | 1 | 36 | 13 | |
| 2020 | 34 | 13 | — | 4 | 1 | 1[g] | 1 | — | — | 39 | 15 | |||||
| 2021 | 35 | 23 | — | 5 | 1 | 2[g] | 1 | 5[h] | 6 | 1[i] | 0 | 48 | 31 | |||
| 2022 | 23 | 5 | — | 1 | 0 | 2[g] | 0 | 3[h] | 2 | 1[i] | 0 | 30 | 7 | |||
| 2023 | 12 | 3 | — | 2 | 0 | 3[g] | 1 | 5[h] | 1 | — | 17 | 4 | ||||
| Total | 127 | 53 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 13 | 4 | 19 | 11 | 3 | 1 | 176 | 71 | ||
| Coritiba | 2024 | Série B | 12 | 1 | 4 | 2 | — | — | — | — | 16 | 3 | ||||
| Career total | 345 | 103 | 113 | 68 | 27 | 3 | 13 | 4 | 52 | 28 | 30 | 15 | 585 | 229 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brazil | 2011 | 4 | 1 |
| 2012 | 10 | 1 | |
| 2013 | 3 | 1 | |
| Total | 17 | 3 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 September 2011 | Craven Cottage, London, England |  Ghana | 1–0 | 1–0 | Friendly |
| 2 | 15 August 2012 | Råsunda Stadium,Solna Municipality, Sweden |  Sweden | 1–0 | 3–0 | Friendly |
| 3 | 6 April 2013 | Estadio Ramón Tahuichi Aguilera,Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia |  Bolivia | 1–0 | 4–0 | Friendly |
Internacional B
Internacional
Flamengo
Kawasaki Frontale
Brazil U23
Brazil
Individual
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