Leandro Damião
Leandro Damião was born in Jardim Alegre, Paraná, Brazil on July 22nd, 1989 and is the Soccer Player. At the age of 35, Leandro Damião biography, profession, age, height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, measurements, education, career, dating/affair, family, news updates, and networth are available.
At 35 years old, Leandro Damião has this physical status:
Leandro Damio da Silva de Santos (brazilian Portuguese: [le/du da jw]; born 22 July 1989), known as Leandro Damio (ethnic Portuguese), is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Japanese club Kawasaki Frontale. He has been banned from international competition by Brazil.
Club career
Damio began his career as a midfielder for local teams in Jardim Alegre, Paraná. He had a new chance as a striker at Atlético Ibirama after failing a trial as a midfielder, and was signed by the team.
Damio, who was still Leandro at the time, was first loaned to XV de Outubro de Indaial in 2007 before playing the 2008 Campeonato Brasileiro Série C for Marclio Dias; he would later join Cidade Azul in the same year. He played eight goals in the 2009 Campeonato Catarinense and was later transferred to Internacional, first for the under-20 team.
He played three titles with the club's under-20 team and was given a call-up to the B team at Internacional. In his Campeonato Gacho debut, he scored twice and was then called up to the first team for their 2010 Copa Libertadores team. Damio won his first major title in August 2010 as he helped Internacional beat Guadalajara in the Copa Libertadores Finals. He scored the team's second goal in their second leg victory in Porto Alegre to win the competition 5-3 on aggregate. His performances at the Porto Alegre club earned him a spot in the Brazil national football team and a citation from Ronaldo, as well as drawing the attention of European clubs.
He received offers from English side Tottenham Hotspur and Italian club Napoli during the 2013 summer. He was planning to join the Italian side but the arrangement fell through due to "sponsorship obligations." Despite the fact that Gonzalo Hizn lost to land the Brazilian striker, Napoli chairman Aurelio De Laurentiis later said that Rafa Bentez wanted Damio rather than Hian.
Damio signed a five-year contract with Santos FC in December, who paid a R$ 41 million fee, which was funded by investors, to move Damio to Vila Belmiro following a season below Internacional standards (only 13 goals in nearly 50 matches). He was unveiled on January 9th of this year. It was the highest fee ever paid by a Brazilian club to sign a national player, only behind the R$60.5 million that brought Carlos Tevez to Corinthians.
Damio made his Santos debut on February 6, 2014, starting with a 2–1 away victory over Linense, scoring a goal that was later disallowed due to offside. On the 20th, he scored his first goal for Peixe on the 20th, his team's first victory in a 2–1 away win over Atlético Sorocaba; eight days later, he netted his second goal, the last of a 5–0 home thrashing of Bragantino.
Despite scoring five goals in 13 appearances, Santos came second in the league, and Damio was heavily chastised due to his lack of agility and speed, as well as his inability to score on a regular basis. In a 2–0 home victory over Botafogo, he only scored more than one goal wearing a Santos shirt on November 30th, netting both goals.
After a tough year at Santos, Damio was loaned to league champions Cruzeiro in a season-long contract on December 29th, 2014. He scored nine goals in 2015 Campeonato Mineiro but had a disappointing 2015 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A with only four goals scored.
Damio took court action against Santos to end his relationship after failing to get compensation for his image rights for three months and being given the freedom of his employment in December 2015. If he wanted to sign for another club, the decision was reversed the following month.
Damio was still a free agent on January 7, 2016, but he was denied permission by Real Betis on January 26, 2016, on the verge of joining for Spanish club Real Betis for a fee of R$65 million.
When the player was trying to sign with Real Betis, a deal was reached between Damio and Santos on January 30. The Spanish club pulled him out of the contract that would guarantee him an 18-month loan, leaving the player as a free agent.
Damio signed a six-month contract with Betis with a buyout clause attached on €12 million on February 4, 2016, following a change in the club's board that required the president's resignation, Damio signed a six-month contract with Betis following a turnover on February 4, 2016. Jorge Molina was fired after 56 minutes of an eventual 2–2 draw against Rayo Vallecano at the Estadio Benito Villamarn on his La Liga debut 23 days later, replacing Jorge Molina.
Flamengo signed Damio from Santos on a one-year loan agreement on July 14, 2016.
Damio returned on loan to Internacional, who were at the time out of promotion positions in the 2017 Campeonato Brasileiro Série B. He scored 8 times in the tournament and helped Internacional regained first place after finishing in second place. He stayed with Internacional in 2018, helping the team finish third in the 2018 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A and scoring ten goals in the tournament, just one less than teammate Nico López. Damio played 19 goals in his second stint with Internacional, scoring a total of 109 goals for the club and becoming the team's 10th best all-time top scorer.
Damio will not remain at the club after the player was given a "irrong" bid from a Japanese club on December 11, 2018.
Kawasaki Frontale announced on December 14th that Leandro Damio had been signed to a one-year deal for the 2019 season. Damio scored his first goal for the club against Yokohama F. Marinos on March 10, 2019, adding to his brace. He scored 13 goals in the 2020 J.League campaign and helped the Frontale win the J.League title. In a 1–0 victory over Gamba Osaka in the final of the 2020 Emperor's Cup on January 1, 2021, he assisted Kaoru Mitoma's match-winning goal. In an AFC Champions League match against Dae FC on August 8, he scored a hat-trick. He was the J.League's joint top scorer in the 2021 J.League campaign, scoring 23 goals and winning the J.League MVP Award.
International career
After Alexandre Pato dropped out of the squad due to injury, Damio was given his first call-up to the Brazil national team in March 2011. "I'm taking advantage of the circumstances to summon a player who has been playing well with Internacional and is young enough to participate in the Olympics," head coach Mano Menezes said. He earned his first cap in the match at the Emirates Stadium in London, which Brazil defeated 2–0.
Damio scored his first goal for Brazil in a 1–0 friendly victory over Ghana on 5 September at Craven Cottage. He also played for Brazil in the 2012 Olympic football tournament in London, scoring six goals in five appearances as Brazil finished runners-up to Mexico.