Digão

Digão

Personal information
Full name	Rodrigo Izecson dos Santos Leite
Date of birth	14 August 1985 (1985-08-14)
Place of birth	Brasília, Brazil
Height	1.94 m (6 ft 4 1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Centre back
Club information
Current club	Free agent
Youth career
2003–2004	São Paulo
2004–2005	Sampdoria
2004–2005	→ Milan (loan)
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2005–2011	Milan	1	(0)
2005–2007	→ Rimini (loan)	23	(0)
2008–2009	→ Standard Liège (loan)	1	(0)
2009–2010	→ Lecce (loan)	2	(0)
2010	→ Crotone (loan)	0	(0)
2010–2011	→ Penafiel (loan)	11	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 1 July 2011. † Appearances (Goals).

Rodrigo Izecson dos Santos Leite (born 14 August 1985), commonly known as Digão, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a central defender.

After signing with A.C. Milan at the age of 19, he spent several years on loans with various teams, mainly in Italy.

Club career

Born in Brasília, Digão joined A.C. Milan from São Paulo FC in the summer of 2004, loaned by another club in Italy, U.C. Sampdoria player until the summer of 2005. He went on to spend the following two seasons on loan to Rimini Calcio.

Returning to Milan in the summer of 2007, Digão made his debut for the club in a friendly match against FC Dynamo Kyiv on 6 September, in which he received a yellow card. His first competitive appearance came on 20 December 2007 in Milan's 2–1 home defeat against Calcio Catania, in the first leg of the Italian Cup's round of 16. He eventually made his Serie A debut on 1 March 2008, in a 1–1 home draw against S.S. Lazio, coming on as a half-time substitute for Marek Jankulovski, in his only appearance of the season.

On 13 August 2008, Belgium's Standard Liège secured Digão's services on a one-year loan. He only appeared in a single first division match for the club, coming on as a late substitute in the side's 3–1 win at home against K.F.C. Germinal Beerschot on 5 April 2009, and returned to Milan at the end of the season.

On 11 July 2009, Digão was handed a one-week trial with newly promoted German Bundesliga side SC Freiburg, joining the team in the pre-season training camp in Schruns, Austria, and playing 30 minutes in a friendly match with Slavia Prague, as a substitute. On 22 July 2009, however, the club decided not to sign the player, presumably because of his lack of playing time in competitive matches over the last two seasons.

On 31 August 2009, Digão joined Serie B team U.S. Lecce on loan for the 2009–10 season. However, on 1 February 2010 he was called back due to lack of playing time and subsequently sent, on another loan spell, to F.C. Crotone, for the remainder of the season.

In 2010–11, another loan ensued, with Digão moving to F.C. Penafiel in the Portuguese second division. He left the club after appearing in only one third of the league's matches, and was also released by Milan.

Personal

Digão's older brother, Kaká, is also a footballer. An attacking midfielder, he also played for São Paulo and Milan, also spending several seasons in Spain with Real Madrid. A Brazilian international on nearly 90 occasions, he helped the national team win the 2002 FIFA World Cup.

Digão was responsible for his sibling's nickname: being unable to pronounce 'Ricardo' properly as a child, he used to call his older brother 'Kaká' instead.

External links

• Lecce official profile (Italian)
• Assocalciatori profile (Italian)
• Emozione Calcio profile (Italian)
• Tutto Calciatori profile (Italian)
• Stats at ForaDeJogo (Portuguese)
• Portuguese League profile (Portuguese)