Liédson

Liédson

Personal information
Full name	Liédson da Silva Muniz
Date of birth	17 December 1977 (1977-12-17)
Place of birth	Cairu, Brazil
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Corinthians
Number	9
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1996–1999	Poções
2000	Prudentópolis	15	(5)
2001–2002	Coritiba	29	(20)
2002–2003	Flamengo	24	(14)
2003	Corinthians	18	(10)
2003–2011	Sporting CP	313	(173)
2011–	Corinthians	47	(22)
Total		445	(167)
National team
2009–	Portugal	14	(4)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 25 january 2012. † Appearances (Goals).

Liédson da Silva Muniz (born 17 December 1977), simply Liédson, is a Brazilian-born Portuguese footballer who plays for Sport Club Corinthians Paulista as a striker.

Nicknamed Levezinho ("Slender one") due to his light frame (only 63 kg), he spent the bulk of his career in Portugal representing Sporting, scoring nearly 200 goals in more than 300 official games, winning four major titles with the club and helping it to four UEFA Champions League participations.

A Portuguese citizen since 2009, Liédson appeared with the national team at the 2010 World Cup, already in his 30s.

Club career

Brazil

Born in Cairu, Bahia, Liédson started his professional career at Coritiba Foot Ball Club, aged 22. Before that he played amateur football on weekends, working at a supermarket during the week.

He continued his career at Clube de Regatas do Flamengo and Sport Club Corinthians Paulista, traditional big clubs at Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, respectively, with relative individual success.

Sporting CP

Liédson was signed by Sporting Clube de Portugal for €2 million in the 2003 off–season. In the 2004–05 season, he was the top scorer in the Portuguese league, scoring 25 goals. The following season, Liédson finished second in the league scoring race, scoring 15 goals in 31 games (28 of which he played the full 90 minutes) with an impressive mark of 2899 minutes played. He was topscorer again in 2006–07, but the Lions only conquered one domestic cup.

Considered by many as one of the greatest strikers in Sporting history since the early performances of Fernando Peyroteo, Héctor Yazalde (who scored 46 goals in 1973–74), Manuel Fernandes, Rui Jordão, Fernando Gomes, Jorge Cadete, Alberto Acosta and "Super" Mário Jardel, Liédson is also regarded as the club's top trademark player, since the departures of Luís Figo, Cristiano Ronaldo, Nani and Ricardo Quaresma. He also ranked the club's topscorer in the UEFA Champions League, after scoring the lonely goal in the 2008–09 group stage contest against FC Shakhtar Donetsk, on October 22, 2008. In the last group stage match, he also found the net — in a 2–5 home loss to FC Barcelona — for the 19th time in European competition, another club best; on 1 November 2008, he appeared in his 150th league match with the green-and-white striped jersey, 213 overall.

On January 18, 2010, after having missed one month due to injury, Liédson came from the bench to score twice, helping Sporting overcome C.D. Nacional 3–2, at home. On March 7, he scored all the game's goals, as his team beat last-placed C.F. Os Belenenses 4–0, away.

On 21 October 2010, Liédson entered Sporting's history books as he scored the club's 200th goal in European competitions, netting twice in a 5–1 home win against K.A.A. Gent for the UEFA Europa League.

Return to Brazil

On 31 January 2011, after having appeared in 310 official games with Sporting, scoring 174 goals, 33-year old Liédson returned to his homeland, signing with former club Corinthians. He was still allowed to play with the Lions the following Friday, starting and scoring twice against Associação Naval 1º de Maio, in a 3–3 home draw.

International career

Liédson expressed interest in playing for the Portuguese national team despite being Brazilian-born. He stated: "If one day I was called up to play, I wouldn’t hesitate for a second, as I feel right at home in Portugal." After the retirement of striker Pauleta, Liédson was one of the main candidates in line for succession, especially after countrymen Deco and Pepe's previous switches. Liédson's naturalization process created some controversy, as the Portuguese Football Players' Union (SJPF) in August 2009 publicly objected Portuguese Football Federation's (FPF) plans of expediting his citizenship.

After six years of residence in the country, Liédson received Portuguese nationality, being eligible to play for the country. On 26 August 2009, he was called-up by national coach Carlos Queiroz for the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Denmark and Hungary. He made his debut against the former on 5 September, coming on as a substitute for Tiago at half-time. After having been booked, he netted the final 1–1 equalizer in the 85th minute, with a header from a corner.

Liédson started the first game in the final stages in South Africa, a 0–0 against Ivory Coast. He lost his place to Hugo Almeida for the following match, but both found the net in the 7–0 routing of North Korea, in Cape Town, on 21 June 2010.

International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	5 September 2009	Parken Stadium, Copenhagen, Denmark	Denmark	1–1	1–1	2010 World Cup qualification
2	10 October 2009	Estádio da Luz, Lisbon, Portugal	Hungary	2–0	3–0	2010 World Cup qualification
3	3 March 2010	Estádio Cidade de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal	China PR	2–0	2–0	Friendly
4	21 June 2010	Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town, South Africa	North Korea	5–0	7–0	2010 FIFA World Cup

Club statistics

As of 22 january 2012

Club	Season	League		State Championship		Cup		League Cup / State Cup		SuperCup		Continental		Friendly		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Prudentópolis	2000	0	0	15	5	–		–		–		–		0	0	15	5
	Total	0	0	15	5	–		–		–		–		0	0	15	5
Coritiba	2001	9	5	–		–		–		–		–		0	0	9	5
	2002	–		3	1	2	0	15	14	–		–		0	0	20	15
	Total	9	5	3	1	2	0	15	14	–		–		0	0	29	20
Flamengo	2002	24	14	–		–		–		–		–		0	0	24	14
	Total	24	14	–		–		–		–		–		0	0	24	14
Corinthians	2003	14	10	11	6	–		–		–		8	6	0	0	33	22
	Total	14	10	11	6	–		–		–		8	6!	0	0	33	22
Sporting	2003–04	30	15	–		2	1	–		–		4	3	0	0	36	19
	2004–05	31	25	–		2	1	–		–		14	9	0	0	47	35
	2005–06	31	15	–		5	2	–		–		2	0	0	0	38	17
	2006–07	28	15	–		6	6	–		–		5	0	0	0	39	21
	2007–08	26	11	–		4	3	5	4	1	0	11	6	0	0	47	24
	2008–09	26	17	–		2	2	3	4	–		4	2	0	0	35	25
	2009–10	28	13	–		3	3	2	2	–		13	4	0	0	46	22
	2010–11	14	5	–		3	2	2	1	–		6	2	0	0	25	10
	Total	214	116	–		27	20	12	11	1	0	59	26	0	0	313	173
Corinthians	2011	27	12	16	11	–		–		–				0	0	43	23
	2012	2	0	1	0	–		–		–				1	1	3	1
	Total	29	12	17	11	–		–		–				1	1	46	24
Career total		289	157	45	23	29	20	27	25	1	0	67	32	1	1	520	244

Honours

Team

• Brazilian League: 2011
• São Paulo State League: 2003
• Portuguese Cup: 2006–07, 2007–08
• Portuguese Supercup: 2007, 2008
• Portuguese League Cup: Runner-up 2007–08, 2008–09

Individual

• Sul-Minas Cup: Top scorer 2002
• São Paulo State League: Top scorer 2011
• Portuguese League: Top scorer 2004–05, 2006–07
• Portuguese League: Player of the Month January 2006, April 2007, January 2009, April 2009, March 2010 (record)

External links

• Stats and profile at Zerozero
• Stats at ForaDeJogo (Portuguese)
• PortuGOAL profile
• Stats and profile at Futebol365 (Portuguese)
• Liédson at National-Football-Teams.com
• Liédson – FIFA competition record