Kléber Pereira

Kléber Pereira
	Kléber Pereira with Santos in 2008
Personal information
Full name	Kléber João Boas Pereira
Date of birth	13 August 1975 (age 49)
Place of birth	Peri Mirim, Brazil
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s)	Striker
Youth career
1995	Cruzeiro-MA
Senior career*
Years	Team
1995–1998	Moto Club
1996	→ Náutico (loan)
1997–1998	→ Sion (loan)
1999–2002	Atlético Paranaense
2002–2004	Tigres
2004	Veracruz
2005–2006	América
2006–2007	→ Necaxa (Loan)
2007–2010	Santos
2010	Internacional
2010–2011	Vitória
2011–2013	Moto Club
Total
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Kléber João Boas Pereira (or simply Kléber Pereira in Brazil; born 13 August 1975 in Peri Mirim-MA, Brazil) is a retired Brazilian footballer who last played for Moto Club. A tall and gangly player with a good heading ability, Kléber played as a striker.

Career

Brazil

Described as a late bloomer by scouts, Kléber began his career in the Brazilian professional league Second Division, playing for Moto Club in 1996. Except for a six-month stint at Náutico, Kléber remained at Moto Club until 1999. In the middle of the 1999 season, Kléber was transferred to Atlético Paranaense, where he enjoyed success, winning the goalscoring title in 2001. After his breakout season, he was courted by other teams in Brazil, as well as scouts from foreign clubs.

Mexico

Prior to the Clausura 2003 season, Kléber was announced as the star signing by the UANL Tigres in Monterrey, Mexico. In his first season, he scored ten goals and helped the team reach the semifinals in the playoffs. The following season, scored eight goals while helping the team to a berth in the Apertura 2003 finals, where they lost to Pachuca.

After his immediate success at Tigres, Kléber' performance dropped off and he was mostly relegated to the bench for the Clausura 2004 season, scoring only one goal. Following the Clausura 2004 season, he was transferred to Veracruz, where he enjoyed limited success, scoring twice. Thanks to a recommendation by his ex-teammate Cuauhtémoc Blanco, Kléber was signed by Club América following his lone season at Veracruz. There, he regained his goalscoring prowess, scoring 14 goals in his first season at the club, helping them to a championship in the Clausura 2005 season. Kléber did not actually play in the final, after being suspended for three games due to kicking Federico Lussenhoff of Cruz Azul in the groin in one of the semifinal matches. The following season, Kléber won his second goalscoring title, sharing it with three other players (Vicente Matías Vuoso, Walter Gaitán and Sebastián Abreu).

Prior to the Apertura 2006 season, he was loaned out to sister club Necaxa (Despite playing in the same league, Club América, Necaxa and Club San Luis are owned by the same conglomerate).

Kléber is a member of the "Blanco Four", a group of players who once played at Veracruz with Blanco and were signed by América after being recommended by the striker. The other members are Christian Giménez, Carlos Infante and Armando Navarrete.

On 5 July 2007 Kleber returned to Brazil with Santos and signed a deal until June 30, 2008.^[1] Kléber finished as the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A 2008 top scorer, with 21 goals, tied with Washington and Keirrison.^[2]

Honours

Club

Atlético-PR

Brazilian Série A: 2001
Paraná State League: 2000, 2001, 2002

Club América

Mexican Championship: Clausura 2005
Mexican Championship Campeón De Campeones (Mexican Super Cup): 2004–05
CONCACAF Champions League: 2006

Individual

Mexican Primera División Top scorer (Shared): Apertura 2005
Campeonato Brasileiro Série A Team of the Year: 2008^[3]
Campeonato Brasileiro Série A top goalscorer: 2008

References

^ "registro de jogadores". cbfnews.uol.com.br/. July 17, 2007. Archived from the original on July 21, 2009. Retrieved January 8, 2008.
^ "Washington, Keirrison e Kléber Pereira são os artilheiros do Brasileiro com 21 gols" (in Portuguese). O Globo. December 7, 2008. Retrieved December 8, 2008.
^ "Hexacampeão, São Paulo domina também o Prêmio Craque Brasileirão" (in Portuguese). Globo Esporte. December 8, 2008. Retrieved June 21, 2009.

External links

"Mediotiempo.com" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on July 22, 2009. Retrieved June 18, 2009.
"esmas.com" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on April 21, 2006. Retrieved January 12, 2006.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
footballdatabase.com
"sambafoot". Archived from the original on September 26, 2007. Retrieved July 6, 2007.
"santos.globo.com" (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on January 19, 2008. Retrieved January 8, 2008.
"brasil.mediazone.com" (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on January 28, 2013. Retrieved March 26, 2008.

[1] "registro de jogadores". cbfnews.uol.com.br/. July 17, 2007. Archived from the original on July 21, 2009. Retrieved January 8, 2008.

[topscorerseriea2008-2] "Washington, Keirrison e Kléber Pereira são os artilheiros do Brasileiro com 21 gols" (in Portuguese). O Globo. December 7, 2008. Retrieved December 8, 2008.

[3] "Hexacampeão, São Paulo domina também o Prêmio Craque Brasileirão" (in Portuguese). Globo Esporte. December 8, 2008. Retrieved June 21, 2009.

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