Cleiton Ribeiro Xavier (; born 23 March 1983) is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He is known by his powerful and accurate free kicks, dribbling skills and passes.
Club career In his early career, Cleiton Xavier played for CSA and Internacional, and was loaned out various times.
Palmeiras In early 2009, Palmeiras signed Cleiton Xavier from the relegated Figueirense. Cleiton Xavier proved he had good talent in Palmeiras's first matches in the Libertadores Cup and in the São Paulo State Championship. On 29 April 2009, he scored an 87th minute away-goal against Colo-Colo in the Libertadores Cup that secured Palmeiras' progression to the knockout stages of the tournament, it was a very long-range shot inside the goalkeeper's left angle.Golazo – Cleiton Xavier vs Colo=Colo
Later in the Série A alongside teammate Diego Souza, Cleiton Xavier made an outstanding season with Palmeiras, leading the competition for 19 rounds, however Palmeiras finished 5th due to losses in the final matches and did not qualify for the Libertadores Cup. Cleiton Xavier was elected the 3rd best player of the season, even though he had an injury.
In 2010, Cleiton Xavier remained with Palmeiras and also started well the year. He participated in Palmeiras's first ten goals in the São Paulo State Championship.
Metalist Kharkiv On 14 July 2010, Cleiton Xavier transferred to Metalist Kharkiv for €4.5 million.Cleiton Xavier é negociado com time da Ucrânia. (in Portuguese). Palmeiras official site. 14 July 2010. Retrieved 14 July 2010 . In 2013, he became popular for scoring a fastest equalizing goal from the starting line after the restart of the match against local league rival, Chornomorets. He then inspired them to a 3 – 1 victory which boosted their chances to qualify for next season Champions League campaign in which the victory lift them above another local rival who competing for the same spot, Dynamo Kyiv.
Career statistics
+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueCupContinentalState LeagueTotalAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsInternacional200220300—00203200325100—00251200423100—00231Total685000000685Brasiliense (loan)20051000—0010Figueirense (loan)200728000—002802008331200—003312Total61120000006112Palmeiras2009323—1231736192010714100165277Total394411233388816Metalist Kharkiv2010–11266—93—3592011–122510—122—37122012–132915—95—38202013–142071000—2172014–15982251—1611Total10946323511—14759Palmeiras201510031—40171Vitória20170000—0000Career total2675372421337835376
Honours Internacional Rio Grande do Sul State League: 2003, 2004
Figueirense Santa Catarina State League: 2008
Palmeiras Copa do Brasil: 2015 Campeonato Brasileiro: 2016
Vitória Campeonato Baiano: 2017
References
External links
figueirense.com