Kléber (footballer, born 1980)

Kléber (footballer, born 1980)
Kléber de Carvalho Corrêa (born 1 April 1980), commonly known as Kléber, is a Brazilian former professional footballer, who played as a left wing-back.
Club career
Corinthians
Kléber began his career in Corinthians. He was a regular team when Corinthians won the Brazilian Championship twice in the 1998 and 1999 campaigns. He won the FIFA Club World Championship in 2000, São Paulo State Championship in 2001 and Brazil Cup in 2002.
Hannover (loan)
In July 2003, he moved to Hannover 96 on loan for a fee of nearly 1 million Euro, but he failed to establish himself with the German club and at the end of the season they did not pull the buy-out option in the loan contract, and he had to returned to his club of origin.
Basel
Kléber moved to Basel in the summer of 2004 on a three-year contract. He joined Basel's first team for their 2004–05 season under head coach Christian Gross. Kléber became a regular at the Swiss club immediately. After playing in two test games he played his domestic league debut for the club in the home game in the St. Jakob-Park on 17 July 2004 as Basel won 6–0 against Aarau. As reigning Swiss champions, Basel entered 2004–05 UEFA Champions League in the third qualifying round and their aim was to reach the group stage. However, they were drawn against Internazionale and Inter won the qualifier 5–2 on aggregate. Basel subsequently dropped into the 2004–05 UEFA Cup. Beating Terek Grozny in the first round, Basel qualified for the group stage. A 1–1 draw away against Schalke 04 was followed by a home defeat against Hearts. But with two victories, 2–1 away against Ferencvárosi TC and 1–0 at home against Feyenoord, saw Basel rise to third place in the group table and advance to the knock-out stage. In the round of 32 in the 2004–05 UEFA Cup, a home game in the St. Jakob-Park on 17 February 2005, Basel played a goalless draw against Lille OSC, but the return leg were defeated 2–0 and were eliminated.
Kléber scored his first goal for his new club on 16 March 2005 in the home game in the St. Jakob-Park as Basel won 4–3 against Schaffhausen. Basel completed all the 2004–05 Super League season's seventeen home games undefeated, winning thirteen and drawing four. They ended the season as Swiss champions with 10 points advantage over second placed Thun.
Kléber started the next season with the team, playing six of the first seven league games. But then came the players wish to return home to Brazil, the club complied with his request, loaning him out, but he never returned.
During his time with them, Kléber played a total of 72 games for Basel scoring a total of three goals. 36 of these games were in the Swiss Super League, three in the Swiss Cup, 11 in the UEFA competitions (Champions League and Europa League) and 22 were friendly games. He scored one goal in the domestic and the other two were scored during the test games.
Santos
To the beginning of September 2005, Kléber joined Santos on a one-year loan The loan contract had an option for a definitive transfer. In 2006, Kléber was a part of the team that won São Paulo State Championship. Santos pulled the option and purchased his contract. The team finished fourth in the Brazilian League. Santos won the state title once again in 2007, with Kléber delivering the cross to the winning 2–0 goal against São Caetano.
Internacional
On 26 January 2009, the left wingback was signed by Internacional. The investment company DIS Esporte bought Kléber from Santos for R$ 5 million and sold to Inter for undisclosed fee. In September 2010 he signed a new contract which last until January 2013.
International career
Kléber made his debut for Brazil on 31 January 2002 in a friendly match against Bolivia. A year later, he was included in Brazil team for 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup. He appeared in all three matches, as Brazil was eliminated in the group stage. After missing out from the national team for more than four years, he was recalled to the team on March 2007 and subsequently earned a place in Brazil's team for 2007 Copa América, which Brazil went on to win. He scored his first international goal on 12 September 2007 in a friendly match against Mexico. In May 2009, he was selected for the Brazil squad for the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa.
Career statistics
Honours
Club
Corinthians
Campeonato Brasileiro Série A: 1998, 1999
Copa do Brasil: 2002
Torneio Rio-São Paulo: 2002
Campeonato Paulista: 1999, 2001, 2003
FIFA Club World Championship: 2000
Basel
Swiss Super League: 2004–05
Santos
Campeonato Paulista: 2006, 2007
Internacional
Campeonato Gaúcho: 2009, 2011, 2012
Suruga Bank Championship: 2009
Copa Libertadores: 2010
Recopa Sudamericana: 2011
International
'''Brazil
Copa América: 2007
Confederations Cup: 2009
Superclásico de las Américas: 2011
Individual
Bola de Prata: 2006, 2007, 2009
Campeonato Brasileiro Série A Team of the Year: 2007
References
Sources
Die ersten 125 Jahre. Publisher: Josef Zindel im Friedrich Reinhardt Verlag, Basel.
Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv" Homepage
Living people
1980 births
Footballers from São Paulo
Brazilian men's footballers
Men's association football defenders
Brazil men's international footballers
2003 FIFA Confederations Cup players
2007 Copa América players
2009 FIFA Confederations Cup players
Copa América-winning players
FIFA Confederations Cup-winning players
Sport Club Internacional players
Santos FC players
Sport Club Corinthians Paulista players
Figueirense FC players
Hannover 96 players
FC Basel players
Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players
Bundesliga players
Swiss Super League players
Brazilian expatriate men's footballers
Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Germany
Expatriate men's footballers in Germany
Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland
Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland
Copa Libertadores-winning players