page_title: Dante (footballer)
section_title: Borussia Mönchengladbach
hierarchical_section_title: Dante (footballer) / Club career / Borussia Mönchengladbach
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Dante vor dem Spiel gegen den 1. FC Kaiserslautern
context_page_description: Dante Bonfim Costa Santos, commonly known as Dante, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays for and captains French club Nice. Primarily a central defender, he has previously also been used as a defensive midfielder or a left back.
  After emerging at Juventude, Dante went on to play for Lille, Charleroi and Standard Liège, winning the Belgian Pro League with the latter. In January 2009, he was signed by Borussia Mönchengladbach, spending two-and-a-half seasons before making a €4.7 million move to Bayern Munich, where he won nine domestic and international honours.
  Dante made his international debut for Brazil in 2013, winning that year's Confederations Cup and representing the nation at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
context_section_description: Dante joined German side Borussia Mönchengladbach on 27 December 2008 for an undisclosed transfer fee, signing a contract with the club until summer 2013. He made his debut for the club on 20 March 2009, coming on as a second-half substitute in a 1–0 loss to fellow strugglers VfL Bochum. His first goal for the club came against eventual champions VfL Wolfsburg on 11 April but it came in a losing effort as 'Gladbach fell 2–1 thanks to a late strike by defender Sascha Riether. The Brazilian scored a dramatic late winner against Energie Cottbus on 13 May, heading in a cross from winger Marko Marin to give the club a 1–0 win in the 91st minute. On the final day of the Bundesliga season on 23 May 2009, Dante scored 'Gladbach's only goal in a 1–1 draw with Borussia Dortmund, a point which meant the club avoided immediate relegation to the 2. Bundesliga.
  In the opening fixture of the 2009–10 Bundesliga campaign on 9 August 2009, Dante received a red card for a bad foul as Mönchengladbach relinquished a 3–0 lead against VfL Bochum, drawing 3–3. He scored his first goal of the campaign on 31 October, heading home a corner in the 76th minute to draw the match level at 2–2 and an 82nd-minute strike from Rob Friend handed 'Gladbach a 3–2 victory over Hamburger SV. On 9 April 2010, Dante headed in a free-kick from Juan Arango to double 'Gladbach's lead, resulting in a 2–0 defeat of Eintracht Frankfurt that all but secured Bundesliga survival.
  The 2010–11 campaign proved to be another difficult campaign for 'Gladbach. Dante only featured in 17 league matches as he battled against persistent injury and the club finished in 16th place, the relegation play-off spot. However, Dante did play the full 90 minutes in each play-off match against VfL Bochum as Borussia Mönchengladbach managed a 2–1 aggregate victory to remain in the German top flight for the 2011–12 season.
  The following season proved much more successful as Dante featured in 38 matches in all competitions, playing the full 90 minutes in each. In January 2012, he hinted he could leave the club before his contract expired in June 2014, revealing to the press he desired to play for a top club in Germany, singling out Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen. Dante was influential as the club made a run to the semi-finals of the DFB-Pokal where the club lost 4–2 on penalties to Bayern Munich on 21 March 2012, with Dante and Håvard Nordtveit missing their penalties to give Bayern a spot in the final with champions Borussia Dortmund.
caption: Dante training with Borussia Mönchengladbach in 2011
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