José Kléberson

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Personal information
Kléberson

Full name	José Kléberson Pereira
Date of birth	June 19 1979 (1979-06-19) (age 31)
Place of birth	Uraí, Brazil
Club information
Current club	Flamengo
Number	15
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1998-2003 2003-2005 2005-2007 2007-	Atlético Paranaense Manchester United Besiktas Flamengo	0? (?) 25 (2) 42 (3)
National team²
2002-2004	Brazil	27 (2)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 2006. ² National team caps and goals correct as of 2006. * Appearances (Goals)

José Kléberson Pereira (born June 19, 1979 in Uraí) is a Brazilian football player.

Career

Kléberson was born in the southern Brazilian State of Parana and grew up in the provincial town of Urai. He began his football career with Clube Atlético Paranaense. While at Atlético Paranaense Kleberson won the Parana state championship in 2000 and 2001, and the Brazilian league title in 2001. His performances for Atlético Paranaense led to Luis Felipe Scolari bringing him into the Brazilian national team. His first appearance was a friendly match against Bolivia in which he scored. However, he was relegated to the substitutes bench for the group stages of Brazil's 2002 FIFA World Cup campaign. He was brought into the starting line-up for Brazil's game against England, with Scolari feeling his tenacity would help counter the high work-rate of the English side. His tackle on his future team-mate Paul Scholes led to Brazil's equaliser, and he featured regularly in the rest of the tournament. Brazil defeated Germany in the final, with Kléberson setting up one of the two Brazilian goals.

His World Cup performances led to Scolari declaring Kléberson the driving force behind Brazil's Cup winning side, and drew interest from several English and Scotish teams. Newcastle, Leeds and Celtic all expressed an interest. Leeds failed to secure the signing after Kléberson decided against leaving Brazil without his girlfriend, who he was unable to marry until her 16th birthday. Eventually it was Manchester United who signed Kléberson for a fee of £6.5m. Seen as a replacement for Juan Sebastian Veron, Kléberson was injured in his second appearance for the club and made only 28 for the club in total. During his time at United he also lost his place in the Brazilian national team. On 8 August 2005 Rıza Çalımbay transferred Kléberson to Beşiktaş of Istanbul, Turkey, in a deal reported to be worth £2.5m. He signed a three-year deal, with the option of a further 12 months, and told reporters at a signing ceremony "I have come from one big club to another so I am very happy". Later he accused Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson of not having enough faith in him.

Kléberson was transfered to Flamengo on January 2008.

References

v • d • e Brazil squad - 2002 FIFA World Cup Winners (5th Title)
1 Marcos • 2 Cafu • 3 Lúcio • 4 Roque Júnior • 5 Edmílson • 6 Roberto Carlos • 7 Ricardinho • 8 Gilberto Silva • 9 Ronaldo • 10 Rivaldo • 11 Ronaldinho • 12 Dida • 13 Belletti • 14 Anderson Polga • 15 Kléberson • 16 Júnior • 17 Denílson • 18 Vampeta • 19 Juninho • 20 Edílson • 21 Luizão • 22 Rogério Ceni • 23 Kaká • Coach: Scolari