Fábio

Early career

Born in Nobres, Mato Grosso, Fábio began his career with União Bandeirante-PR before moving to Atlético-PR on loan, where he won the Campeonato Paranaense in 1998. However, his 16 appearances at the club were considered at youth level. Fábio joined Cruzeiro on another loan in 1999, but only played a friendly match in March 2000. A backup option, he won the Copa do Brasil.

Vasco da Gama

In 2000, Fábio joined Vasco da Gama, where he won the Campeonato Brasileiro and the Copa Mercosur in the same year. He later won the Campeonato Carioca in 2003.

Cruzeiro

Fábio returned to Cruzeiro in 2005 in an exchange for the striker Alex Dias. A year later, he achieved the Campeonato Mineiro with the club. In the first half of 2007, Fabio's performance on the field was inconsistent with consequential mistakes, most notably in the first leg of the state championship against rivals Atlético, which ended in a 4–0 loss, with Atlético scoring the fourth goal by sliding the ball into an empty net after Fábio had turned his back to the field. Cruzeiro supporters asked for his removal from the starting squad, and likewise, Fábio was out for three months for an alleged injury, even though he had played the whole match against Atlético, during which he did not show any sign of severe pain. Returning to his starting position in July, he went on to finish the season with the best save percentage in Brazil. In November 2007, after speculation mounted on a…

Fábio was the starting goalkeeper in Brazil's winning campaigns at the 1997 U-17 South American Youth Championship and FIFA U-17 World Cup, where he featured alongside the likes of Ronaldinho. In the latter tournament, he kept a clean sheet against both Argentina and Germany in the knockout stages, and conceded only two goals in six games, from Oman and Ghana. He was also a member of the Brazil team that competed in the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship, keeping a clean-sheet against the eventual champions Spain (2–0) in the group stage and against Croatia (4–0) in the Round of 16, but was unable to save a penalty from Fabián Canobbio that gave a 2–1 win to Uruguay in the quarter-finals. Along with that, Fábio was an unused substitute in Brazil's squad in the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup and in the winning side in the 2004 Copa América, in Peru. In August and September 2006, Fábio was called up by Brazilian head coach Dunga for a friendly against Norway in Oslo on 16 August 2006, which he did not play (1–1). Two weeks later, he remained an unused substitute against Argentina and Wales on 3 and 5 September, respectively, as Gomes remained 's number 1 under Dunga at that time. He was included in one of Brazil's teams in September, but knew exactly where he stood and understood what his role in the team was, and stated he was happy to be part of the squad.

After more than four years, Fábio was called up to the national team in 2011 for the friendly matches against Netherlands…

It was only at Fluminense, under the command of Fernando Diniz, that Fábio began playing a leading role in passing, improving his footwork considerably in order to fit in Diniz's possession-based approach. In his latter years, Fábio began avoiding the gym and weight trainings in order to maximize his rest, prioritizing his sleep instead, which although short, was enough for his recovery.

As of match played 5 September 2026