Luisão

Brazil

Born in Amparo, São Paulo, Luisão represented Clube Atlético Juventus and Cruzeiro Esporte Clube in his country, scoring a career-best 6 goals in 24 matches in his third season with the latter.

Benfica

In the summer of 2003, Luisão moved to Europe to sign with Portuguese club Benfica for a £890,000 transfer fee paid by the Lisbon-based side. He faced a tough period of adaptation, during which time he performed somewhat below his capabilities and even considered traveling back to his home country. However, he managed to score in his league debut, a 3–3 home draw against C.F. Os Belenenses on 14 September. He ended his first season winning the Taça de Portugal after Benfica defeated fierce rivals FC Porto 2–1 in the tournament final. During the 2004–05 season Luisão featured regularly in Benfica's central defence alongside Ricardo Rocha, appearing in 29 matches and contributing heavily for Benfica's first league title in 11 years. On 24 April 2005, in a 2–1 away victory over G.D. Estoril Praia, he scored his first goal of the season, the match's equaliser. On 14 May, he found the net through a header against Lisbon rivals Sporting CP, scoring the match's only goal and ousting the opponents from the title race.

The 2005–06 season finished without silverware for Benfica, with Luisão again as an automatic first-choice. However, the team reached the season's UEFA Champions League quarter-finals, with the defender playing all the matches and minutes in the…

Luisão was called-up for the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship, but the Brazilians crashed out to Ghana in the quarter-finals. Luisão made his debut for Brazil on 23 July 2001, against Honduras, in the quarter-finals of 2001 Copa América. In 2003, Luisão was named in the squad for the 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup, where Brazil, competing with their under-23 team, finished as runner-up to Mexico. On 8 December 2003, Luisão was called up by Ricardo Gomes for the Olympic qualification tournament with the consent of Benfica. However, a few days later, the club changed its position and decided not to release the player due to a derby against Sporting. He represented the nation in its 2004 Copa América win, playing in all six matches, including a 1–2 loss against Paraguay – where he was team captain – and the final against Argentina where he scored his first international goal. In the next year, Luisão was named in the Brazilian squad for the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup, but did not play a single second, meeting the same fate in the 2006 FIFA World Cup. After the latter tournament, when Dunga was hired as the new coach, he began to play more often. Luisão was summoned for the 2009 Confederations Cup, playing in four of Brazil's five matches, including the 1–0 victory over South Africa in the semifinals, and the 3–2 win against the United States in the final, partnering with FC Bayern Munich's Lúcio. Again as a reserve player, Luisão was selected for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa,…

Club

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International

Scores and results list Brazil's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Luisão goal.

Luisão's younger brothers, Alex Silva and Andrei Silva, are also football defenders. Luisão is a member of Atletas de Cristo, a group of Brazilian Evangelical footballers also counting Kaká, Edmílson and Cris amongst its ranks. Luisão married Brenda Mattar in 2016. They have two daughters together, Sophia and Valentina. In 2022, they announced their divorce.