Weldon (footballer)

Weldon
Personal information
Full name	Weldon Santos de Andrade
Date of birth	6 August 1980 (age 44)
Place of birth	Santo André, Brazil
Height	1.84 m (6 ft 1⁄2 in)
Position(s)	Striker
Team information
Current team	CA Juventus
Youth career
1999	América-SP
Senior career*
Years	Team
2000–2002	Santos
2002	Brasiliense
2003	Sport
2004	Ponte Preta
2004–2005	Al Nassr
2005–2009	Cruzeiro
2006	→ Sochaux (loan)
2006	→ Troyes (loan)
2007	→ Sport (loan)
2007–2008	→ Belenenses (loan)
2009	→ Sport (loan)
2009–2011	Benfica
2011–2013	CFR Cluj
2012	→ Changchun Yatai (loan)
2013–2014	Criciúma
2014	Anápolis
2014–2015	Olhanense
2016	Brasiliense
2017	Independente Limeira
2017	Desportiva-ES
2017	Taboão da Serra
2018–	CA Juventus
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 15 October 2017

Weldon Santos de Andrade (born 6 August 1980), known simply as Weldon, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays for Clube Atlético Juventus as a striker.

Club career

Weldon was born in Santo André, São Paulo. In his early career, he represented four clubs in quick succession: Santos FC, Brasiliense Futebol Clube, Sport Club do Recife and Associação Atlética Ponte Preta, before moving abroad in 2004 with Al Nassr FC of Saudi Arabia.

In the following year, Weldon signed for Cruzeiro Esporte Clube. He went on to be loaned several times for the duration of his contract, including twice in the French Ligue 1, with FC Sochaux-Montbéliard and Troyes AC, where the player was rarely used – only ten games and one goal in two season halves combined.

After an aborted move to Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas,^[1] Weldon agreed to a two-year deal at S.L. Benfica of Portugal (he had already played in the country the previous year, with C.F. Os Belenenses^[2]) on 22 July 2009.^[3] He made his official debut on 16 August, rescuing a point at home against C.S. Marítimo for the season's opener (1–1);^[4] during the team's victorious campaign he served almost exclusively as backup to Óscar Cardozo and Javier Saviola, but made the most of his minutes,^[5] for instance scoring twice in a 4–2 win at Associação Naval 1º de Maio on 5 April 2010^[6] and adding another brace in another away triumph (3–2 against Académica de Coimbra).^[7]

Weldon only appeared in eight official matches in 2010–11, four in the league, totalling less than 100 minutes overall. In the following years he played in Romania and China, returning to his homeland at the age of 33 and continuing his career mainly in the lower leagues and amateur football; this was interspersed with a spell in the Portuguese Segunda Liga, with S.C. Olhanense.^[8]