Leonardo (footballer, born 1988)

José Leonardo Ribeiro da Silva (born February 8, 1988), commonly known as Leonardo, is a Brazilian footballer who is currently a free agent and plays as a defender.

In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Ribeiro and the second or paternal family name is da Silva.
Leonardo
Personal information
Full name José Leonardo Ribeiro da Silva
Date of birth (1988-02-05) February 5, 1988
Place of birth São Paulo, Brazil
Height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Position(s) Centre back
Youth career
1999–2009 São Paulo
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2009–2011 São Paulo 0 (0)
2009 → Toledo (loan) 0 (0)
2010–2011 → LA Galaxy (loan) 17 (1)
2012–2016 LA Galaxy 68 (1)
2014 → LA Galaxy II (loan) 1 (0)
2016 → LA Galaxy II (loan) 1 (0)
2017–2018 Houston Dynamo 54 (3)
2019 Orange County SC 16 (3)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 20 April 2021

Career

Leonardo was born in São Paulo and played for the São Paulo youth teams before being promoted into the senior team. He was sent out on loan to Major League Soccer team Los Angeles Galaxy in 2010 along with fellow Brazilians from the club Alex Cazumba and Juninho.[1]

He made his debut for the team on March 27, 2010, in Galaxy's opening game of the 2010 MLS season against New England Revolution.[2] Leonardo would deal with injuries in 2010, but made 10 appearances and helped the Galaxy win the 2010 Supporters Shield.

He scored his first professional goal on April 2, 2011, a headed goal from a David Beckham cross, in a 1–0 win over Philadelphia Union.[3] However he would suffer a torn ACL and a torn LCL on April 17, 2011, forcing him to miss the rest of the 2011 season.[4]

On February 7, 2012, Los Angeles announced it had acquired the full rights to Leonardo on a free transfer from São Paulo.[5] Leonardo would miss most of the 2012 season due to injuries, making 0 league appearances and only appearing in 1 US Open Cup match.[4]

Leonardo would recover from his injuries for the 2013 season and established himself as a starter for the 2014 season as part of a backline that allowed a league low 35 goals.[4] He would start in 3 of the Galaxy's playoff games, including the final as LA won their 5th MLS Cup.[6] Leonardo enjoyed a good season for 2015, making 29 appearances across all competitions and being named the Galaxy defender of the year. However the team lost 3-2 in the first round of the playoffs to Sporting Kansas City.[4]

Leonardo missed some time for a leg injury and also fell out of favor in 2016, only making 7 appearances in all competitions.[4] On December 22, 2016 Leonardo was selected by the Houston Dynamo in stage 2 of the 2016 Re-Entry Draft.[7] He signed with the Dynamo on January 5, 2017.[8]

Leonardo made his Dynamo debut on March 4, 2017 in a 3-2 win over the Seattle Sounders. He scored his first goal for the Dynamo on May 31 against Real Salt Lake. He made 30 league appearances on the year and helped the Dynamo qualify for the playoffs for the first time since 2013. He would make 3 appearances in the playoffs as the Dynamo reached the Western Conference Finals, where they would fall to Seattle.[4]

In 2018, Leonardo helped the Dynamo win the 2018 US Open Cup, the first in club history,[4] however he missed the final due to injury. Overall he enjoyed a healthy season, only missing 4 games. Leonardo also emerged as a leader of the team, wearing the captain's armband on 4 occasions.[4]

On March 12, 2019, he joined USL Championship side Orange County SC.[9]

Career Statistics
As of November 17, 2018[10][11]
Club Season League US Open Cup Playoffs Continental Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
LA Galaxy 2010 MLS 10 0 2 0 0 0 — 12 0
2011 7 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 9 1
2012 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
2013 14 0 1 0 0 0 4 0 19 0
2014 24 1 1 0 3 0 3 0 31 1
2015 26 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 29 0
2016 4 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 7 0
Total 85 2 10 0 4 0 9 0 108 2
LA Galaxy II 2014 USL 1 0 0 0 0 0 — 1 0
2016 1 0 — 0 0 — 1 0
Total 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
Houston Dynamo 2017 MLS 30 2 0 0 3 0 — 33 2
2018 24 1 1 0 — — 25 1
Total 54 3 1 0 3 0 0 0 58 3
Career Totals 141 5 11 0 7 0 9 0 168 5

Honors
Los Angeles Galaxy[12]

Houston Dynamo

References
  1. Galaxy sign three players on loan from Sao Paulo FC Archived March 19, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  2. "CBC.ca Sports". stats.cbc.ca. Archived from the original on July 21, 2011. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  3. Galaxy hold on for 1-0 win after Birchall red card Archived April 5, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  4. "Leonardo". houstondynamo.com. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  5. "Juninho and Leonardo to return to the LA Galaxy in 2012". www.lagalaxy.com. February 7, 2012.
  6. "LA Galaxy 2, New England Revolution 1: MLS Cup Final Match Recap | MLSsoccer.com". January 11, 2015. Archived from the original on January 11, 2015. Retrieved November 18, 2018.
  7. "2016 MLS Re-Entry Draft Stage 2". mlssoccer.com. December 22, 2016. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  8. "Dynamo seal signing of defender Leonardo". ESPN.com. Retrieved November 18, 2018.
  9. "Orange County SC Sign 2018 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Winner Leonardo". orangecountysoccer.com. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
  10. "Leonardo". mlssoccer.com. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  11. "Leonardo". soccerway.com. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  12. Leonardo at Soccerway
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