Diego Souza · Biography

On 13 June 2017, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Diego de Souza Andrade scored twice in Brazil’s 4-0 friendly win over Australia. Born in Rio de Janeiro on 17 June 1985, the attacking midfielder and forward had made his senior international debut eight years earlier and was recalled after sharing the 2016 Brazilian Série A scoring title with Sport. His professional career began at Fluminense in 2003, took in more than ten clubs and ended in February 2024.

Early years at Fluminense

He came through the Fluminense academy and was promoted to the first team in 2003. Before that, he had been part of the Brazil under-17 squad that won the 2001 South American Championship. At the Laranjeiras club he played 60 league games, scoring eight goals, and won the 2005 Campeonato Carioca. That same year he made two appearances at the FIFA World Youth Championship in the Netherlands.

Benfica, Flamengo and Grêmio

Benfica signed him in 2005, but he never played a Portuguese league match for the Lisbon club. He was loaned first to Flamengo, where he won the 2006 Copa do Brasil, and then to Grêmio in 2007. In Porto Alegre he lifted the Campeonato Gaúcho and was part of the side that reached the Copa Libertadores final, scoring against São Paulo and Santos in the knockout rounds. Boca Juniors took the title.

Palmeiras, Atlético Mineiro and Vasco

Palmeiras brought him in for 2008, and his first season ended with the Campeonato Paulista. He was named in the Série A Team of the Year in 2008 and 2009. On 11 October 2009 he won his first senior cap in a 2-1 World Cup qualifying defeat to Bolivia in La Paz. In 2010 he moved to Atlético Mineiro, staying until 2011. At Vasco da Gama, between 2011 and 2012, he won the 2011 Copa do Brasil and earned another place in the league’s Team of the Year. That year he also played for Brazil against Argentina on 28 September, in the 2-0 win that secured the Superclásico de las Américas.

Saudi Arabia, Cruzeiro and Ukraine

In 2012 he had a short spell with Saudi club Al-Ittihad. He returned to Brazil in 2013 to join Cruzeiro, playing in the Campeonato Mineiro and the opening rounds of the Série A. In July of that year the Belo Horizonte club accepted an offer from Metalist Kharkiv. He made 19 Ukrainian league appearances, with one goal, before being loaned to Sport in August 2014.

Sport and the 2016 scoring title

His loan in Recife lasted until 2015. In 2016 he had a brief return to Fluminense, winners of that year’s Primeira Liga, and later in 2016 rejoined Sport on a permanent deal. With 14 goals in 34 games he shared the 2016 Série A Golden Boot. In 2017 he won the Campeonato Pernambucano and the Ariano Suassuna Trophy, and was called up for Brazil’s tour of Australia, where he scored his only two international goals in a total of seven caps.

São Paulo, Botafogo and a return to Grêmio

São Paulo signed him in 2018, and he scored 12 goals in that Série A campaign. In 2019 he was loaned to Botafogo, scoring the only goal of a home win over Vasco on 2 June. In 2020 he joined Grêmio, thirteen years after his loan spell there. It was his most prolific season: top scorer in the Campeonato Gaúcho with nine goals and 28 goals over the year, the highest tally in Brazilian football, 13 of them in the Série A. Grêmio won the state title and finished runners-up to Palmeiras in the Copa do Brasil.

Four straight Gaúcho titles and retirement

With Grêmio he won four consecutive Campeonato Gaúcho titles from 2020 to 2023, along with the Recopa Gaúcha in 2021, 2022 and 2023. In March 2021 he scored a hat-trick against Peru’s Ayacucho in the club’s first Libertadores game of the year. In 2022 he played in the Série B with Grêmio, who won promotion at the end of that season. In September 2023 he went back to Sport, making 11 appearances and scoring once in the Série B. Without a club since the end of 2023, he announced his retirement as a player on social media on 10 February 2024.