Derlei

Derlei

Derlei in 2005
Personal information
Full name	Vanderlei Fernandes Silva
Date of birth	(1975-07-14) 14 July 1975
Place of birth	São Bernardo do Campo, Brazil
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Playing position	Striker
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1994–1997	América-RN	56	(21)
1997–1998	Guarani	25	(7)
1999	Madureira	14	(4)
1999–2002	União Leiria	91	(42)
2002–2005	Porto	57	(19)
2005–2007	Dynamo Moscow	41	(20)
2007	→ Benfica (loan)	12	(1)
2007–2009	Sporting CP	27	(8)
2009–2010	Vitória	1	(1)
2010	Madureira	3	(1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Vanderlei Fernandes Silva (born 14 July 1975), aka Derlei, is a Brazilian retired footballer who played as a striker.

He spent most of his 16-year professional career in Portugal (one full decade), having represented all three most important clubs in the country, and amassing top division totals of 187 games and 70 goals.

With Porto Derlei won eight major titles, including two leagues, one Champions League and one UEFA Cup.

Football career

Born in São Bernardo do Campo, São Paulo, Derlei started playing in the lower levels of football in Brazil, but joined Portugal's União de Leiria in 1999, going on to appear in 91 top division games with the club and score 42 goals. In his last season, as Leiria overachieved for a final seventh place, led by young manager José Mourinho, he netted 21 times.^[1]

Derlei joined F.C. Porto in the summer of 2002, playing an important part in a successful squad that was also managed by Mourinho. He was one of the top scorers in a side that conquered the UEFA Cup and UEFA Champions League in consecutive seasons – he scored twice in the 2003 UEFA Cup final against Celtic (adding another brace in the 4–1 semifinal win over S.S. Lazio^[2]) – being nicknamed "Ninja" while playing for the northern side; the following campaign, as he was leading the domestic goalscoring chart, he suffered a severe knee injury, which rendered him unavailable for the remainder of the season.^[3]

In January 2005, after disciplinary problems related to his lateness in arriving from the winter break, Derlei was sold to FC Dynamo Moscow for €7 million,^[4] being granted Portuguese citizenship shortly thereafter. After two years of Russian football where he was always one of the top five best goalscorers, Derlei joined S.L. Benfica on loan in January 2007;^[5] on 2 February he played his first league match for the Reds, a 0–0 home draw against match against Boavista FC.

In June 2007 Derlei left Benfica for Lisbon rivals Sporting Clube de Portugal, signing a contract until 2009 after being freed from his two-year contract with Dynamo Moscow – he was, therefore, one of the few players to have represented the Big Three of Portugal. He would, however, spend most of 2007–08 on the sidelines, with another serious knee injury.^[6]

Derlei made a fantastic comeback to competition when, on 16 April 2008, he entered the field for Leandro Romagnoli in the 61st minute during the semi-final of the Portuguese Cup against previous team Benfica, managing to score only 18 minutes later to make it 3–2 to Sporting, in a match which eventually ended with a 5–3 win as the Lions went on to win the tournament against another former club of the player, Porto.

In his second season Derlei fought with Hélder Postiga for a chance to play alongside Liédson, and scored some goals, including an important one in a 1–0 home triumph over FC Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League, which sealed Sporting's group stage qualification on 4 November 2008.^[7] At the end of the campaign he refused to accept the club's offer to renew the link, on the grounds the figures offered were not convincing, thus being made a free agent.

After some consideration, 34-year old Derlei joined Esporte Clube Vitória on 27 August 2009, in a one-year deal. He made his club debut on 13 September in a match against league leader Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras: having taken the pitch in the second half, he scored the 3–2 winner. Shortly after he switched to modest Madureira Esporte Clube, returning to a club he had represented more than one decade ago.

Honours

Porto

• UEFA Champions League: 2003–04
• UEFA Cup: 2002–03
• Intercontinental Cup: 2004
• Portuguese League: 2002–03, 2003–04
• Portuguese Cup: 2002–03
• Portuguese Supercup: 2003, 2004

Sporting

• Portuguese Cup: 2007–08
• Portuguese Supercup: 2007, 2008
• Portuguese League Cup: Runner-up 2007–08, 2008–09

Club statistics

References

External links

• SambaFoot profile
• Derlei at footballzz.co.uk
• Stats at ForaDeJogo
• PortuGOAL profile