Leonildo Soares Gonçalves Ceita (born 7 August 1992), commonly known as Leonildo Soares and sometimes as Ju,[1] is a São Toméan professional footballer who plays as a right-back for UFC Moitense and the São Tomé and Príncipe national team. He also holds Portuguese citizenship.

Leonildo Soares
Personal information
Full name Leonildo Soares Gonçalves Ceita
Date of birth (1992-08-07) 7 August 1992 (age 32)
Place of birth Água Grande, São Tomé and Príncipe
Height 1.76 m (5 ft 9+12 in)
Position(s) Right-back
Team information
Current team
Moitense
Number 3
Youth career
2004–2008 Seixal
2008–2009 Amora
2009–2011 Vitória de Setúbal
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011–2012 Fabril Barreiro 30 (6)
2012–2013 Amora 32 (5)
2013–2014 Pinhalnovense 8 (0)
2014 Abahani Limited (4)
2015–2017 Peimari United
2018–2020 Oriental Dragon 46 (5)
2020–2021 Fabril Barreiro 21 (2)
2021 Pinhalnovense 10 (0)
2022 Fabril Barreiro 15 (0)
2022–2023 Moitense 31 (2)
2023 Barreirense 5 (0)
2023– Moitense 4 (0)
International career
2016– São Tomé and Príncipe 16 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 16:21, 24 December 2023 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 16:21, 24 December 2023 (UTC)

Club career

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After he immigrated to Portugal along with his family during his childhood years, he played in several Portuguese clubs including Seixal, Amora and Vitória de Setúbal. He started his professional career, his first club was Fabril do Barros, then played with Amora and recently Pinhalnovense. He became the first Santomean to play with a Bangladeshi club Abahani Limited of its capital Dhaka for the 2014 season.

International career

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Leonildo Soares made his international debut on 4 June 2016, when he played entirely in a loss Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Cape Verde.[2]

References

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  1. ^ "Ju valor são-tomense nos campeonatos jovens de Portugal – Em entrevista" (in Portuguese). 3 January 2011. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
  2. ^ "CAF - Competitions - Q CAN 2017 - Match Details". CAF. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
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