Ânderson Luís da Silva (born 13 February 1981), known as Luisão, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a centre back.
Luisão started his career at Juventus-SP in 1999 before moving to Cruzeiro the year later, where he spent three seasons. Then, from 2003 to 2018, the rest of his professional career was spent with Portuguese club Benfica, for which he appeared in 538 official matches, holding the club record for most international matches (127), major titles won (20) and longest-serving captain (414 matches).
In the summer of 2003, Luisão moved to Europe to sign with Portuguese club Benfica for a £890,000 transfer fee paid by the Lisbon-based side. He faced a tough period of adaptation, during which time he performed somewhat below his capabilities and even considered traveling back to his home country. However, he managed to score in his league debut, a 3–3 home draw against C.F. Os Belenenses on 14 September. He ended his first season winning the Taça de Portugal after Benfica defeated fierce rivalsFC Porto 2–1 in the tournament final.
During the 2004–05 season Luisão featured regularly in Benfica's central defence alongside Ricardo Rocha, appearing in 29 matches and contributing heavily for Benfica's first league title in 11 years. On 24 April 2005, in a 2–1 away victory over G.D. Estoril Praia, he scored his first goal of the season, the match's equaliser. On 14 May, he found the net through a header against Lisbon rivalsSporting CP, scoring the match's only goal and ousting the opponents from the title race.
The 2005–06 season finished without silverware for Benfica, with Luisão again as an automatic first-choice. However, the team reached the season's UEFA Champions League quarter-finals, with the defender playing all the matches and minutes in the competition. On 21 February 2006, he scored in his side's 1–0 home win against holdersLiverpool, which had lost just 1 of 13 European matches the previous year and 5 of 41 away from home.[3] He also started in the second leg, a 2–0 win at Anfield.[4]
During the 2006–07 season, Luisão was named club captain in some matches due to injuries to Nuno Gomes and Petit. The club again failed to secure any major honours in the season. At the end of the season, his agent said that "Luisão want[ed] to leave" the club, though he eventually stayed.[5]
During the following season, in January 2008, Luisão was involved in an on-field argument with Greek teammate Kostas Katsouranis during a league match against Vitória de Setúbal. The argument arose after Katsouranis' misplaced pass, which forced the Brazilian to commit a foul in order to stop play. After receiving a yellow card for the foul, Luisão criticized Katsouranis, who responded in a similar manner. The two players were on the point of breaking into violence before teammates separated them. Both players were then quickly substituted and issued suspensions by the club, with the two later apologizing to each other.[6][7] Again during the season, Luisão dealt with some injuries and inconsistent play and also addressed rumours of another possible move from Benfica.[8]
On 28 August 2010, Luisão scored – through a header – against Vitória de Setúbal at home as ten-men Benfica eventually won the match 3–0.[9] On 14 September, he entered the Champions League's history books after opening the scoring against Israeli side Hapoel Tel Aviv in the competition's group stage.[10]
On 11 August 2012, in the last minutes of the first half of a friendly with Fortuna Düsseldorf, Luisão reportedly pushed referee Christian Fischer to the ground as he was about to send off teammate Javi García for two reckless challenges on Oliver Fink. The referee refused to resume the match and suspended it,[11][12] proceeding to announce that he would take legal action against Luisão.[13] On 14 September, Luisão was initially suspended for two months for his actions, also being fined €2,550. The ruling of the Portuguese Football Federation was still subject to the approval of FIFA,[14][15] which was confirmed shortly after, causing the player to miss 11 matches, including the Champions League matches against Celtic and FC Barcelona.[16]
On 26 April 2015, then with 229 matches, Luisão surpassed Mário Coluna as the longest-serving captain at Benfica.[19] A day after turning 36, on 14 February 2017, he made his 500th appearance in a Champions League win against Borussia Dortmund; only Nené, António Veloso and Coluna had reached that mark for Benfica before.[20] By winning the 2017 Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira, he became the Benfica player with most titles won for the club, overtaking Nené to 20.[21]
On 25 September 2018, at the Estádio da Luz, Luisão announced his retirement from professional football.[22]
He represented the nation in its 2004 Copa América win, playing in all six matches, including a 1–2 loss against Paraguay – where he was team captain – and the final against Argentina where he scored his first international goal.[32]
In the next year, Luisão was named in the Brazilian squad for the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup, but did not play a single second, meeting the same fate in the 2006 FIFA World Cup. After the latter tournament, when Dunga was hired as the new coach, he began to play more often.
Again as a reserve player, Luisão was selected for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, after a solid club season, being an unused squad member as Brazil exited in the quarter-finals.[33]
Personal life
Luisão's younger brothers, Alex Silva[34] and Andrei Silva,[35] are also football defenders. Luisão is a member of Atletas de Cristo, a group of Brazilian Evangelical footballers also counting Kaká, Edmílson and Cris amongst its ranks.[36]
Luisão married Brenda Mattar in 2016. They have two daughters together, Sophia and Valentina. In 2022, they announced their divorce.[37][38]
^Bragança, José (28 April 2015). "Luisão, um capitão para a história" [Luisão, a captain for the ages] (in Portuguese). zerozero. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
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