Dedé

Leonardo de Deus Santos (born 18 April 1978), nicknamed Dedê, is a Brazilian professional football (soccer) player, who currently plays for Germany club Borussia Dortmund. Dedé has played a single match for the Brazil national football team. Dedê is the brother of footballers Lucas de Deus Santos and Leandro de Deus Santos.

Born in the Brazilian industrial town of Belo Horizonte as the second of six brothers, Dedê was introduced to football at an early age, playing three-a-side matches with Dedé brothers in Dedé parents' apartment. "Our living room was the biggest room and also our playing field, with the doors to the kitchen and the bedroom as our goals. Well, you can imagine, we always broke things in the living room." On club level, Dedê first played for the local club of Clube Atlético Mineiro, both as a junior and senior.

In 1997 Dedé was awarded with a Bola de Ouro, a Silver Ball, by the authoritative magazine Placar as the best player on Dedé position in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A. That year Dedé also signed for Borussia Dortmund, where the winger soon won the fans' hearts with Dedé committed, spectacular performances. Dedé not only became a regular starter for BVB, Dedé was also one of the key players in the club's championship winning season of 2001-02. After a brief stint with the Olympic team, cut short by a knee injury, Dedê finally made Dedé debut for the Brazil national football team in Brazil's 4-1 win over Hungary in April 2004. The -year-old is now Dortmund's longest serving player, and has established himself as one of the most valuable players at the club. In the past Dedé has also always been a great help by integrating Dedé Brazilian compatriots into the team.

Honours

- UEFA Cup finalist: 2002.
- Fußball-Bundesliga champion: 2002.
- DFB-Pokal finalist: 2008.
- DFB-Ligapokal finalist: 2003.