How Can We Help?
You are here:
< Back

João Leite da Silva Neto, known simply as João Leite (Pitangui,[citation needed] October 13, 1955), was a politician in the Legislative Assembly of Minas Gerais and a former Brazilian football goalkeeper who played for Atlético Mineiro in the decades of 1970, 1980 and 1990. [1]

Career

João Leite started and spent most of his career at Clube Atlético Mineiro, for which he holds the record for most appearances and most trophies won. João Leite first played for Atlético in 1977, substituting Ortiz. He also played in the Campeonato Brasileiro, with his team finishing the championship at second place after losing to São Paulo in the finals.[2] In the 17 years that he played for the club, João Leite played a total of 684 matches,[3] won twelve Campeonato Mineiro and one Copa CONMEBOL.[2][4]

He also played for Vitória de Guimarães, Guarani and América Mineiro, before returning to Atlético Mineiro and ending his career.

He was selected for the Brazil national team during the 1980 Mundialito[5][6][7] and the 1979 Copa América,[8] and played 5 official games in total with the Seleção between 1980 and 1981.

João Leite was one of the precursors of the Atletas de Cristo ("Christ's Athletes") movement, and he used to give bibles to the opposing players, becoming known as Goleiro de Deus ("God's Goalkeeper").[2][9]

Nowadays João Leite is state deputy in Minas Gerais, and has been since 1995.[10] In January 2023 he requested retirement from politics along with nine other ex-colleagues. [1]

Honours

Club

Atlético Mineiro

Individual

References

  1. ^ a b Fontes, Letícia (2023-02-11). "Nove ex-deputados estaduais pedem aposentadoria na ALMG | O TEMPO". www.otempo.com.br (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2023-12-06.
  2. ^ a b c "João Leite". UOL. Retrieved January 5, 2014.
  3. ^ "Recordistas do Clube Atlético Mineiro". Archived from the original on January 6, 2014. Retrieved January 5, 2014.
  4. ^ "Ídolo do Galo, João Leite relembra título da Conmebol 92: 'Uma batalha'". SporTV.com. Retrieved January 5, 2014.
  5. ^ "Confederação Brasileira de Futebol - Mundialito 1980". leballondrond.fr. Retrieved 5 January 2014.
  6. ^ "João Leite - En Sélection Nationale". leballondrond.fr. Retrieved 5 January 2014.
  7. ^ "Mundialito 1980 (Montevideo, Uruguay)". RSSSF. Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 5 January 2014.
  8. ^ "Copa América 1979". RSSSF. Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 5 January 2014.
  9. ^ Alves, Marcus (22 March 2022). "Evangelicalism & Brazil: The religious movement that spread through a national team". BBC Sport. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  10. ^ "Conheça os Deputados da 17ª legislatura" [Meet the Members of the 17th Legislature]. almg.gov.br. Legislative Assembly of Minas Gerais. Archived from the original on 2 May 2017. Retrieved 5 January 2014.


Categories
Table of Contents