The story of "Souza," the midfielder who currently commands Náutico's midfield.

THE STORY OF "SOUZA," THE MIDFIELDER WHO COMMANDS NÁUTICO'S MIDFIELD TODAY. Elierce Barbosa de Souza, the midfielder Souza, also known as Ferrugem, was born on March 8, 1988, in Posse, a city in the interior of Goiás. After a stint in Atlético Goianiense's youth system, he took his first professional steps in smaller clubs in the Federal District, such as Ceilândia, Brasília, and Dom Pedro 2º. He considered abandoning his dream of being a player, and for a time he did. He left football behind and returned to Posse, his hometown, to work as a construction laborer. In 2008, he rekindled his dream of being a football player and went to Dom Pedro 2º, in Brasília. In total, he played twelve games and scored one goal, enough for Souza to stand out and be considered by many as the best midfielder in the Brasília championship that year. Souza was initially announced as a reinforcement for Gama in the 2008 Brazilian Championship Série B. He trained with the club for only one day. He disappeared from the club and decided to sign with Palmeiras, from São Paulo. He spent some time with Palmeiras B and was loaned to Ponte Preta and São Caetano. Shortly after, Souza was promoted by Wanderley Luxemburgo to Palmeiras' main team to fill the gap in the squad's midfielders when Edmilson and Sandro Silva were injured. After 29 Série A matches and five Libertadores matches in 2009 for Palmeiras, he ended up losing his place and played for several clubs, such as Ponte Preta and São Caetano, until arriving at Náutico in 2012. For Náutico, he played 53 games and scored 14 goals, becoming a fan favorite and a key player in the team's great campaign in the Brazilian Championship, leaving the team in 12th place overall. The following year he returned to Palmeiras, where he was once again loaned out, this time to Cruzeiro, the club that signed him permanently after his contract with the São Paulo club ended. At Cruzeiro, Souza was part of the squad that won the Brazilian Championship in 2013 and 2014, in addition to winning the Minas Gerais State Championship in 2013, playing a total of 31 matches and scoring four goals; he finished that season on loan to Santos, where he played the remainder of the Série A for the Santos team. In 2015 he returned to playing well and regularly for Bahia. Besides winning the state championship, he played 50 matches and scored 10 goals. Although he didn't achieve promotion to the top tier, he attracted the attention of Japanese football, being signed by Cerezo Osaka the following year. It was there that he became an idol and played for four seasons, winning the J-League Cup and the Emperor's Cup in 2017, totaling more than 100 matches and 28 goals. Before returning to Náutico, after 10 years since his great spell in 2012, he also played for Al Ettifaq in Saudi Arabia between 2019 and 2021, accumulating six goals and eight assists in 66 games. In 2020, he played for Khor Fakkan in the United Arab Emirates, where he played 12 matches, scoring twice and assisting four times. In 2022, Souza returned to Náutico to help the team in Série B. Despite a poor campaign for Náutico in the tournament, Souza remained for the following season of 2023, where he is currently playing. https://pernambutatico.com/2022/07/07... http://historiafutebolbrasiliense.blo...