José Leandro Ferreira

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Leandro, full name José Leandro de Souza Ferreira, (born March 17, 1959 in Cabo Frio, Brazil) is a former defender at Flamengo, winning four Brazilian national titles, five Rio State championships, one Libertadores da América, and one Intercontinental Cup against Liverpool. He also played in the Brazilian national team in the 1980s, including the 1982 FIFA World Cup, along with Zico, Júnior, Falcão, Sócrates, and others. Leandro was capped 27 times for Brazil between September 1981 and May 1986. He was considered one of the best defenders of brazilian soccer.

In 1982, he was the star-studded Brazilian team's unsung hero, a secret weapon capable of delivering decisive crosses to the forwards, or indeed taking a pop himself. He also had an ability to dribble past players and probably covered more ground than any other player in the team - he could often be found in the outside left position, yet would get back to defence when needed. A principled man, he refused to go to 1986 FIFA World Cup at Mexico after a disagreement with the coach Telê Santana over the exclusion of his teamate Renato from the squad. [1]

Nowadays he has a small hotel in Cabo Frio (beach city near of Rio de Janeiro), where he lives with his family.

v • d • e Brazil squad - 1982 FIFA World Cup 1 Valdir Peres • 2 Leandro • 3 Oscar • 4 Luizinho • 5 Toninho Cerezo • 6 Júnior • 7 Paulo Isidoro • 8 Sócrates • 9 Serginho • 10 Zico • 11 Éder • 12 Paulo Sérgio • 13 Edevaldo • 14 Juninho • 15 Falcão • 16 Edinho • 17 Pedrinho • 18 Batista • 19 Renato • 20 Roberto Dinamite • 21 Dirceu • 22 Carlos • Coach: Santana

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