Robinho Biography

Robson de Souza Santos, better known as Robinho, born on 25 January 1984 in Sao Vicente, is a Brazilian football player who plays as a striker. Named by Pele as his "heir", he was discovered by Pele himself, who brought him to

in 1996, at the age of 12.

In 2002, in his first professional season, Robinho immediately managed to win the national championship. He stayed at Santos until 2005 when he was bought by

for 30 million Euros: with the Blancos' jersey, he won two La Ligas (2006-2007 and 2007-2008) and a Supercopa de España (2008). In the summer of 2008, he moved to

, which paid him 42 million euros, but his experience in England turned out to be below expectations.

In 2010, after a brief spell at Santos on loan, he moved to

for 18 million euros: he stayed in Italy for four years, winning a Serie A (2010-2011) and a Supercoppa Italiana (2011) in his first season, but in the following years he entered a decline. In 2014 he returned to Santos, again on loan, before embarking on an adventure with Chinese side

.

In 2016 he wore the shirt of Atlético Mineiro, while from 2018 until August 2020 he played in

with

and

.

He joined the Brazilian national team in 2003. Robinho played his first international game for

in a match against

on July 13, 2003. Brazil lost the match 1-0. He scored his first goal for the national team on February 9, 2005, against Hong Kong.

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All You Need to Know About Robinho Biography

With Brazil national team he has also won Confederations Cups (2005 and 2009), and also participated in one edition of the Gold Cup (2003) and two editions of the World Cup (2006 and 2010).

Robinho Information

Now that we know him better, in this section of

Robinho biography

, we will share some general information about him such as

Robinho nationality

to let you know him even more.

Robinho Bio

• Full Name: Robson de Souza

• Nickname: Little Robson

• Profession: Professional Footballer

Robinho Physical Stats

• Weight: 60 Kg

• Height: 1.72 m

• Eye Color: Black

• Hair Color: Black

Robinho Football Information

• Position: Striker

• Jersey Number: 10

• Professional Debut: 2002

Robinho Date of Birth and Personal Info

• Date of Birth: 25 January 1984

• Birth Place: São Vicente, Brazil

• Zodiac Sign: Aquarius

• Nationality: Brazilian

In this section of

Robinho biography

stay tuned as we want to share some information about

Robinho childhood

and more.

Robinho Early Life

He was introduced to football as a child, playing with tennis balls. While playing football in the street, at only 6 years old he was noticed by an observer of Beira-Mar, an "Escolinhas", or futsal training school. At the age of 9 he moved on to Portuários, a 5-a-side football team, then he was spotted by Santos, who first included him in their 5-a-side formation, then decided to move him to the club's youth 11-a-side football team in 1996.

During this period, Pelé was among the managers of the youth academy of Santos. In 1999, Pele spotted Robinho during a training session, recognizing him as a young boy: Pele began to follow him constantly, deciding to move him to live in a sort of guesthouse divided into dormitories inside the Santos stadium. In 2001, in what would be his last season with Santos' youth team, Robinho won the Paulista Under-17 championship.

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Robinho Profile

On 18 August 2002 he made his debut in the first team in a 2-1 win against Botafogo and on 5 September 2002 he scored his first goal in the league against Vitória (3-0): at the end of the season he won his first national championship at the age of 18, scoring 10 goals in 30 appearances in his debut year as a professional.

In 2003, he became an indispensable starter and played 53 games, scoring 8 times in the league and 7 times in the Copa Libertadores. 2004 was his breakthrough year: Robinho scored 32 goals in 55 matches, 21 in the Brazilian league alone, where he finished third in the goalscoring charts behind Alex Dias, teammate Deivid and Washington, and was instrumental in helping the club win the 2004 league, their second title in three years. It was the most prolific year of his career and at the end of the season, he was Santos' top scorer in all competitions.

In 2004 Robinho finished third behind Argentines Carlos Tévez and Javier Mascherano in the Balón de Oro and won the Bola de Ouro as the best player of the 2004 Brazilian league. With Santos, he made 110 appearances and scored 47 goals in 4 seasons in the Brazilian Campeonato

and 31 games and 14 goals in the Libertadores Cup.

Real Madrid

At the age of 21, after lengthy negotiations between Santos, who demanded payment of the full 50 million release clause, and Real Madrid, the Brazilian player was bought by the Spanish club in the summer of 2005 for 30 million (around €27.7 million), signing for five years at €1.8 million net per season and being given the number 10 shirt, previously worn by Portuguese star Luís Figo. Robinho's purchase could be compared to that of galacticos, being immediately considered among the most important players in the entire Spanish

.

During his first season, he lived up to the expectations he had raised, teaming up with stars such as Zidane, Roberto Carlos and Casillas with consistent performances, until he was one of the most heavily used players of the 2005-2006 season. His first year with the Merengues ended with a tally of 51 games and 12 goals.

During the 2006-2007 season, coach Fabio Capello often preferred players such as Beckham, Ronaldo or Cassano to him, preventing Robinho from playing consistently, due to the Brazilian's occasional absence from training. It was only towards the end of the season that the Italian coach returned to playing him as a regular starter. The season ended with Robinho winning the La Liga title, to which he still made a valuable contribution with 32 appearances and 6 goals.

In the following 2007-2008 season, Robinho returned to the starting line-up under new coach Bernd Schuster, scoring 11 goals and 14 assists in the league, as well as 6 goals in the 2007-2008 Champions League. Towards the middle of the season, Robinho suffered an injury, which kept him off the field until 3 March 2008, when the Brazilian returned scoring two goals in Real Madrid's win against Recreativo. This game allowed the team to reach first place in the league, which the Blancos eventually managed to win, securing their 31st national title, Robinho's fourth personal title in Brazil and Spain.

Failing to settle in completely, and due to some disagreements with the Madrid management, Robinho left the Blancos at the end of the season. In this section of

Robinho biography

stay tuned as we want to share some information about his Man City career.

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Manchester City

During the summer of 2008, Robinho appeared to be on the verge of a move to

: on 31 August, the club's official website even put Robinho's jersey for sale without a number before negotiations were complete; his move seemed done but Real Madrid strongly denied the news; Chelsea promptly responded by saying that media interest in a player is not the same as having bought him.

Unexpectedly, on 1 September 2008, Robinho was instead sold by Real Madrid to Manchester City for a fee of around £32.5 million, approximately €42 million. He agreed to a contract of around €180,000 per week. It caused a stir as Robinho's slip of the tongue, once he was presented with the Citizens' shirt, exclaimed, "I am very happy to be a Chelsea player."

After a promising start to the season and scoring 11 goals, the Brazilian's second-half performance dropped considerably, partly due to some disagreements with coach Mark Hughes. During a Manchester City training camp in Tenerife in January, Robinho returned to Brazil without the club's permission to celebrate his 25th birthday in his homeland, suffering from Saudade.

On his return to England, he was fined €300,000. Towards the end of the season, however, Robinho started to play with consistency again, scoring other important goals and ending the season in the fourth position in the 2008-09

top scorers' table with 14 goals.

In his second season at Manchester City, Robinho was forced to sit out 3 months with an injury, playing only 12 games until December in which he scored one goal against

in the FA Cup. During this year, Robinho had also some disagreements with the new coach Roberto Mancini.

Return to Santos

On 28 January 2010, Robinho was loaned to Santos, the club that introduced him to world football. The player was unhappy at Manchester City, where he was not guaranteed a place in the first team and was constantly substituted in matches. He had offers from São Paulo and Benfica but preferred to return to Santos, aiming for a place on the Brazilian national team for the 2010

.

Having passed all medical examinations and physical tests, Robinho made his debut against one of Santos' biggest rivals, São Paulo, in the classic game known as San-São, in the Paulista Championship. In the second half of the match, which was tied 1-1 at the time, Robinho scored the winning goal, literally. His second spell at Santos was a successful one, resulting in two titles: Campeonato Paulista and Copa do Brasil.

His last match during this spell was exactly the final of the Brazil Cup, against Vitória, on 4 August 2010. Despite the 2-1 defeat in Salvador, Santos were crowned champions of the tournament having won the first leg 2-0.

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AC Milan

On 31 August 2010, AC Milan bought Robinho through the famous agent Mino Raiola, on a permanent deal for €18 million. The club signed a four-year contract with him worth €4 million net per season. He immediately found a warm welcome in the Rossoneri atmosphere alongside his fellow countrymen Alexandre Pato, Ronaldinho and Thiago Silva.

He made his debut with the Rossoneri jersey on 11 September 2010 on the second day of the Serie A in the match lost 2-0 at home to Cesena, replacing Ronaldinho in the 56th minute of the game. On 16 October 2010, he scored his first goal with Milan at San Siro against Chievo, scoring the final 3-1 goal in the last minutes of the second half.

He scored his first brace in the AC Milan shirt on 12 February 2011, in the 4-0 home match against Parma, during which he replaced Clarence Seedorf in the 58th minute of the game and scored in the 61st and 65th minutes, both times on an assist from Antonio Cassano. He won his first Scudetto with the Rossoneri two days before the end of the season thanks to the 0-0 draw against Roma on 7 May 2011.

During the season he was the most used player by coach Allegri with 45 games played and the best Rossoneri scorer in the league with 14 goals, together with Ibrahimović and Pato, playing an important role in the league victory.

After being forced to miss the first matches of the 2011-2012 season in the league and Champions League due to bone edema in the groin region, he returned to the squad in the 15 October 2011 home match against Palermo, won 3-0, in which he was deployed as a starter and scored the second Rossoneri goal. In total, he made 40 appearances that season, scoring 10 goals, including 7 in the league and 3 in the Champions League.

For the 2012-2013 season, he changed his jersey number from 70 to 7, which belonged to Alexandre Pato and Andrey Shevchenko in the past. On 26 August 2012, he was diagnosed with a first-degree muscular sprain in his right thigh, which will force him to stay off the pitch for about 4 weeks. On the following 25 November, he scored his first goal of the season, coming on a penalty kick during the Serie A home game against Juventus (1-0).

He renewed his contract with AC Milan from 18 July 2013 until 30 June 2016. On the following 1 September, he scored his first goal of the 2013-2014 season, punching his card on the occasion of the 2nd day of the league won at San Siro against Cagliari 3-1. Robinho ended his season with 5 goals to his name, including 3 in the league, 1 in the Champions League (against Barcelona) and 1 in the Coppa Italia.

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Second loan to Santos

On 5 August 2014 after several lengthy negotiations, it was finally and officially announced that Robinho was returning to Santos on loan. He made his debut for Santos playing at Vila Belmiro against rivals Corinthians but ended up losing 1-0 in a match in the Brazilian Championship. In a match in the Brazil Cup against Londrina, he scored for the first time in his third spell at Santos and also set up Rildo's goal, in the end, the team won 2-0.

Against Coritiba, he scored a fine headed goal after receiving a pass from Gabigol and helped Santos win the match 2-1. On 1 October, Robinho passed the 100-goal mark for Santos after scoring twice against Botafogo in a Brazil Cup match and thus reaching the 101-goal mark in Santos's history.

In 2015, with Edu Dracena's departure to Corinthians, Robinho was the captain of Santos once again. Against Portuguesa in a Paulista Championship match, he scored twice and became the second-highest scorer in Santos history after the Pelé Era, surpassing Serginho Chulapa. He scored twice more against Linense in a 4-2 defeat in a Paulista Championship match. In March Robinho was crowned champion of the Paulista Championship after beating Palmeiras on penalties.

His contract ended on 30 June 2015 and the player having offers from abroad preferred not to renew his contract with Santos. In this section of Robinho biography stay tuned as we want to share some information about his career in China.

Guangzhou Evergrande

After being released, he was bought by Chinese side Guangzhou Evergrande on a free transfer on 16 July 2015, choosing the number 60 jersey and signing a six-month contract with a €12 million salary per season.

He played as a left trequartista in Felipe Scolari's 4-2-3-1 at Guangzhou Evergrande. On 21 August 2015, he scored a brace against Shanghai Shenxin (4-2). At the end of the year, he won the Chinese league with 9 appearances and 3 goals, thus winning four league championships in four countries from three different continents (Brazil, Spain, Italy and China).

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Atletico Mineiro

He officially transferred to Atlético Mineiro on 12 February 2016, signing a two-year contract. The following 6 March, he scored a hat-trick in his second game in the Mineiro against Tombense (4-1). On 2 April, he scored three more goals against Vila Nova (2-7).

At the end of the first half of the season, Robinho scored 9 goals in 6 matches in the Mineiro league, being the top scorer in the competition and helping to take Atlético Mineiro to the final stages of the league, which the club later won. Two weeks later, he sealed his first international goal in his new jersey, scoring in the 2016 Copa Libertadores match against Melgar (4-0).

The following 5 June, on the sixth day of the league, Robinho scored a double, both times on a penalty kick against Sport Recife (4-4). He finished the season with 12 goals scored in 30 matches.

On 7 May 2017, Robinho won his second consecutive Mineiro championship by scoring in the final game won 2-1 against Cruzeiro. On 31 December 2017, with the end of his contract and without reaching an agreement for renewal, Robinho left Atlético. In total, he played 109 matches and scored 38 goals for the club.

Further Career

On 23 January 2018, Robinho joined the Turkish club Sivasspor. Although he had not found the net since 14 April 2018, during a victory against Fenerbahce (2-1), the Brazilian scored a stunning double against Bursaspor (2-0) on 30 September 2018. On 7 October 2018, the Brazilian scored again and provided a double against Yeni Malatyaspor, which did not however enable his team to win, since the two sides drew 4-4.

On 5th January 2019, he joined Istanbul Başakşehir, which was at the time in the first place of the Süper Lig. He became the champion of Turkey Süper Lig in 2020. By the end of his contract with Basaksehir, he had played 25 matches in all competitions during the season, without once finding the net.

Final Return to Santos

Robinho returned to Santos on 10 October 2020. He signed a five-month contract, until the end of the Brazilian League, with an option to renew until the end of 2022. In what would be his fourth spell with the club, Robinho was given his favorite No. 7 shirt, handed to him by then-owner Carlos Sánchez.

The announcement of the transfer met with negative repercussions among various sectors due to the rape lawsuit Robinho was facing in Italy. Santos' sponsors threatened to end their relationship with the club if the contract was kept. On 16 October, six days after the deal was agreed, Santos announced the termination of Robinho's contract.

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Brazil National Team

In 2006 he was called up to the 2006 World Cup squad where he played in 4 matches and was eliminated by France in the quarter-finals by 1-0. In 2007 he was called up for the Copa America 2007 where he was the top scorer with 6 goals in 6 games and won the cup against Argentina 3-0.

In the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, he scored 2 goals: 1 against Chile and 1 against Holland, where they were eliminated in the quarterfinals by 2-1.

He was not included in the 2014 World Cup squad but was called up for the 2015 Copa America where they were eliminated against Paraguay in the quarter-finals. Robinho scored a goal against Paraguay.

On 31 October 2013, after striker Diego Costa resigned from the Brazil squad and opted for Spain ahead of the next World Cup, coach Luiz Felipe Scolari called up Robinho for the upcoming matches against Honduras and Chile. On 19 November 2013, Robinho gave Brazil the win with a 78th-minute goal, surpassing Pelé as the top scorer against Chile with 9 goals.

He was then called up to the 2015 Copa América, where after Neymar was suspended, Robinho played as a starter against Venezuela and Paraguay, scoring a goal against Paraguay, only to be substituted in the 86th minute in the 1-1 draw and subsequent penalty shootout, losing 4-3, leaving Brazil with their worst Copa América performance since 2001.

He was not called up against Chile in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers, which drew criticism as Robinho was Brazil's top scorer against Chile. In the end, they lost 0-2.

Style of Play

A left-footed attacker, he is a versatile player who can move all over the offensive front, playing the roles of a second striker, forward and trequartista. Gifted with a great technical background, Robinho was best known for his sprinting speed, his excellent and often unpredictable dribbling and his wide array of tricks, including a double pass, his good shooting and his great agility, so much so that in Brazil he was nicknamed Rei do dribble or Rei de la pedalada, because of his reverse moves.

An excellent counter-attacker, during the early part of his career he was a good finisher and assister, as well as possessing good stamina. Under these qualities, he was immediately compared to Pelé as a youngster.

Reception

Described as the 'star of Brazilian football', in 2005 he was considered to be one of the most promising players in world football, along with Lionel Messi and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and until 2008 he was considered one of the strongest strikers on the planet. Later on, however, his fluctuating performance attracted a lot of criticism from journalists and experts.

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Goal Celebration

As a striker, Robinho has scored many goals during his club and international career. His thumb sucking goal celebration that he did after scoring many of his goals is one of his signature goal celebrations.

Robinho outside Football

Robinho began to make headlines off the pitch for his love of parties and celebrations with friends in bars and nightclubs in the various countries where he lived.

Marina Souza, Robinho's mother, was kidnapped on 6 November 2004 when she was held captive by kidnappers for 41 days. She was released on 17 December 2004 in the poor district of Perús (São Paulo) in return for the payment of a ransom equivalent to 54,000 euros.

Robinho Personal Life

In this section of Robinho biography, we will take a look into his personal life and share some info about 

Robinho life story

 and

 Robinho religion

.

Family, Children and Relationships

He was born in Parque Bitaru, on the outskirts of Sao Vicente, near Santos, São Paulo state, as the son of Marina Silva, a housewife, and Gilvan de Souza, who worked as a plumber.

In July 2009, he married Vivian Juns, with whom he had a relationship for 11 years before getting married. The ceremony took place in Guarujá, on the coast of São Paulo, and was attended by Kaká, coach Dunga and other Santos teammates. Together, the couple had two children: Robson Júnior, and Gianluca. On 19 July 2011, the player announced their separation via Twitter.

Philanthropy

We have seen Robinho play in many charity games during his career, the most notable of them being the match he played with the Brazil national team against Columbia, which was played to raise funds for the families of the Chapecoense team victims who died in the crash.

Legal Issues

On 23 November 2017, Robinho has been sentenced by a Milan court to 9 years in prison for a rape offence that occurred in 2013. According to the Italian news agency ANSA, the incident occurred on 22 January 2013 in a nightclub in Milanese city, in that year the striker was playing for Milan.

The rape, according to the court, took place against an Albanian girl, who at the time of the incident was 22 years old. According to the sentence, the sexual assault on the young woman was carried out in the company of five other Brazilian men.

Robinho Career Statistics

In this section of Robinho biography, we will take a look at his career stats on international and club level.

Club

Since the start of his club career and as of 10 October 2020, Robinho played a total of 771 matches, scoring 250 goals for his clubs in all competitions.

International

Between 2003 and 2017, Robinho has played a total of 100 matches for the Brazil national team, scoring 28 goals. In this section of Robinho biography stay tuned as we want to share some information about his honors.

Robinho Honors

Of his notable club level awards we can include La Liga, Serie A, Supercoppa Italiana, Campeonato Brasileiro Série A and many others.

With Brazil national team, he has won FIFA Confederations Cup, Copa América and Superclásico de las Américas.

His notable individual titles and awards include the South American Team of the Year, World Soccer Young Player of the Year and Copa América Golden Ball and shoe among others.

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