Chú Santos

Francisleide dos Santos Barbosa (born February 27, 1990), known as Chú Santos or Chú, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a forward for the Brazil women's national football team and Palmeiras in Brazil.

Chú Santos

Personal information
Full name	Francisleide dos Santos Barbosa
Date of birth	(1990-02-27) February 27, 1990 (age 34)
Place of birth	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Position(s)	Striker
Team information
Current team	Palmeiras
Number	11
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2007–2008	CEPE-Caxias
2008	Benfica-Mg
2009	Saad Esporte Clube
2010	Ferroviária
2011	São José Esporte Clube
2011	Santos FC
2012	Centro Olímpico
2013	Suwon FMC WFC
2014–2015	São José Esporte Clube	13	(11)
2016–2017	Corinthians/Audax	8	(1)
2017	Fortuna Hjørring	2	(0)
2017	São Jose	6	(2)
2018	Santos	13	(7)
2019	Changchun Zhuoyue	0	(0)
2020	Ferroviaria	17	(4)
2021–	Palmeiras	19	(5)
International career‡
2012–	Brazil	13	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 17:20, 18 September 2021 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of November 6, 2017

Football career

Francisleide dos Santos Barbosa was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil,^[1] on February 27, 1990.^[2] She is better known as Chú Santos,^[3] or simply Chú.^[1] When she was seven years old, Santos told her grandfather that she enjoyed playing football; in response, he took her to a training school. She was initially told that the sport was only for boys, but Santos continued to pursue her career.^[4] She was part of the São José Esporte Clube team which won the International Women's Club Championship, defeating English team Arsenal W.F.C. in the final. This was the first time that a Brazilian team had won the competition.^[1][5]

In 2015, she was named as part of the initial squad of the shared women's team between Sport Club Corinthians Paulista and Grêmio Osasco Audax Esporte Clube, known as Corinthians / Audax.^[6] When the team made their debut in the Copa do Brasil de Futebol Feminino, Santos scored five times in the 9–0 defeat of Pinheirense Esporte Clube.^[7] Santos scored a further two goals in the next two games in the tournament,^[3] The team went on to win the tournament, with Santos recording twelve goals during the single tournament, making her a top scorer.^[8] The record for number of goals scored in the tournament, is held by Marta, with 18.^[3]

She was then signed by Danish club Fortuna Hjørring, whose manager, Brian Sørensen, described her as "a complete player".^[9] During her time in Denmark, she only played in two matches; both legs of the quarter-final of the UEFA Women's Champions League against Manchester City W.F.C. of England.^[2][10] Santos then resigned for Sao Jose.^[1]

International

Santos was first called up to the Brazil women's national football team at the age of 21 in 2012 as part of the main selection round of the team for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, England.^[11]

International goals

Goal	Date	Location	Opponent	#	Score	Result	Competition
1	2019-11-07	Chongqing, China	Canada	1.1	5250.02005 1–0	5450.04005 4–0	2019 Yongchuan International Tournament

Personal life

In 2021, Santos garnered much criticism for mocking the death of recently deceased Brazilian actor Paulo Gustavo. She commented on Facebook that Gustavo was in hell, alluding to his homosexuality as the reason.^[12] Brazil teammates Marta, Tamires, Cristiane, and many of her club teammates publicly criticized Santos' comments.^[13][14] Shortly after her comments made national news, Santos released a public apology, saying she spoke on an impulse. Her club team, Palmeiras, released a statement saying they would deal with the matter internally.^[15]

References

1. "São José anuncia retorno da atacante Chú, campeã mundial em 2014". Globo.com (in Portuguese). April 11, 2017. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
2. "Francisleide Dos Santos Barbosa". UEFA. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
3. "Chú Santos: "Confiança para disputar a competição"" (in Portuguese). Confederação Brasileira de Futebol. September 12, 2016. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
4. "Conheca a Chu Santos Atacante Convocada Pela Tecnica Emily Lim" (in Portuguese). BBM. December 1, 2017. Archived from the original on November 7, 2017. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
5. "São José vence Arsenal e conquista Mundial Feminino de clubes no Japão". Globo.com (in Portuguese). December 6, 2014. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
6. "Por time feminino, Corinthians faz parceria com Grêmio Osasco Audax" (in Portuguese). Maquina do Esporte. January 7, 2016. Archived from the original on July 21, 2018. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
7. "Com 5 gols de Chú Santos, Audax/Corinthians goleia em estreia na Copa do Brasil" (in Portuguese). Corinthians. August 31, 2016. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
8. "ROMERO HOMENAGEIA CHÚ SANTOS, ARTILHEIRA E CAMPEÃ DA COPA DO BRASIL PELO AUDAX/CORINTHIANS". Meu Timao. November 3, 2016. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
9. Henrikson, Niels (February 6, 2017). "Hurtig brasilianer til Fortuna" (in Danish). Archived from the original on November 7, 2017. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
10. "Chú". The Final Ball. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
11. "Chu: primeira vez na Principal" (in Portuguese). Confederação Brasileira de Futebol. January 26, 2012. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
12. "Relembre ataques a Paulo Gustavo após 'revelação' de pastora colocar ator no inferno". ndmais.com. ND Mais. 20 August 2021. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
13. Barreto, Marcelona (16 May 2021). "Marcelo Barreto: Entre as mulheres, o futebol está mais preparado para debater temas como a homofobia". oglobo.globo.com. O Globo. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
14. "Chu Santos, jogadora da seleção, ofende Paulo Gustavo e pede desculpa; Cristiane e atletas criticam". oglobo.globo.com. O Globo. 9 May 2021. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
15. "Chú Santos, do Palmeiras, faz comentário preconceituoso em rede social; jogadoras repudiam". nossopalestra.com. Nosso Palestra. 9 May 2021. Retrieved 21 August 2021.