França

Françoaldo Sena de Souza (born 2 March 1976 in Codó, Maranhão), commonly known as França, is a Brazilian retired footballer who played as a striker.

Club career

After his senior beginnings with lowly Nacional Futebol Clube and Esporte Clube XV de Novembro (Jaú), França moved in 1996 to national powerhouse São Paulo FC, where he proceeded to net eight goals overall in his debut year – even though he did not start regularly – and 182 goals in 323 games during his six-year stay (fourth all-time at the time of his departure); in 1998 and 2000, as the club won the Campeonato Paulista, the player was crowned the league's best scorer, respectively at 12 and 18.

In the 2002 summer França signed with Bayer 04 Leverkusen from Germany, as the team sought replacements for aging Ulf Kirsten (37). In his debut season in the Bundesliga he appeared scarcely, barred by Dimitar Berbatov and Oliver Neuville, netting only once, in his league debut, a 2–4 home loss against VfL Bochum; in 2003–04, although the pair remained at the club, he received much more playing time, and finished just two goals short of the Bulgarian (14 to 16, in as many matches), adding to this a league-best 13 assists; additionally, Neuville left in the following summer.

França moved to Japan subsequently, joining Kashiwa Reysol, experiencing one relegation and one promotion in his first two years and leaving the club in 2010, aged 34.

International career

França collected eight caps for Brazil during two years, but was never summoned to any major tournament.

Statistics

Club

National team