Cláudio Mejolaro (born 8 January 1982 in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul), commonly known as Pitbull, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Associação Desportiva Cabofriense.
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Cláudio Mejolaro | ||
Date of birth | (1982-01-08) 8 January 1982 (age 40) | ||
Place of birth | Porto Alegre, Brazil | ||
Height | 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) | ||
Position(s) | Forward | ||
Club information | |||
Current team | Cabofriense | ||
Youth career | |||
1997–1999 | Grêmio | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1999–2004 | Grêmio | 84 | (22) |
2002 | → Juventude (loan) | 20 | (6) |
2005–2010 | Porto | 5 | (0) |
2005–2006 | → Ittihad (loan) | ||
2005 | → Santos (loan) | 11 | (2) |
2006 | → Fluminense (loan) | 23 | (2) |
2006–2007 | → Académica (loan) | 9 | (1) |
2007–2008 | → Vitória Setúbal (loan) | 25 | (7) |
2008–2009 | → Rapid București (loan) | 18 | (1) |
2009–2010 | → Marítimo (loan) | 15 | (1) |
2010–2012 | Vitória Setúbal | 38 | (9) |
2012 | Manisaspor | 4 | (0) |
2012 | Bahia | 7 | (1) |
2013–2014 | Gil Vicente | 2 | (0) |
2018– | Cabofriense | ||
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 1 June 2014 |
After fine displays at Grêmio Foot-Ball Porto Alegrense, Pitbull was acquired by Portugal's FC Porto in the January 2005 transfer window.[1] Unable to settle with the club, he was loaned several times for the duration of his contract, mainly in that country.
On 4 February 2007, Pitbull played his first Primeira Liga match with Académica de Coimbra, against Associação Naval 1º de Maio.[2] For the 2007–08 season he was loaned again, this time to Vitória de Setúbal,[3] where he was the team's top scorer as they overachieved despite facing serious financial problems; in March 2008, he helped the Sadinos to win the newly created League Cup in a penalty shootout against Sporting Clube de Portugal,[4] also being named the tournament's best player.[5]
In July 2008, alongside teammate João Paulo Andrade, Pitbull was loaned to Romanian side FC Rapid București, on a season-long move. After that sole Liga I campaign he returned to Portugal, being loaned for the seventh time by Porto, to C.S. Marítimo.
Pitbull returned to Setúbal for a second spell in 2010–11,[6] scoring nine goals in 26 games to help the team again avoid relegation. In late January 2012 he switched clubs and countries again, joining Manisaspor in the Turkish Süper Lig.