Tiago Silva dos Santos (born 4 April 1979 in Taquari, Rio Grande do Sul) is a former footballer who played as a defender. Born in Brazil, he represented the Bulgaria national team once in a friendly.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Tiago Silva dos Santos | ||
| Date of birth | (1979-04-04) 4 April 1979 (age 43) | ||
| Place of birth | Taquari, Brazil | ||
| Height | 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Left wingback | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1990–1998 | Juventude | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1998–2000 | Palmeiras | 30 | (0) |
| 2000–2001 | Portuguesa | 23 | (2) |
| 2001–2004 | Litex Lovech | 74 | (4) |
| 2005–2007 | CSKA Sofia | 58 | (6) |
| 2007–2010 | Genk | 31 | (0) |
| 2010–2011 | Juventude | 6 | (0) |
| 2011–2012 | União Suzano | ? | (?) |
| National team | |||
| 1996–1998 | Brazil U-20 | ||
| 2005 | Bulgaria | 1 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only | |||
Tiago Silva joined CSKA Sofia from PFC Litex Lovech in 2005. He has also previously played for Palmeiras, with whom he has won the Copa Mercosur and Copa Libertadores trophies.
He signed a three-year contract with Belgian First Division Club Racing Genk on 18 July 2007.
Tiago Silva made one appearance with the Bulgaria national football team in a 3–1 friendly win against Turkey on 17 August 2005.
However, Tiago Silva had already been capped for the Brazilian Youth team in the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship, so FIFA cancelled the request for a change of nationality.[1]
Although FIFA loosened the nationality transfer of uncapped players and players with multi-nationality in 2009, it has not benefited Tiago Silva, because he did not hold multi-nationality when he represented Brazil. He is still eligible to play for Brazil.