Caio Lucas Fernandes (born 19 April 1994), known as Caio Lucas or just Caio [ˈkajju], is an Emirati-Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a winger for Emirati Club Sharjah.

Caio Lucas
Caio Lucas playing for Benfica in 2019
Personal information
Full name Caio Lucas Fernandes[1]
Date of birth (1994-04-19) 19 April 1994 (age 30)[1]
Place of birth Araçatuba, São Paulo, Brazil
Height 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)[2]
Position(s) Winger
Team information
Current team
Sharjah
Number 7
Youth career
2002–2005 América-SP
2005–2009 São Paulo
2009–2011 América-SP
2011–2013 Chiba Kokusai High School
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014–2016 Kashima Antlers 78 (23)
2016–2019 Al Ain 62 (23)
2019–2021 Benfica 4 (1)
2020–2021Sharjah (loan) 27 (8)
2021– Sharjah 69 (39)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 7 October 2024

Born in Brazil, Luanzinho acquired Emirati citizenship in 2024.

Career

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Born in Araçatuba, São Paulo,[3] Caio Lucas started playing football in 2002, aged 8, at local clubs SMER Bosque Araçatuba and América-SP. He then played for São Paulo's youth teams from 2005 to 2009 but could not become professional, so he left the club and unsuccessfully tried to join rivals Santos and Palmeiras before returning to América. In 2011, when he was prepared to give up on football, he was discovered by a Japanese university that was playing in Birigui, Brazil.[4] Almost aged 17, he moved to Japan that year to enroll in Chiba Kokusai High School in Kimitsu, where he played for three years.[3][5]

After his graduation, Caio Lucas joined the J1 League club, the Kashima Antlers in 2014. In his first professional season, under the coaching of Toninho Cerezo, Caio scored eight goals as Kashima Antlers qualified for the AFC Champions League. Moreover, he was named J. League's Young Player of the Year in 2014 and won the 2016 J1 League and 2015 J.League Cup.[6] In 2019, following a three-year spell with Emirati club Al Ain, with whom he reached the 2018 FIFA Club World Cup Final, Caio signed a four-year contract with Portuguese club Benfica.[7][8]

On 23 January 2020, Sharjah signed Caio Lucas from Benfica on loan for 18 months.[9]

Career statistics

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Club

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As of match played 23 October 2024[10]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[a] League cup[b] Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Kashima Antlers 2014 J1 League 30 8 1 1 6 0 37 9
2015 32 10 0 0 4 2 6[c] 0 42 12
2016 16 5 0 0 5 1 21 6
Total 78 23 1 1 15 3 6 0 100 27
Al Ain 2016–17 UPL 24 12 2 0 5 1 14[d] 5 45 18
2017–18 19 5 3 3 5 4 9[e] 1 36 13
2018–19 22 7 1 1 6 7 3[c] 0 5[f] 2 37 17
Total 65 24 6 4 16 12 26 6 5 2 118 51
Benfica 2019–20 Primeira Liga 4 1 2 0 2 0 3[g] 0 0 0 11 1
Sharjah 2019–20 UPL 6 2 2 1 0 0 6[c] 2 13 5
2020–21 21 6 3 1 2 0 5[c] 1 31 8
2021–22 20 14 5 3 4 1 7[c] 2 1 0 37 20
2022–23 22 9 4 2 4 1 1 0 29 12
2023–24 22 11 2 1 2 0 8[c] 2 1 0 35 14
2024–25 5 5 1 1 1 2 3 1 0 0 10 9
Total 96 47 17 9 13 5 27 10 3 0 158 68
Career total 243 95 26 14 46 19 64 14 8 2 387 147
  1. ^ Includes Emperor's Cup, UAE President's Cup, Taça de Portugal
  2. ^ Includes J.League Cup, UAE League Cup, Taça da Liga
  3. ^ a b c d e f Appearances in AFC Champions League
  4. ^ Six appearances and two goals in 2016 AFC Champions League, Eight appearances and three goals in 2017 AFC Champions League
  5. ^ Two appearances in 2017 AFC Champions League, Seven appearances and one goal in 2018 AFC Champions League
  6. ^ One appearance and one goal in UAE Super Cup, four appearances and one goal in FIFA Club World Cup
  7. ^ Appearances in UEFA Champions League

Honours

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Kashima Antlers

Al Ain

Sharjah

Individual

References

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  1. ^ a b "FIFA Club World Cup UAE 2018: List of Players: Al Ain FC" (PDF). FIFA. 6 December 2018. p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 December 2018.
  2. ^ "Caio Lucas". UAE Pro League. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
  3. ^ a b Rodrigues, Alexander (21 December 2018). "Araçatuba terá representante na Final do Mundial de Clubes deste sábado" [Araçatuba will have a representative in the Club World Cup final this Saturday]. Folha da Região (in Portuguese). Retrieved 27 June 2019.
  4. ^ Desiludido após dispensa do São Paulo, ele foi estudar no Japão e acabou virando sheik nos Emirados: 'Só não tenho harém'
  5. ^ "J-League Preview: 8 Players to Watch in the Campaign to Come". Tokyo Weekender. 6 March 2015. Archived from the original on 18 June 2018. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  6. ^ "Yasuhito Endo Pickedas 2014 J.LEAGUE Player of the Year December". J. League. 9 December 2014. Archived from the original on 4 February 2015. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  7. ^ "Reforço do Benfica despede-se do Al Ain" [Benfica signing says goodbye to Al Ain] (in Portuguese). 27 May 2019. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
  8. ^ Rebelo, Marco (27 June 2019). "Bem-vindo, Caio Lucas!" [Welcome, Caio Lucas!]. S.L. Benfica (in Portuguese). Retrieved 27 June 2019.
  9. ^ "Sharjah signs Brazilian Caio Lucas Fernández from the Portuguese club Benfica on loan for 18 months". Twitter (in Arabic). 23 January 2020.
  10. ^ Caio at Soccerway. Retrieved 10 December 2018.  
  11. ^ "Bale, Caio and Borre sweep awards". FIFA. 22 December 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
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