Place of birth Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Years Team Height 1.75 m | Playing position Apps (Gls) | |
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Full name Kátia Cilene Teixeira da Silva Date of birth (1977-02-18) February 18, 1977 (age 40) Current team FC Zorky Krasnogorsk (Forward) Date joined 2003 (CFF Estudiantes de Huelva) Awards Best Female Soccer Player ESPY Award | ||
Kátia Cilene Teixeira da Silva, known simply as Kátia (born February 18, 1977 in Rio de Janeiro), is a female Brazilian footballer.
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Career
A former track and field star who finished as high as fifth in the heptathlon at the South American championships, Katia is a veteran of three World Cups and two Olympic games. She began her international career as a key member of the Brazilian team in the 1995 Women's World Cup in Sweden, then played all five of her country's matches in the Atlanta Olympics. Her outstanding play and two goals at the 1999 Women’s World Cup drew rave reviews and in 2000 she finished fourth in scoring at the Sydney Olympics.
Katia spent five seasons in the Brazilian Women’s League and ranked as the No.1 goal scorer in each of them. With the launch of the WUSA in 2001, Katia was given the opportunity to take her game to an even higher level and she signed with the San Jose CyberRays. That first season she played well and scored seven goals. In 2002 she improved to score 15 goals. Her goals plus her five assists also made her the leading overall point scorer with 35.
Katia played for France's Olympique Lyonnais (ladies) from 2006–2010 scoring 57 goals in 58 matches.
After spending five years in the Division 1 Féminine in 2011 she moved to the Russian Championship where she played for Zorky Krasnogorsk. She currently plays for Sundsvalls DFF.
International career
Kátia was frequently part of the Brazil women's national football team from 1999 to 2007. She went to three World Cups, finishing in second place in 2007 and third in 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup, as well as being in the quarter-finalist's squad from 2003. While she played in the 2000 Summer Olympics, finishing at fourth, Kátia wound up cut from the team that won an Olympic silver in 2004 due to a knee injury. Kátia retired from the national team after the 2007 Pan American Games in her hometown of Rio de Janeiro, where Brazil won the gold.