Dirnei Florencio

Renato Dirnei Florencio Santos is a professional football player from Brazil who plays as a midfielder. A fantastic attacking midfielder with incredible speed and exceptional vision, Renato began his playing career with Guarani Futebol Clube in 1996. After struggling to play for the first team, Renato worked on the training pitch during his four seasons with the team, finally managing to show his class towards the end of his tenure.

After 34 games with the club, and five goals under his belt, he moved to Santos where his career would really take off!

Renato played every single game, he could, for the Santos first team, notching up over 120 appearances in the league and scoring six goals. He would demonstrate an incredible ability to create fantastic chances for his teammate and, despite his short stature, became a fantastic header of the ball. Over four seasons, he was instrumental in helping Santos lift the 2002 and 2004 Brazilian Serie A titles.

His performances were duly noted and he got an opportunity to play in an exciting Sevilla FC team, in Spain. Renato joined Sevilla in 2004 and after a slow start to his Spanish career, became a first team regular. Along with Adriano Correia and Daniel Alves, he became the centre-piece of a Sevilla side that win back-to-back UEFA Cup titles, in 2005-06 and 2006-07.

He even helped the team win the 2006 European Super Cup, a title they would fail to defend the following season. In 2006-07, a Renato-led midfield charmed their way to the Spanish Cup as well, a feat they would repeat in 2009-10. Sevilla would also win the Spanish Super Cup in 2007, finishing second in 2010.

During his Sevilla tenure, Renato played over 300 games for the club in all competitions. He scored 26 league goals and his 7-year stint with the club would end in 2011. Renato returned to Brazil to play for Botafogo, in 2011, and is a regular member of their starting eleven.

At the international level, Renato would manage to earn 28 caps for the national team and was part of the 2004 Copa America winning team as well as the 2005 Confederations Cup winning team. He was also named the second best player in Brazil, in 2003, behind Alex.