Felipe Ventura

A professional football player from Brazil, Luiz Felipe Ventura dos Santos plays as a goalkeeper. Felipe began his playing career at Vitoria Esporte Clube, as a youth player. His stint in the academy continued until 2004, when he graduated to the first team. Spending two years at Vitoria got Felipe 20 appearances during their Serie B campaign, playing as their first choice keeper during that period. He won the Bahia state league title three years in a row, from 2003 to 2005, despite being part of Serie B.

In 2005, Felipe signed up with Sao Caetano before moving to Bragantino without playing a single game. Even at Bragantino, Felipe remained a back-up, not making a single appearance until he moved to Portuguesa on a loan move. During that loan spell, Felipe played 16 games before returning to Bragantino. However, the turning point in his career came when Felipe moved to Corinthians in 2007.

Given an opportunity to play as the first choice keeper was all Felipe needed to establish himself at the club. He became the undisputed number one keeper until 2010, when he moved to Europe and signed with SC Braga. During his time with the Corinthians, Felipe masterminded their 2008 Serie B triumph and promotion to Serie A. He also helped the team win the 2009 Campeonato Paulista title as well as the 2009 Copa do Brasil.

Felipe was all set to move to Genoa but the deal didn’t go through due to a change in regulations regarding the number of non-European Union players that a team could hire. Felipe was sold to a club called Ole Brasil Futebol Clube from where he moved to SC Braga on loan. After 12 games in 2010, Felipe returned to Brazil and signed a loan deal with Flamengo.

Spending 2011 as the first choice keeper at the club meant that Felipe would get an opportunity to make his deal permanent. Since 2012, Felipe is a permanent member of the first team squad at Flamengo. Since joining the club, Felipe has helped Flamengo win the 2011 Taca Guanabara title, the 2011 Taca Rio title as well as the 2011 Rio de Janeiro State League title.

At the international level, Felipe has been a part of the Brazilian national team at the Under-15, -16, -17 and -18 levels, winning 7 caps with the Under-17 side. He was part of the 2001 South American title winning Brazilian Under-17 national team.