Midfield – OGC NICE

Dante is a perfect example of perseverance and the embodiment of the saying “work always pays”.

Freshly landed from Brazil in 2003 at the LOSC in Lille then barely 20 years old. Uprooted, suffering from the cold from the moment he arrived, often injured, he will have a hard time winning in Ligue 1. However, he will already be noticed for “his great calm in the game, he had a great quality of long game, of throwing, and he was already hard on the man,” says Grégory Tafforeau.

He will go to Belgium, to the Charleroi club to relaunch his career in 2006.

In Belgium, he became the public’s favourite, in addition to being a poison to opposing strikers. After only one season in Charleroi, Dante decided to join Standard de Liège and won the title of champion in his first year.

This would open the doors to the Bundesliga, where he knows three clubs: Borussia Mönchengladbach, Bayern Munich and Wolfsburg.

Dante signed in January 2009 at Borussia Mönchengladbach. It is quickly repositioned in the axis, where it stands out thanks to its rough play, its aerial interventions, its relaunches and its explosive hair style.

His performances at Bayern (UEFA Champion’s League 2013 and three German championship titles) enabled him to become a Brazilian international and compete in the 2014 World Cup.

And it is finally thanks to the coach who coached him at Borussia Mönchengladbach, Lucien Favre, that Dante returned to Ligue 1 Conforama by joining OGC Nice on 22 August 2016.

A quote from Dante that illustrates his determination: “I don’t want the young people to go through what I went through to get to Bayern. I’ve always had to get into the red. Every day, I put pressure on myself to show what I could do,” he explained to Eurosport in October 2012.