Taison

Taison Barcellos Freda (born 13 January 1988), simply known as Taison, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a left winger or attacking midfielder for Super League Greece club PAOK.

Club career Internacional Taison started his career with Brazilian club Internacional and quickly rose to prominence within their youth set up, becoming one of the brightest prospects at the club. After making his first team debut in 2008, he went on to become an instrumental part of the team, subsequently winning the Copa Sudamericana. His great form continued into the next season, where he won the Campeonato Gaúcho, the Suruga Bank Championship, and finished as runner-up in the Copa do Brasil. Taison's first stint at the club reached its conclusion in great fashion with the 2010 Copa Libertadores title.

Metalist Kharkiv After being linked with a host of clubs across Europe, including Wolfsburg and Napoli Taison eventually signed for Ukrainian club Metalist Kharkiv for an approximate fee of 6 million euros. He started brightly in Ukraine and even pipped Willian to the "best new signing" accolade. The Brazilian scored an incredible Marco van Basten style volley against Rosenborg BK on 8 November 2012 in the Europa League. In the same game he also provided the assist for the second in a 3–1 win.

Shakhtar Donetsk

Taison signed with Shakhtar Donetsk on 1 January 2013 for a fee of around £12.4 million. in a 3–3 draw with Metalurh Zaporizhya on 19 May 2013, scoring an equalising goal in the 92nd minute. Taison scored in a 3–0 victory over Chornomorets Odesa in the 2012–13 Ukrainian Cup final. On 10 July 2013 Taison scored in a 3–1 victory over Chornomorets in the Ukrainian Super Cup. In November 2019 he was sent-off after reacting to alleged racist abuse, and was also given a one-match ban.

Return to Internacional On 16 April 2021, Internacional announced that Taison would be returning to his boyhood club after 11 years, signing a contract until 2023. The athlete took a significant paycut in order to make the deal happen, refusing more lucrative offers from various other clubs in order to return to Inter.

PAOK On 14 January 2023, Taison joined Greek club PAOK for 1.5 years. Taison won the Greek Superleague with PAOK in 2024, with the Brazilian scoring the winning goal against arch rivals Aris Thessaloniki, to win the league for PAOK on the last game of the season.

International career In an interview with the coach of the Ukraine national team, Mykhaylo Fomenko spoke of him as a possible naturalized. Taison indicated that he would be likely to accept a call-up for Ukraine if asked. But on 22 August 2016, newly appointed manager Tite has called him up for the Brazil national team. On 13 June 2017, Taison scored his first international goal in a match against Australia, that ended 4–0. He scored the 3rd goal of the match.

In May 2018, he was named in Tite’s final 23 man squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Career statistics Club

International

Score and result list Brazil's goal tally first, score column indicates score after Taison goal.

+ International goal scored by Taison No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition1 13 June 2017 Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Australia 3–0 4–0 Friendly

Honours Internacional Copa Libertadores: 2010 Copa Sudamericana: 2008 Suruga Bank Championship: 2009 Campeonato Gaúcho: 2009

Shakhtar Donetsk Ukrainian Premier League: 2012–13, 2013–14, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20 Ukrainian Cup: 2012–13, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19 Ukrainian Super Cup: 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017

PAOK Super League Greece: 2023–24

Individual List of 33 Top Players of the Ukrainian Premier League: 2016–17 Football Stars of Ukraine – Best UPL player: 2019 Ukrainian Premier League Footballer of the Year: 2019 Ukrainian Premier League Top Assists Provider: 2019–20 Ukrainian Premier League Player of Season: 2019–20 UEFA Europa League Squad of the Season: 2019–20 PAOK Player of the Month: October 2023, November 2023, May 2024 PAOK Player of the Season: 2023–24 PAOK Goal of the Season: 2023–24