Élton Arábia

In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Xavier and the second or paternal family name is Gomes.

Élton José Xavier Gomes (born 7 April 1986), known as Élton Arábia or just Élton, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder.

Élton Arábia

Personal information
Full name	Élton José Xavier Gomes
Date of birth	(1986-04-07) 7 April 1986 (age 39)
Place of birth	Palmeira dos Índios, Alagoas, Brazil
Height	1.54 m (5 ft 1 in)
Position(s)	Attacking midfielder
Youth career
	Corinthians
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2004–2007	Corinthians	5	(0)
2006	→ São Caetano (loan)	30	(2)
2007	FC Steaua București	8	(1)
2007–2009	Al-Nassr	36	(6)
2009	→ Al-Rayyan (loan)
2009	Fortaleza	14	(1)
2009–2010	Dubai Club		(0)
2010	→ Al-Wasl (loan)	7	(1)
2010–2011	Sport Recife	23	(1)
2011–2016	Al-Fateh	121	(48)
2016	Mesaimeer	5	(7)
2017–2019	Al-Qadsiah	60	(13)
2019–2020	CRB	15	(1)
2020	Al-Wehda	12	(0)
2020–2021	Al-Hamriyah	1	(0)
Total		337	(81)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Career

Steaua București

Élton Arábia was bought by Romanian side Steaua București at the age of 21. Even though his spell with the Romanian team was short, his impact was immediate. He scored in his first match against FC Argeş Piteşti and had great performances in the next games. In a 2009 poll, he was chosen by the Steaua Bucharest fans in the team's Best XI for the past ten years.^[1] Steaua Bucharest's Executive President Mihai Stoica has always expressed his amazement for the incredible technique and dribbling tricks Arábia is capable of.^[2]

Al Nassr

In 2007, he moved to Saudi side Al Nassr where he scored frequently and provided many assists. He was loved and cherished by the Al Nasr fans who found him unique due to his quick pace and dribbling. The most distinctive thing about the player, which all fans copied by wearing wigs, was his long afro hair.

Return to Brazil

In 2009, Arábia moved to Fortaleza Esporte Clube back in Brazil.

Emirati club

At the end of 2009, Arábia moved to Dubai Club where he contributed to the team's winning of the Federation Cup. In February 2010, he was loaned to the UAE Giants Al Wasl for the rest of the 2009–10 season.^[3]

Return to Saudia

In the 2012–13 season he played for Al Fateh in 25 league games and scored 11 goals, helping the team win the first title in the history of the club. He then played in the Saudi Super Cup against Al-Ittihad Jeddah, after 90 minutes the score was 2-2 and the game went into extra time. Arábia scored the winning goal of the game in the 111th minute, the final result was 3-2 for Al Fateh.

In 2017, Arábia moved to Saudi side Al-Qadisiyah, where he captains the team. However, during the winter transfer window, He moved to the western province and joined Al-Wehda Club.

Career statistics

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup[a]		League cup[b]		Other		Continental		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Corinthians	2004	Série A	3	0	1	0	—		0[c]	0	—		15	0
	2005		2	0	1	0	—		4[c]	0	—		11	1
	2006		0	0	0	0	—		16[c]	2	—		32	0
	2007		0	0	0	0	—		7[c]	0	—		32	0
	total		5	0	2	0	0	0	26	2	0	0	37	2
São Caetano	2006	Série A	30	2	0	0	—		—		—		30	2
Steaua	2006–07	Liga I	8	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	8	1
Al Nassr	2007–08	Saudi Professional League	20	3	2	0	1	0	—			3[d]		6
	2008–09		16	3		0		1		1[e]		4[d]		9
	total		36	6		0		1	0	1		7		15
Al-Rayyan	2008–09	Qatar Stars League	0	0	3	0	—		—		—		3	0
Fortaleza	2009	Série B	14	1	0	0			—		—		14	1
Dubai CSC	2009–10	UAE First Division League		0	0	0	0	0	—		—
Al-Wasl	2009–10	UAE Pro League	7	1	0	0	2	1	1	1[f]	—		10	3
Sport Recife	2010	Série B	23	1	0	0			5[g]	0	—		28	1
Al Fateh	2010–11	Saudi Professional League	9	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		9	3
	2011–12		13	3	5	5	2	0	0	0	—		20	8
	2012–13		25	11	5	0	2	0	2[h]	3	—		34	14
	2013–14		24	9	1	0	3	1	1[i]	1	6[j]	0	35	11
	2014–15		25	10	1	0	0	0	0	0	—		25	10
	2015–16		25	12	0	0	1	0	—		—		26	12
	total		121	48	12	5	6	1	3	4	6	0	148	58
Mesaimeer	2016–17	Qatari Second Division	5	7	0	0	—		—		—		5	7
Al Qadsiah	2016–17	Saudi Professional League	10	3	1	0	—		—		—		11	3
	2017–18		21	3	3	2	—		—		—		24	5
	2018–19		29	7	1	0	—		—		—		30	7
	total		60	13	4	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	64	15
CRB	2019	Série B	15	1	0	0			—		—		15	1
Al Wehda	2019–20	Saudi Professional League	12	0	1	0	—		—		—		13	0
Al Hamriyah	2020–21	UAE First Division League	1	0	4	1	—		—		—		5	1
Career total			326	93	23	6	29	8	53	6	42	13	473	126

1. Includes Kings Cup
2. Includes Saudi Crown Prince Cup
3. Appearances in Campeonato Paulista
4. Goals in Prince Faisal bin Fahd League U-21
5. Goals in GCC Champions League
6. Goals in GCC Champions League
7. Appearances in Campeonato Pernambucano
8. Appearances in Arab Club Champions Cup
9. Appearance in 2013 Saudi Super Cup
10. Appearances in AFC Champions League

Honours

Corinthians

• Campeonato Brasileiro Série A: 2005^[4][5]

Dubai Club

• UAE Federation Cup: 2010^[4][5]

Al-Fateh

• Saudi Pro League: 2012–13^[4][5]
• Saudi Super Cup: 2013^[4][5]

Al-Nassr

• Saudi Federation Cup: 2007-08