Renato Augusto


Renato Soares de Oliveira Augusto, or simply Renato Augusto, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Chinese club Beijing Guoan and the Brazil national team.

Club career

Flamengo

Augusto was hailed as one of the best products of Flamengo's youth academy in recent years, and had been close to a deal with Palermo in 2007. His style of play, combining decisive passes with good control of the ball, pace and dribbling efforts led him to being capped for Brazil at under-20 level; his career with Flamengo had nevertheless been plagued by injuries.

Bayer Leverkusen

Augusto signed for German Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen for an unknown fee, though thought to be €10 million, 60% of which was retained by Flamengo; the remaining 40% were owned by the Traffic and MFD investment groups, that paid €1.5 million each for a share in Renato Augusto's transfer fee, earlier in 2008.
Augusto made an immediate impact, becoming one of the fan favorites very quickly with his swiftness, awareness, teamwork, and his technical abilities. Despite usually playing on the right side, with Leverkusen, he began playing in the hole, just behind the striker.
Despite being plagued with injury in the 2010–11 season, just like the previous ones in Germany, Augusto maintained stellar form, scoring on three occasions in one-goal lead victories. On 13 March, he scored a memorable goal where he scored a match-winner in 82nd minute against Mainz 05, giving Bayer Leverkusen a valuable victory, and vaulting them into the title race.

Corinthians

On 20 December 2012, Bayer Leverkusen confirmed that Augusto would leave for Corinthians for a reported fee of €3.5 million. In 2014, after being properly diagnosed and treated, he played 44 games in the year, and in 2015, he was awarded the Bola de Ouro for leading Corinthians to the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A title.

Beijing Guoan

On 6 January 2016, Augusto joined Chinese club Beijing Guoan for a reported fee of €8 million. On 20 April 2019, he made his 100th appearance for Beijing Guoan in a game against Hebei China Fortune.

International career

Renato debuted with the senior national team in a away friendly against France in February 2011, which Brazil lost 1–0. His 2nd game was a March 2011 friendly against Scotland, which Brazil won 2–0. He was not called up by Mano Menezes for the 2011 Copa América, but returned to the squad for a friendly against Germany in August 2011, which Brazil lost 2–3. After that, he went more than four years without playing for Brazil, missing the 2013 Confederations Cup, the 2014 World Cup and the 2015 Copa América.
Previously, he was part of the preliminary squad for the 2008 Summer Olympics, but was not included in the final 18-man squad by coach Dunga. He was recalled by the same Dunga, who had returned to the job after the 2014 World Cup, for the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers in November 2015.
On 17 November 2015, Augusto scored his first goal for Brazil in a 3–0 victory against Peru for 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification. He was a part of the Brazilian squads at the 2016 Copa América Centenario and the 2016 Olympic Games; in the latter, Brazil won the gold medal for the first time, and in the final against Germany after a 1–1 draw, he converted his penalty kick in an eventual 5–4 win for Brazil.
Renato netted twice against Haiti during the Copa América Centenario, with Brazil eventually falling out in group stage. He also scored twice more during the qualifiers, at home to Uruguay and away to Peru.
In May 2018, he was named in Tite's final 23-man squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. On 6 July 2018, Augusto scored Brazil's only goal in a 1–2 quarter-final defeat to Belgium as they were eliminated from the World Cup.
In June 2019, he was one of the top contenders to take Neymar's spot in the national team after the PSG forward got injured in a friendly against Qatar, due to his previous works with coach Tite in Corinthians and the national team itself, but eventually lost out the callup to Chelsea's Willian.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

GoalDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.17 November 2015Itaipava Arena Fonte Nova, Salvador, Brazil2–03–02018 FIFA World Cup qualification
2.25 March 2016Itaipava Arena Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil2–02–22018 FIFA World Cup qualification
3.8 June 2016Camping World Stadium, Orlando, United States3–07–1Copa América Centenario
4.8 June 2016Camping World Stadium, Orlando, United States6–17–1Copa América Centenario
5.15 November 2016Estadio Nacional de Lima, Lima, Peru2–02–02018 FIFA World Cup qualification
6.6 July 2018Kazan Arena, Kazan, Russia1–21–22018 FIFA World Cup

Honours

Flamengo
Corinthians
Beijing Guoan
Brazil U23
Brazil U17
Individual