Career
Having begun his career at Cruzeiro and spent time on loan at Botafogo, he then spent four seasons in the Turkish Süper Lig in service of Trabzonspor and Konyaspor before returning to Botafogo. Jefferson is one of the eight football players with most appearances in history of Botafogo with 420 appearances since 2003. Early career/Brazil Born in São Paulo Vicente, São Paulo, Jefferson was an amateur sprinter before joining Ferroviária"s youth setup in 1995, aged 12.
He was a forward during his starts at the club, but was reconverted to goalkeeper in the process.
In 1997 Jefferson joined Cruzeiro, after a successful trial period. He was called up to the first-team three years later by Luiz Felipe Scolari.
In 2003, after committing a number of high-profile mistakes at Cruzeiro, he was loaned to Botafogo in the same division. Turkey In the 2005 summer, Jefferson joined Süper Lig team Trabzonspor in a four-year deal, as a replacement for Australian goalkeeper Michael Petkovic.
He made his debut abroad on 8 June, starting in a 2–1 home success against Kayserispor.
After three full seasons with Trabzonspor, he moved to Konyaspor, in the same division, but could not prevent their relegation in his only season. Botafogo On 25 August 2009 Jefferson returned to Botafogo in a free transfer. He made his re-debut for the club on 13 September, keeping a clean sheet in a home draw against city rivals Fluminense.
Jefferson appeared in further 14 matches in the season as Botafogo narrowly avoided relegation.
On 18 April 2010 he saved a penalty from Adriano, which granted his side"s title of Campeonato Carioca. On 28 June 2011 Jefferson renewed his link with the club, signing until the end of 2014.
He was also elected the best goalkeeper of that year. Jefferson was a starter for the Brazil under-20 team who became world champions in 2003, in the United Arab Emirates.
In July 2011, he was called up to the main squad ahead of 2011 Copa América, acting as a backup to Júlio César, who started in all matches.
On 14 September 2011 he made his first international appearance with the main squad, starting in a 0–0 draw at Argentina, for that year"s Superclásico de las Américas. Jefferson also started in the second leg, a 2-0 home success. He was selected among the 23-man ahead of the 2013 Fédération internationale de football association Confederations Cup and the 2014, both on home soil with Brazil winning the Confederations Cup and reached the semi-finals in World Cup.
He was Brazil"s starting goalkeeper at the 2015 Copa América, playing every minute as they reached the quarter-finals, losing in a penalty shoot-out to Paraguay.