Claudio De Sousa was born in Rome on August 10, 1985. His father is from Angola and his mother Italian.
He was formed in the Lazio youth setup before joining Roman club Lodigiani in 2001.
The Biancorossi were in Serie C1 but were relegated. He then stayed another season and a half in C2. In total he played 30 games with 1 goal.
In January 2004 he joined Lazio. The manager was Roberto Mancini but De Sousa did not make any appearances. Lazio finished 6th and won the Coppa Italia.
De Sousa stayed on the following season. The manager was first Domenico Caso and then from early January another former player, Giuseppe Papadopulo. De Sousa made his debut against Milan at home on September 24. He played 4 league games with 1 goal (Messina in 2-0 home win). Lazio finished 13th and the highlight was defeating Roma 3-1 on January 6.
He then left Lazio and joined Torino in Serie B. The manager was Gianni De Biasi and De Sousa played 11 league games with 1 goal (Brescia). Torino won promotion but De Sousa had left in January. His teammates at Toro included Lazio connections, Roberto Muzzi (2003-05) and Nikola Lazetić (2003).
In January he left for Catanzaro on loan in Serie B. The manager was first Lazio legend Bruno Giordano and then Franco Cittadino for the last five games. The Giallorossi were relegated and De Sousa played 14 league games with 2 goals (Ternana, Cesena).
In the summer of 2006 he returned to Torino in Serie A. He however made no appearances under first Alberto Zaccheroni and then Gianni De Biasi. Toro finished 16th. His teammates included Lazio connections Beppe Pancaro (1997-2003), Stefano Fiore (2001-04) plus Muzzi and Lazetić were still there.
De Sousa's career then continued at lower level football. He spent a year at Ancona on loan in C1 (25 games, 3 goals), one at Pescara in Serie D (1 game), a season and a half at Murata in San Marino at amateur level (33 games, 23 goals), a season with Chieti in Serie D (36 games, 19 goals), one with L'Aquila in Serie C (35 games, 11 goals), one at Como in Serie C (36 games, 4 goals), one back at L'Aquila in Serie C (35 games, 5 goals), a season with Racing Roma in Serie C (37 games, 17 goals), 4 months with Racing Fondi in Serie C (18 games, 3 goals), 6 months at Viterbese Castrense in Serie C (20 games, 2 goals), a season with Aprilia Racing in Serie D (15 games, 3 goals), two seasons with Ostia Mare in Serie D (30 games, 8 goals) and finally a season with Tivoli at regional level (1 game, 2 goals).
At 37 he retired.
De Sousa was a forward. At 1.83 and 77 kilos he was a strong player, fast and skilful and was usually played at centre-forward but he could also play in other attacking roles. He was nicknamed “la Pantera" (Panther).
He never fulfilled his early promise at Lazio where he made his debut in Serie A at 19. His moment of glory at Lazio was scoring at the Olimpico against Messina and at the final whistle Paolo Di Canio took him under the Curva Nord to soak up the applause. He then had a chance at Torino but spent most of his career at lower levels between the 3rd and 4th tiers.
Lazio Career
Season | Total appearances | Serie A | Europa League |
2004-05 | 5 (1) | 4 | 1 |
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