Douglas Franco Teixeira (born 12 January 1988), simply known as Douglas, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Dutch amateur club SC Barbaros.
Born in Brazil, he is also a naturalized citizen of the Netherlands, holding Dutch citizenship and being eligible to represent the Netherlands national team at international level.
Career
FC Twente
Born in Florianópolis, Douglas began his career with Joinville at the age of 16. Douglas joined Dutch team Twente on trial prior to the 2007–08 season, playing his first match in a friendly against Borussia Mönchengladbach on 7 September 2007, which saw Twente draw 2–2. Douglas impressed the club's management, resulting Douglas signing a three-year contract with Twente on 24 September 2007.
After playing in the reserve for the first three months at the club, Douglas made his competitive Twente debut on 22 December 2007, coming on as a 90th-minute substitute in an Eredivisie match against Heerenveen. He then made his first start for the club came on 23 February 2008 against AZ Alkmaar, in a 0–0 draw. Douglas scored his first FC Twente goal two weeks later on 11 March 2008, in a 1–0 win over VVV-Venlo. Unfortunately, Douglas was sent-off in the 42nd minute against Utrecht after a second bookable offense when he suspended of elbowing Mousa Dembélé, which Twente won 1–0. Because of elbow contact, Douglas was given a three-man ban by the Dutch FA, but won via appeal and missed one game. Douglas made twelve appearances and scoring once in his first season at the club. In May 2008, his playing form attracted interest from "several bigger clubs". However, he opted to sign a contract extension until 2012.
In the 2008–09 season, Douglas played in both legs of the Champions League play-offs against Arsenal, but they proved to be too strong and failed to win either leg losing 2–0 and 4–0 respectively. Douglas scored his first goal of the 2008–09 season, in a 2–0 win over Willem II on 21 December 2008. But during a match against Willem II, Douglas suffered a knee injury, resulting in surgery and fear over whether or not Douglas played again this season. Eventually, Douglas overcome his fears from surgery and returning to training, Douglas made his return in a reserve match against PSV, which ended a 2–2 draw. Douglas then made his return to the first team, where he came on as a substitute for Ronnie Stam in the 83rd minute, in a 4–1 win over NAC Breda on 4 February 2009. Two months later on 11 April 2009, Douglas scored his second goal of the season, in a 4–2 win over Roda JC. But in the next game against Feyenoord seven days later, Douglas was sent-off for a second bookable offense in the 78th minute, which Twente lost 1–0. Despite being sent-off in the league, Douglas played in the semi-final of KNVB Beker, where he set up a goal for Romano Denneboom to score the second, in a 3–1 win over NAC Breda. Douglas returned from suspension and was involved of providing assist for Peter Wisgerhof, who scored the second goal of the game, in a 3–0 win over AZ Alkmaar, with the win ensure Twente to earn a Champions League spot in the third qualifying round next season. Unfortunately, Douglas was unable to help win their first Dutch Cup in nine years after losing on penalty shoot-out to Heerenveen. Despite this, Douglas went on to make twenty-eight appearances and scoring two times in the 2008–09 season.
In the 2009–10 season, Douglas played in both legs of the Champions League's third qualifying round against Sporting Lisbon and scored in the second leg, but was eliminated in the Champions League, as a result of away goal. After missing the opening game of the season, due to suspension, Douglas scored his first goal in his first appearance of the 2009–10 season, in a 1–1 draw against PSV Eindhoven. Eleven days later, Douglas scored in the play-off round of Europa League, in a 3–1 win over Qarabağ and eventually went through in the second leg after a 0–0 draw. On 26 September 2009, Douglas scored his second league goal of the season, in a 2–1 win over VVV-Venlo. Douglas established himself in the first team and throughout the season, he continued to top the league in the latter part of the season, holding off the likes of renowned competitors PSV and Ajax. Eventually, the club was later crowned champions of Eredivisie for the first time in its history after beating NAC Breda 2–0 in the last game of the season despite not playing, due to suspension. Douglas went on to make thirty-one appearances in the 2009–10 season, having missed three matches due to suspension. At the end of the 2009–10 season, Douglas was among three players to be named Algemeen Daglad's National Team of the Year.