José Cláyton Menezes Ribeiro ( ; born 21 March 1974), known as José Clayton or just Clayton, is a Tunisian former professional football who played as a left-back.
Born in Brazil, he became a naturalised Tunisian citizen, and represented their national football team.
Career
Born in Brazil, Clayton spent a large part of his club career in Tunisia playing for Étoile du Sahel and Espérance de Tunis.
He had a brief spell with Sakaryaspor in the Turkish Süper Lig. He also spent time with Qatari-based side Al Sadd. He won the Q-League title in 2006. In 2006, he left Al Sadd for Turkish club Sakaryaspor.
International career
Clayton became a naturalized citizen in time for the 1998 FIFA World Cup. He played for Tunisia twice in that tournament, as well as one match in 2002.
He was an over-age player on the Tunisian 2004 Olympic football team that exited in the first round, finishing third in Group C, behind group and gold medal winners Argentina and runners-up Australia. He was part of the squad that won the 2004 African Cup of Nations.
He made 39 appearances scoring four goals for Tunisia.
Career statistics
:Scores and results list Tunisia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Clayton goal.
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ List of international goals scored by José Clayton
|-
!scope="col"|No.
!scope="col"|Date
!scope="col"|Venue
!scope="col"|Opponent
!scope="col"|Score
!scope="col"|Result
!scope="col"|Competition
|-
| style="text-align:center"|1 || 5 June 2004 || Stade Olympique de Radès, Tunis, Tunisia || || style="text-align:center"|1–0 || style="text-align:center"|4–1 || 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
|-
| style="text-align:center"|2 || 26 March 2005 || Stade Olympique de Radès, Tunis, Tunisia || || style="text-align:center"|4–0 || style="text-align:center"|7–0 || 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
|-
| style="text-align:center"|3 || 11 June 2005 || Stade Olympique de Radès, Tunis, Tunisia || || style="text-align:center"|1–0 || style="text-align:center"|2–0 || 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
|-
| style="text-align:center"|4 || 8 October 2005 || Stade Olympique de Radès, Tunis, Tunisia || || style="text-align:center"|1–1 || style="text-align:center"|2–2 || 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
|}
Personal life
Born in Brazil, Clayton spent most of his career in Tunisia, where he converted to Islam and lives, marrying a woman from Sousse. He obtained Tunisian citizenship in 1998.
Honours
Tunisia
- Africa Cup of Nations: 2004