TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Brazilian playmaker Leandro Domingues, who helped Kashiwa Reysol become the first team to win the J-League football championship in their top-division debut season in 2011, died Tuesday, one of his former clubs, Brazil's EC Vitoria, said. He was 41.

He had been battling testicular cancer since 2022, according to local reports.

The attacker joined then second-division Kashiwa in 2010 and was instrumental in the club's promotion to the J1.

Domingues was named the 2011 J-League Player of the Year after leading the team's attack with 15 goals and a high-quality passing game.

Domingues also played for Nagoya Grampus and Yokohama FC in Japan, scoring 29 goals in 97 J1 matches.