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{{Infobox Football biography
{{Refimprove|date=September 2007}}
| playername =Robinho
| image = [[Image:Robinho-pic.jpg|200px]]
| fullname =Robson de Souza
| nickname = Robinho
| dateofbirth = {{birth date and age|1984|1|25}}
| cityofbirth = São Vicente, São Paulo
| countryofbirth = Brazil
| currentclub = [[Manchester City F.C.|Manchester City]]
| clubnumber = 10
| height = {{height|m=1.73}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mcfc.co.uk/default.sps?pagegid={439A001B-9F18-408E-BD8E-8466AB3C97FD}&bioid=93413&siteid=502|title=Robinho Profile }}</ref>
| position = [[Midfielder#Winger|Winger]], [[Striker]]
| youthyears =
| youthclubs =
| years = 2002&ndash;2005<br>2005&ndash;2008<br>2008&ndash;
| clubs = [[Santos Futebol Clube|Santos]]<br>[[Real Madrid C.F.|Real Madrid]]<br>[[Manchester City]]
| caps(goals) = 104 {{0}}(44)<br>101 {{0}}(25)<br />{{0}}{{0}}4 {{0}}{{0}}(2)
| nationalyears = 2003&ndash;
| nationalteam = [[Brazil national football team|Brazil]]
| nationalcaps(goals) = {{0}}56 {{0}}(20)
| pcupdate = 23:40, 21 September 2008 (UTC)
| ntupdate = 22:45, 12 October 2008 (UTC)
}}
<!-- DO NOT post any rumors, as Wikipedia is not a sports daily. Any such content will be promptly removed. -->


'''Robson de Souza''' (born January 25, 1984 in [[São Vicente, São Paulo|São Vicente]], [[São Paulo]]), more commonly known as '''Robinho''', is a [[Brazilian national football team|Brazilian]] international [[association football|footballer]] who plays for English [[Premier League]] club [[Manchester City F.C.]] and the [[Brazil national football team|Brazilian national team]].
[[Image:DSC 0313.JPG|thumb|A Penn tennis ball.]]
==Biography==
A '''tennis ball''' is a ball designed for the sport of [[tennis]], approximately 3 inches, it is a square that does not bounce well. It can be found in black or purple colors. In the picture you see, though, this ball was painted a different color.


Robinho was born in Parque Bitaru, a poor neighborhood of São Vicente in Santos, where he began playing football at an early age. When he was six years old, he was signed to the Beira-Mar, a local footballing academy; his team won the championship in his first year.<ref>[http://www.ofutebol.com/view.asp?ArticleId=9 Futebol | Alex Bellos Articles<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> One of his teammates at the time was [[Marcelo Vieira da Silva Júnior|Marcelo]], once Robinho's teammate at [[Real Madrid C.F.|Real Madrid]]. In 1993, at the age of just eight, Robinho scored 73 goals for the Portuários [[futsal]] team. He later joined Santos's youth program, which at the time was overseen by Brazilian football legend [[Pelé]].
== History ==
In the early days of tennis, balls were often made of [[leather]] stuffed with [[hair]] or [[wool]]. Early tennis balls were made by
[[Scottish people|Scottish]] [[craftsmen]]. These tennis balls were commonly made from a wool-wrapped [[stomach]] of a [[sheep]] or [[goat]] and tied with [[rope]]. Those recovered from the [[hammer-beam roof]] of [[Westminster Hall]] during a period of recent restoration were found to have been manufactured from a combination of [[putty]] and [[human hair]], and were dated to the reign of [[Henry VIII]]. This [[human hair]] is believed to have come from the [[enemies]] of the Scottish, and was harvested on one of their many conquests to [[Great Britain]]. Other versions, using materials such as [[animal fur]], rope made from animal intestines and muscles, and [[pine wood]], were found in Scottish [[castles]] dating back to the 16th century. In the 18th century, ¾" strips of wool were wound tightly around a nucleus made by rolling a number of strips into a little ball. [[String]] was then tied in many directions around the ball and a white [[cloth]] covering sewn around the ball. This type of ball, but with a [[rubber]] core, is still used for the original game of tennis, today called [[real tennis]]. With the introduction of lawn tennis in the 1870s, [[vulcanized rubber]] was first used to manufacture balls, often in tubes of four with a package, but not with the name of the brand.


===Modern balls===
==Club career==
===Santos===
Modern balls are made from rubber mixed with 14 to 17 chemicals to get the proper consistency. Approximately 85% of the ball weight is the rubber/chemical mix. Over 90% of tennis balls are produced in [[Southeast Asia]] where the natural resource is abundant. The most expensive ingredient in the ball is the [[felt]], which is adjusted in various ways to produce different properties. Steaming the felt raises its [[nap (textile)|nap]] to make it fluffier, which increases wind resistance and control (through increased resistance when striking the players' rackets) while reducing bounce and speed. A compact nap causes the ball to skip on hitting the court or a racket.<ref>{{cite book | last = Feldman | first = David | title = When Do Fish Sleep? And Other Imponderables of Everyday Life | publisher = Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc. | date = 1989 | pages = 36 | isbn = 0-06-016161-2 }}</ref>
In 2002, at the age of seventeen, Robinho signed his first professional contract with [[Santos FC|Santos]], making 24 appearances in his debut season and scoring nine goals as Santos won the 2002 [[Campeonato Brasileiro Série A|Campeonato Brasileiro]]. He enjoyed his best attacking season in 2004. He reached the final of Libertadores Cup with Santos, but lost the final against Boca Juniors.


His form had brought him to the attention of many European clubs in the summer of 2004, but Robinho remained with Santos after the Brazilian club rejected all offers. However, his form suffered in the 2004-05 season after his mother, Marina da Silva Souza, was kidnapped by gunmen at her [[Praia Grande]] home on November 6, but she was released unharmed six weeks later after a ransom was paid.<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/brazil/story/0,,1347504,00.html Footballer's plea for kidnapped mother]</ref> He managed only four goals in eight league games, but his value nonetheless continued to increase and at the end of the year, Santos were finding it increasingly difficult to hold on to their star player. Finally in July 2005 Spanish giants [[Real Madrid C.F.|Real Madrid]] signed Robinho by agreeing to pay a fee equal to 60 percent of the buyout clause in his contract belonging to Santos ([[Euro|€]]24 million).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-1179493,prtpage-1.cms|title=Real add Robinho to their galaxy| accessdate=2008-01-28|publisher=Times of India}}</ref>
===Pressureless balls===
Pressureless balls usually have a stiffer, woodier feel than pressurized balls, and except for the [[Tretorn]] brand, do not bounce as high as brand new pressurized balls. Unlike pressurized balls, though, they do not lose bounce over time. In fact, they get bouncier as they get lighter, due to fuzz loss. The balder they get, the more their flight, bounce, and spin response changes from what you would expect of tennis balls.<ref>[http://tennis.about.com/od/faqballs/f/faqballs23.htm?rd=1 ''Are pressureless tennis balls as good as regular, pressurized balls?''], Jeff Cooper, [[About.com]]</ref>


===Real Madrid===
== Standardisation ==
Robinho played his first [[La Liga]] game on August 28, 2005 in a 2-1 win against [[Cádiz CF]], coming on as a 65th-minute replacement for [[Thomas Gravesen]]. He ended up making 37 appearances and scored eight goals in his first season. Madrid helped Robinho pack on weight, to strengthen him and adapt better to the Spanish game.
[[Image:NewandOldTennisBalls.jpg|thumb|Brand new yellow tennis ball on the left, with a used ball, duller and greener in color, on the right]]
Tennis balls must conform to certain criteria for size, weight, deformation, and bounce criteria to be approved for regulation play. The [[International Tennis Federation]] (ITF) defines the official diameter as 65.41-68.58 mm (2.575-2.700 inches). Balls must weigh more 56.0-59.4 (1.975-2.095 ounces). Yellow and white are the only colors approved by the [[United States Tennis Association]] (USTA) and ITF, and most balls produced are [[fluorescent]] yellow (known as "optic yellow") the color first being introduced in 1972 following research demonstrating they were more visible on television. Tennis balls are filled with [[air]] and are surfaced by a uniform [[felt]]-covered rubber compound. Often the balls will have a number on them in addition to the brand name. This helps distinguish one set of balls from another of the same brand on an adjacent court.<ref>[http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20071008062756AAMFRiq ''What do the numbers on tennis balls mean and stand for?''], [[Yahoo! Anwsers]]</ref><ref>[http://tennis.about.com/od/tennisballfaq/f/faqballs021.htm ''Why are tennis balls numbered?''], Jeff Cooper, About.com</ref><!--<ref>http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Different-Types-of-Tennis-Balls&id=340455</ref> blacklisted link?-->


At the start of the 2006-07 campaign, Robinho fell out of favour with new manager [[Fabio Capello]], and he spent much of the first few months of the season on the bench. Only after the winter break did Robinho find himself in the starting eleven. He was given permission by [[FIFA]] to skip a [[Copa América]] training session with Brazil so he could take part in Madrid's season finale against [[RCD Mallorca|Mallorca]] on June 18, 2007, which they won 3-1 and in the process claimed their thirtieth league title, which was also the third of Robinho's career. He contributed eleven goals and fourteen assists for Madrid in the 2007-08 La Liga season.
Tennis balls begin to lose their bounce as soon as the tennis ball can is opened and can be tested to determine their bounce. A ball is tested for bounce by dropping it from a height of 100 inches (2.5 m) onto [[concrete]]; a bounce between 53 and 58 inches (1.35 - 1.47 m) is acceptable (if taking place at [[sea-level]] and 20°C / 68°F; high-altitude balls have different characteristics when tested at sea-level). Modern regulation tennis balls are kept under pressure (approximately two atmospheres) until initially used.
[[Image:Robinho Man City.jpg|thumb|upright|Robinho playing for Manchester City.]]
On September 1, 2008, team president [[Ramón Calderón]] revealed to the Brazilian media that he had threatened to end Robinho's career in order to force his exit from the club, and claimed that the reason for Robinho's departure was ''"due to human indolence."''<ref>http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/folha/esporte/ult92u440423.shtml</ref>


===Manchester City===
==Disposal==
On September 1, 2008, the final day of the [[Premier League]] summer [[transfer window]], Robinho completed a [[euro|€]]42.5m move to [[Manchester City F.C.|Manchester City]],<ref>{{cite press release |title=Real Madrid and Manchester City agree to terms on Robinho transfer with wages in the region of £160,000 a week.
Each year approximately 300 million balls are produced, which contributes roughly 14,700 metric tons of waste in the form of rubber that is not easily [[biodegradable]]. Historically, tennis ball recycling has not existed and the most common use has been to cut a hole in the ball and attach the ball to the bottom of chairs in schools, nursing homes and the like. Balls from [[The Championships, Wimbledon]] are now recycled to provide field homes for the nationally threatened [[harvest mouse]].
|publisher=Realmadrid.com
|date=2008-09-01 |url=http://www.realmadrid.com/cs/Satellite/en/1202741576302/noticia/ComunicadoOficial/OFFICIAL_ANNOUNCEMENT_2008-09-02.htm |language=English
|accessdate=2008-09-01 |quote= }}</ref> on the same day the club was bought out by Arab investment company [[Abu Dhabi United Group]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Arab group agrees Man City deal
|publisher=BBC Sport
|date=2008-09-01
|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/m/man_city/7591735.stm
|language=English |accessdate=2008-09-02| }}</ref><ref>{{cite press release |title=Robinho joins City
|publisher= mcfc.co.uk|date=2008-09-02
|url=http://www.mcfc.co.uk/default.sps?pagegid={DBD12D53-8346-431D-A04F-5D0F8664DE80}&newsid=6617331
|accessdate=2008-09-02 |}}</ref>
He had previously been linked with a transfer to [[Chelsea F.C.|Chelsea]],<ref name=ManCity>{{cite web |title=Man City beat Chelsea to Robinho |publisher=BBC Sport
|date=2008-09-01 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/m/man_city/7593026.stm
|language=English
|accessdate=2008-09-01 }}</ref>
and he had emphasised his desire to play for the London club up to the eve of the transfer.<ref>{{cite press release |title=Robinho intent on joining Chelsea
|publisher= BBC Sport
|date=2008-08-31 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/chelsea/7587545.stm
|accessdate=2008-09-02 |}}</ref>
On August 27, Chelsea chief executive [[Peter Kenyon]] said that the club were ''"confident"'' that the transaction would go through,<ref name=Chelseadeal>{{cite web |title=Chelsea set to seal Robinho deal
|publisher=BBC Sport |date=2008-08-27
|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/chelsea/7584770.stm
|language=English
|accessdate=2008-09-01 |}}</ref> and Madrid had also given their consent for the player to leave.<ref name=Chelseadeal/>


In an interview with ''The Guardian,'' Robinho stated that City being a big club and the presence of friends [[Jô]] and [[Elano]] were incentives for him to join the team.<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/feedarticle/7769464]</ref> He made his team debut and scored once in a 3-1 home defeat to Chelsea on September 13.<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_prem/7601889.stm</ref>


== National team==
Robinho earned his first cap for Brazil in the [[2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup]] match on July 13, which Brazil lost 1-0 to [[Mexico national football team|Mexico]].


He played in four of Brazil's five [[2006 FIFA World Cup|2006 World Cup]] matches as a reserve, going scoreless. However, he was in top form in the [[Copa América 2007]] a year later. For the tournament, he wore the number 11 jersey, the same number his childhood hero [[Romário]] wore. Robinho scored all four of Brazil's group stage goals via a [[hat-trick]] in Brazil's 3-0 group stage match against [[Chile national football team|Chile]], and a penalty in a 1-0 win over [[Ecuador national football team|Ecuador]]. His last two goals came in a 6-1 quarterfinal thrashing of Chile. Robinho reaped the individual honors, finishing as the Golden Boot winner in addition to being named the best player of the tournament. Robinho has one cap as captain and that was a friendly against [[Algeria national football team|Algeria]], due to the absence of [[Lúcio]] and [[Gilberto Silva]].
== Tennis balls in literature ==
The gift of tennis balls offered to Henry in [[Shakespeare]]'s ''[[Henry V (play)|Henry V]]'' is portrayed as the final insult which re-ignites the [[Hundred Years' War]] between [[England]] and [[France]].


On October 18, 2007 Robinho and [[Ronaldinho]] were at the center of a controversy when they were both dropped for the upcoming weekend by their league clubs after they had missed their flights from Brazil back to Spain. Reports by Brazilian newspaper ''[[O Globo]]'' described both players partying with other teammates into the early morning hours at popular [[Rio de Janeiro]] nightclub Catwalk, as a celebration of Brazil's 5-0 win over Ecuador the day before. The report alleged that Robinho was seen dancing with women and that he had asked a security guard for forty condoms before leaving the nightclub at 5 a.m. In addition to denying the allegations, he claimed that he was planning to marry his pregnant girlfriend in 2008, but he still has yet to do so.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://thestar.com.my/sports/story.asp?file=/2007/10/21/sports/19234220&sec=sports | title=Ronaldinho and Robinho were dropped by their Primera Liga teams | accessdate=2007-12-21 | publisher=Malaysian Star}}</ref>
{{quote|When we have match'd our rackets to these balls,
[[Image:Robinho061115.jpg|thumb|upright|Robinho playing against [[Switzerland national football team|Switzerland]]]]


==Statistics==
We will, in France, by God's grace, play a set}}
''As of 13 September 2008''


{{Football player statistics 1|NY|center=y}}
[[John Webster]], ''[[The Duchess of Malfi]]''
{{Football player statistics 2|BRA|NY}}
|-
|[[Campeonato Brasileiro Série A 2002|2002]]||rowspan="4"|'''[[Santos Futebol Clube|Santos]]'''||rowspan="4"|[[Campeonato Brasileiro Série A|Série A]]||24||7||-||-||-||-||'''24'''||'''7'''
|-
|[[Campeonato Brasileiro Série A 2003|2003]]||32||9||-||-||14||4||'''46'''||'''13'''
|-
|[[Campeonato Brasileiro Série A 2004|2004]]||37||21||-||-||8||4||'''45'''||'''25'''
|-
|[[Campeonato Brasileiro Série A 2005|2005]]||11||7||-||-||9||6||'''20'''||'''13'''
|-
{{Football player statistics 3|1|BRA}}'''104'''||'''44'''||-||-||'''31'''||'''14'''||'''135'''||'''58'''
|-
{{Football player statistics 2|ESP|NY}}
|-
|[[La Liga 2005-06|2005–06]]||rowspan="3"|[[Real Madrid C.F.|Real Madrid]]||rowspan="3"|[[La Liga]]||37||8||6||4||8||0||'''51'''||'''12'''
|-
||[[La Liga 2006-07|2006–07]]||32||6||2||1||6||1||'''40'''||'''8'''
|-
|[[La Liga 2007-08|2007–08]]||32||11||2||0||6||4||'''40'''||'''15'''
|-
{{Football player statistics 3|1|ESP}}'''101'''||'''25'''||'''10'''||'''5'''||'''20'''||'''5'''||'''131'''||'''35'''
|-
{{Football player statistics 2|ENG|NY}}
|-
|[[Premier League 2008–09|2008–09]]||rowspan="1"|[[Manchester City F.C.|Manchester City]]||rowspan="1"|[[Premier League]]||3||2||0||0||1||0||'''4'''||'''2'''
|-
{{Football player statistics 3|1|ENG}}'''3'''||'''2'''||'''0'''||'''0'''||'''1'''||'''0'''||'''3'''||'''2'''
|-
{{Football player statistics 5}}'''206'''||'''69'''||'''10'''||'''5'''||'''52'''||'''19'''||'''267'''||'''93'''
|}


== Honours ==
{{quote|We are merely the stars' tennis balls, struck and banded
===Real Madrid===
*[[La Liga|La Liga]]: [[La Liga 2006-07|2006-07]], [[La Liga 2007-08|2007-08]]
*[[Supercopa de España]]: [[2008 Supercopa de España|2008]]


===Santos===
Which way please them}}
* [[Campeonato Brasileiro Série A|Campeonato Brasileiro]] 2002, 2004
* [[Bola de Ouro]] 2004

===Brazil===
* [[FIFA Confederations Cup]] 2005
* [[Copa America]] 2007


==References==
==References==
Line 42: Line 130:


==External links==
==External links==
*{{FIFA player|194815}}
* [http://www.itftennis.com/technical/rules/history/index.asp#2006 International Tennis Federation's history of the rules of the tennis ball]
* [http://footballdatabase.com/index.php?page=player&Id=1227&b=true&pn=Robson_de_Souza Robinho Profile and Stats] - Football Database
* [http://www.robinhoofficial.com Robinho official website] - Official Robinho website
<br/>
{{Navboxes
|title=Robinho - Navigation boxes and awards
|list1=
{{Brazil Squad 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup}}
{{Brazil Squad Confederations Cup 2005}}
{{Brazil Squad 2006 World Cup}}
{{Brazil Squad 2007 Copa América}}
{{start box}}
{{succession box|title=[[Bola de Ouro]] Winner |before=[[Alexsandro de Souza|Alex]] |after=[[Carlos Tévez]]|years=[[Campeonato Brasileiro Série A 2004|2004]]}}
{{end box}}
}}
{{Manchester City F.C. squad}}


[[Category:Balls]]
[[Category:1985 births]]
[[Category:Tennis equipment]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from São Paulo state]]
[[Category:Brazilians of Black African descent]]
[[Category:Brazilian footballers]]
[[Category:Brazilian expatriate footballers]]
[[Category:Football (soccer) strikers]]
[[Category:Brazil international footballers]]
[[Category:Santos Futebol Clube players]]
[[Category:Real Madrid C.F. players]]
[[Category:Manchester City F.C. players]]
[[Category:La Liga footballers]]
[[Category:Premier League players]]
[[Category:2005 FIFA Confederations Cup players]]
[[Category:2006 FIFA World Cup players]]
[[Category:2007 Copa América players]]


[[de:Tennisball]]
[[ar:روبينهو]]
[[ast:Robinho]]
[[he:כדור טניס]]
[[bn:রবিনিয়ো]]
[[ka:ჩოგბურთის ბურთი]]
[[nl:Tennisbal]]
[[bg:Робиньо]]
[[pt:Bola de tênis]]
[[ca:Robson de Souza]]
[[sv:Tennisboll]]
[[cs:Robinho]]
[[da:Robinho]]
[[vi:Quả bóng quần vợt]]
[[de:Robinho]]
[[et:Robinho]]
[[es:Robinho]]
[[eo:Robinho]]
[[fr:Robson de Souza]]
[[ko:호비뉴]]
[[id:Robinho]]
[[it:Robinho]]
[[he:רוביניו]]
[[ka:რობინიო]]
[[lt:Robinho]]
[[hu:Robinho]]
[[mr:रोबिन्हो]]
[[nl:Robinho]]
[[ja:ロビーニョ]]
[[no:Robinho]]
[[pl:Robinho]]
[[pt:Robson de Souza]]
[[ro:Robson de Souza]]
[[qu:Robinho]]
[[ru:Робиньо]]
[[sr:Робињо]]
[[fi:Robinho]]
[[sv:Robinho]]
[[th:โรบินโญ่]]
[[vi:Robinho]]
[[tr:Robinho]]
[[zh:罗比尼奥]]

Revision as of 21:56, 12 October 2008

Robinho
File:Robinho-pic.jpg
Personal information
Full name Robson de Souza
Height 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)[1]
Position(s) Winger, Striker
Team information
Current team
Manchester City
Number 10
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 22:45, 12 October 2008 (UTC)

Robson de Souza (born January 25, 1984 in São Vicente, São Paulo), more commonly known as Robinho, is a Brazilian international footballer who plays for English Premier League club Manchester City F.C. and the Brazilian national team.

Biography

Robinho was born in Parque Bitaru, a poor neighborhood of São Vicente in Santos, where he began playing football at an early age. When he was six years old, he was signed to the Beira-Mar, a local footballing academy; his team won the championship in his first year.[2] One of his teammates at the time was Marcelo, once Robinho's teammate at Real Madrid. In 1993, at the age of just eight, Robinho scored 73 goals for the Portuários futsal team. He later joined Santos's youth program, which at the time was overseen by Brazilian football legend Pelé.

Club career

Santos

In 2002, at the age of seventeen, Robinho signed his first professional contract with Santos, making 24 appearances in his debut season and scoring nine goals as Santos won the 2002 Campeonato Brasileiro. He enjoyed his best attacking season in 2004. He reached the final of Libertadores Cup with Santos, but lost the final against Boca Juniors.

His form had brought him to the attention of many European clubs in the summer of 2004, but Robinho remained with Santos after the Brazilian club rejected all offers. However, his form suffered in the 2004-05 season after his mother, Marina da Silva Souza, was kidnapped by gunmen at her Praia Grande home on November 6, but she was released unharmed six weeks later after a ransom was paid.[3] He managed only four goals in eight league games, but his value nonetheless continued to increase and at the end of the year, Santos were finding it increasingly difficult to hold on to their star player. Finally in July 2005 Spanish giants Real Madrid signed Robinho by agreeing to pay a fee equal to 60 percent of the buyout clause in his contract belonging to Santos (24 million).[4]

Real Madrid

Robinho played his first La Liga game on August 28, 2005 in a 2-1 win against Cádiz CF, coming on as a 65th-minute replacement for Thomas Gravesen. He ended up making 37 appearances and scored eight goals in his first season. Madrid helped Robinho pack on weight, to strengthen him and adapt better to the Spanish game.

At the start of the 2006-07 campaign, Robinho fell out of favour with new manager Fabio Capello, and he spent much of the first few months of the season on the bench. Only after the winter break did Robinho find himself in the starting eleven. He was given permission by FIFA to skip a Copa América training session with Brazil so he could take part in Madrid's season finale against Mallorca on June 18, 2007, which they won 3-1 and in the process claimed their thirtieth league title, which was also the third of Robinho's career. He contributed eleven goals and fourteen assists for Madrid in the 2007-08 La Liga season.

Robinho playing for Manchester City.

On September 1, 2008, team president Ramón Calderón revealed to the Brazilian media that he had threatened to end Robinho's career in order to force his exit from the club, and claimed that the reason for Robinho's departure was "due to human indolence."[5]

Manchester City

On September 1, 2008, the final day of the Premier League summer transfer window, Robinho completed a 42.5m move to Manchester City,[6] on the same day the club was bought out by Arab investment company Abu Dhabi United Group.[7][8] He had previously been linked with a transfer to Chelsea,[9] and he had emphasised his desire to play for the London club up to the eve of the transfer.[10] On August 27, Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon said that the club were "confident" that the transaction would go through,[11] and Madrid had also given their consent for the player to leave.[11]

In an interview with The Guardian, Robinho stated that City being a big club and the presence of friends and Elano were incentives for him to join the team.[12] He made his team debut and scored once in a 3-1 home defeat to Chelsea on September 13.[13]

National team

Robinho earned his first cap for Brazil in the 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup match on July 13, which Brazil lost 1-0 to Mexico.

He played in four of Brazil's five 2006 World Cup matches as a reserve, going scoreless. However, he was in top form in the Copa América 2007 a year later. For the tournament, he wore the number 11 jersey, the same number his childhood hero Romário wore. Robinho scored all four of Brazil's group stage goals via a hat-trick in Brazil's 3-0 group stage match against Chile, and a penalty in a 1-0 win over Ecuador. His last two goals came in a 6-1 quarterfinal thrashing of Chile. Robinho reaped the individual honors, finishing as the Golden Boot winner in addition to being named the best player of the tournament. Robinho has one cap as captain and that was a friendly against Algeria, due to the absence of Lúcio and Gilberto Silva.

On October 18, 2007 Robinho and Ronaldinho were at the center of a controversy when they were both dropped for the upcoming weekend by their league clubs after they had missed their flights from Brazil back to Spain. Reports by Brazilian newspaper O Globo described both players partying with other teammates into the early morning hours at popular Rio de Janeiro nightclub Catwalk, as a celebration of Brazil's 5-0 win over Ecuador the day before. The report alleged that Robinho was seen dancing with women and that he had asked a security guard for forty condoms before leaving the nightclub at 5 a.m. In addition to denying the allegations, he claimed that he was planning to marry his pregnant girlfriend in 2008, but he still has yet to do so.[14]

Robinho playing against Switzerland

Statistics

As of 13 September 2008

Template:Football player statistics 1 Template:Football player statistics 2 |- |2002||rowspan="4"|Santos||rowspan="4"|Série A||24||7||-||-||-||-||24||7 |- |2003||32||9||-||-||14||4||46||13 |- |2004||37||21||-||-||8||4||45||25 |- |2005||11||7||-||-||9||6||20||13 |- Template:Football player statistics 3104||44||-||-||31||14||135||58 |- Template:Football player statistics 2 |- |2005–06||rowspan="3"|Real Madrid||rowspan="3"|La Liga||37||8||6||4||8||0||51||12 |- ||2006–07||32||6||2||1||6||1||40||8 |- |2007–08||32||11||2||0||6||4||40||15 |- Template:Football player statistics 3101||25||10||5||20||5||131||35 |- Template:Football player statistics 2 |- |2008–09||rowspan="1"|Manchester City||rowspan="1"|Premier League||3||2||0||0||1||0||4||2 |- Template:Football player statistics 33||2||0||0||1||0||3||2 |- Template:Football player statistics 5206||69||10||5||52||19||267||93 |}

Honours

Real Madrid

Santos

Brazil

References

  1. ^ "Robinho Profile".
  2. ^ Futebol | Alex Bellos Articles
  3. ^ Footballer's plea for kidnapped mother
  4. ^ "Real add Robinho to their galaxy". Times of India. Retrieved 2008-01-28.
  5. ^ http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/folha/esporte/ult92u440423.shtml
  6. ^ "Real Madrid and Manchester City agree to terms on Robinho transfer with wages in the region of £160,000 a week" (Press release). Realmadrid.com. 2008-09-01. Retrieved 2008-09-01.
  7. ^ "Arab group agrees Man City deal". BBC Sport. 2008-09-01. Retrieved 2008-09-02. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  8. ^ "Robinho joins City" (Press release). mcfc.co.uk. 2008-09-02. Retrieved 2008-09-02. {{cite press release}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  9. ^ "Man City beat Chelsea to Robinho". BBC Sport. 2008-09-01. Retrieved 2008-09-01.
  10. ^ "Robinho intent on joining Chelsea" (Press release). BBC Sport. 2008-08-31. Retrieved 2008-09-02. {{cite press release}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  11. ^ a b "Chelsea set to seal Robinho deal". BBC Sport. 2008-08-27. Retrieved 2008-09-01. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  12. ^ [1]
  13. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_prem/7601889.stm
  14. ^ "Ronaldinho and Robinho were dropped by their Primera Liga teams". Malaysian Star. Retrieved 2007-12-21.

External links