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Deco

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Deco
Personal information
Full name Ánderson Luís de Souza
Height 1.74 m (5 ft 8+1⁄2 in)
Position(s) Attacking Midfielder
Central Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 FC Barcelona
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 16:09, 11 June 2008 (UTC)

Anderson Luis de Souza, OIH (born August 27 1977 in São Bernardo do Campo, Brazil) is a professional Portuguese Brazilian footballer widely known as "Deco". He plays internationally for Portugal and for Spanish giants FC Barcelona.

Career

Club career

Early career

Deco started off his skid at Nacional Atlético Clube in the city of São Paulo, where he was spotted and signed by Corinthians. Despite making a couple of appearances for the Brazilian giant, he was deemed too feeble for professional football and was shipped off to Corinthians' franchise Corinthians Alagoano.

Deco arrived in Portugal in 1997 at the age of 19 along with fellow Brazilian player Caju, after being acquired by Lisbon side SL Benfica along with the Corinthians Alagoano franchise[1].

Despite good showings in training, Benfica decided to loan Deco to the Portuguese Liga de Honra side FC Alverca where he played for a season. Deco performed well and was close to renewing his contract with Benfica and joining the main squad. However, the Lisbon club and the player's representative did not reach an agreement, as the then manager Graeme Souness did not believe that he would develop into a player worth keeping. Subsequently Deco was traded to Porto side S.C. Salgueiros in the 1998-99 season, playing 12 games and scoring two goals. His performances caught the eye of the FC Porto staff, and during the winter transfer window, he was sold to Porto.

Porto

His early years at Porto, where he was rigorously whipped into shape by trainer Jose Mourinho, showed him to be a talented playmaker and earned him the nickname "Magico" from the Porto fans for his magical touch. He was known to be a gifted yet truculent player as he devoted more of his efforts into defending than what was expected of a playmaker. This made him register almost as many cards as assists and goals scored. His behaviour proved costly to Porto in games where he was either sent off or wasn't "tuned in" with the game. Nevertheless, he was a key figure during the three-year drought in the early 2000s.

Under the guidance of José Mourinho, Deco was given the role of leading an ambitious Porto team. A key figure in the 2002-03 season, he scored 10 goals in 30 games, but nevertheless got 17 yellow cards and one red card. Deco was one of the key players in the Porto's UEFA Cup final 3-2 win over Celtic that year. In the 2003-04 season, Deco helped Porto recapture the national title and led the team to the 2004 UEFA Champions League Final in which Porto won 3-0 over Monaco, scoring the second goal of the match. He was the Champions League's top assist provider and also suffered the most fouls in the Champions League that season. That season, Deco won the UEFA Most Valuable Player, as well as the award for the best midfielder in the competition.

Barcelona

On June 17 2004, Deco told a Portuguese radio station that he would almost certainly join English side Chelsea (then coached by Mourinho) following Euro 2004. He said that a transfer deal between Porto and Chelsea had been all but finalized, and that the only remaining steps were passing a physical examination and signing a formal contract with Chelsea.

However, on June 26 2004 he told the Portuguese sports daily O Jogo that he would rather move to Barcelona than follow Mourinho to Chelsea. While Bayern Munich gave up on Deco after the Chelsea deal seemed to have been concluded, it was still uncertain whether the German side would make a new bid. The best offer at that time was a €21m bid from Barça, but this figure was still €4m short of the request by Porto's board. Portuguese newspapers then reported that Barça would try to offer Portuguese winger Ricardo Quaresma as part of the exchange in order to ease the deal.

Finally, a deal was achieved between Porto and Barcelona the day after the Euro 2004 final. Barça agreed on a €12m fee, plus the complete rights of Ricardo Quaresma to Porto. Deco signed a four year deal with the Catalan side on 6 July 2004.

In Barcelona, some suggested Deco would be completely eclipsed by Brazilian star Ronaldinho (a duo that according to Luiz Felipe Scolari "can make rain fall"). Indeed, many Barcelona fans met the transfer with raised eyebrows, as Deco was considered an attacking midfielder - a department which was already well covered. Instead, coach Frank Rijkaard used him in a pure central midfield position, where his tactical knowledge, defensive abilities, and enormous work rate surprised many. In December 2004, he came second in France Football's Ballon D'Or 2004 award, losing to Andriy Shevchenko and beating team mate Ronaldinho by six votes.

Deco in 2005

On 14 May 2005, Deco played in the draw against Levante UD, which gave Barcelona their 17th La Liga title.

Deco scored twice in the Spanish Supercup 06-07, which Barça won.[2] Deco won the UEFA Best Midfielder Award yet again for his performance in Barca's Champions League winning season, enabling him to join the exclusive group of players that have won the same award more than once with different teams, having won the Champions League previously with Porto. Other members of this exclusive group include greats such as Clarence Seedorf (Ajax and AC Milan), Marcel Desailly (Marseille and AC Milan), Frank Rijkaard (AC Milan and Ajax) and Didier Deschamps (Marseille and Juventus). He was also awarded the Golden Ball at the FIFA Club World Cup and the Man of the Match award despite losing the final to Internacional.[3]

Deco has once again been linked with a transfer to Chelsea following the announcement that his national coach, Luiz Felipe Scolari, will become manager of the club after Euro 2008.[4]

International career

Never called up to the Brazilian national team, Deco was mentioned several times in the media as an option for the Portuguese national team. In 2002, having completed six years of Portuguese residence, he received Portuguese citizenship. After many months of public discussion which split Portuguese public opinion, and despite the opposition of a large number of FC Porto rivals' supporters, he was called up for his first international — coincidentally against his birth country — played at the Estádio das Antas, on March 29 2003. He played only eight minutes in his debut, but in that time he managed to score the free kick that stunned Brazil, leading to a 2-1 win for Portugal. This was Portugal's first win over Brazil since the 1966 World Cup. Since that game, he has been a regular in the national team, in spite of initial criticism by players such as Luís Figo, who later recognized Deco's value. Despite the early criticism, Deco is today one the highlights of the Portuguese national team. He had scored 3 goals in 39 caps for Portugal by July 2006.

2006 World Cup

During the 2006 World Cup, he scored the first goal in Portugal's second Group D match against Iran. He scored in the 63rd minute minute prior to Cristiano Ronaldo's 80th minute penalty. During the first knockout stage of the competition Deco received two yellow cards in the game against the Netherlands, the first for a rash tackle on Johnny Heitinga that put him out of the quarter final tie against England, having already picked up a caution in the aforementioned match with Iran.

Euro 2008

On June 11, Deco scored the opening goal in Portugal's second match of Euro 2008, a Group A clash with Czech Republic. The game ended 1-3 to Portugal, with Deco aiding his team in their passage to the quarter-finals.

International goals

# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. March 29 2003 Estádio das Antas, Porto, Portugal  Brazil 2-1 2-1 Friendly
2. October 13 2004 Estádio José Alvalade, Lisboa, Portugal  Russia 4-0 7-1 2006 FIFA World Cup Qualifying
3. June 17 2006 Commerzbank-Arena/FIFA World Cup Stadium Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany  Iran 1-0 2-0 2006 FIFA World Cup Group D Report
4. June 11 2008 Stade de Genève, Geneva, Switzerland  Czech Republic 0-1 1-3 UEFA Euro 2008

Honours

* Winner (2): 2004, 2006
* Winner (1): 2003
* Winner (3): 1999, 2003, 2004
* Runner-up (2): 2000, 2001
* Winner (3): 2000, 2001, 2003
* Runner-up (1): 2004
* Winner (3): 1999, 2001, 2003
* Runner-up (1): 2000
* Winner (2): 2005, 2006
* Runner-up (2): 2007, 2008
* Winner (2): 2005, 2006
*Runner-up (2): 2003, 2006
*Runner-up (1): 2006
*Runner-up (1): 2004

Individual Awards

Personal life

When Deco started his European career in 1997, his first wife Cila Bonerkiss, who he had met three years earlier, moved to Portugal with him. Deco and Cila have two sons, João Henrique and Pedro Gabriel, who now live in Brazil with their mother. A few years later, Deco met Jaciara at a party in Salvador (Brazil), and divorced Cila to live with Jaciara in Porto. They married in April 2005 and now have a son and a daughter. But Deco and Jaciara announced their divorce in March 2008.

Deco is the brother-in-law of fellow footballer Alecsandro, who plays for Cruzeiro Esporte Clube. Alecsandro is the brother of Brazil international Richarlyson.

References

  1. ^ Goal.com
  2. ^ portugoal.net
  3. ^ Deco Award
  4. ^ "Deco 'to join Scolari's Chelsea'". BBC Sport. 2008-06-13. Retrieved 2008-06-14.

Trivia

  • Deco is also one of the few players to win the UEFA Champions League with two different clubs.
  • Deco's nicknames at FC Porto were "Mágico" and "SuperDeco".
  • Deco was named Man of the Match at the 2003-04 Champions League final.
  • Deco scored the winning goal in his international debut by scoring from the half-way line against Brazil.
  • Deco is the first player to win the UEFA Best Midfielder Award with two different clubs, once each.
  • Deco was awarded the FIFA World Club Cup Golden Ball and The Man of the Match award in the final despite losing to Internacional.


Quotes

  • "Deco doesn't talk a lot, but when he does everybody listens" - Lionel Messi
  • "World class" - José Mourinho
  • "I think one of my bigger mistakes when in Brazil was not signing Deco. Now that we are with Portugal, I am glad I did not." Felipão on not inviting Deco to the Seleção during his tenure as head Brazilian coach.
  • "My choice of Deco had to do with his technical and professional qualities and his strong determination in reaching the objectives," - Felipão on the inclusion of Deco in the Portuguese national team.
  • "Deco is the barometer of our season, when he is in form the quality of the game rises, when he is not so good the team as a whole performs less well" -Former Barça Coach Frank Rijkaard
  • "He's a great player. It would be foolish to underestimate him" - Ex-Celtic coach Martin O'Neill on Deco during the 2002-03 UEFA Cup Final.
  • "He may look like a lost boy in a Japanese comic but Deco is intelligent, focused, hard, arrogant and a superb passer." - British football magazine FourFourTwo on Deco's abilities.

External links

Template:Commons2

Template:S-awards
Preceded by UEFA Champions League Best Midfielder
2003-04 		Succeeded by
Preceded by UEFA Champions League Most Valuable Player
2003-04 		Succeeded by
Preceded by UEFA Champions League Best Midfielder
2005-06 		Succeeded by
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