Daniel da Cruz Carvalho

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dani
Dani.JPG
Personnel
Surname Daniel da Cruz Carvalho
birthday 2nd November 1976
place of birth Lisbon ,  Portugal
position midfield player
Juniors
Years station
until 1994 Sporting Lisbon
Men's
Years station Games (goals) 1
1994-1996 Sporting Lisbon 10 0(0)
1996 →  West Ham United  (Loan) 9 0(2)
1996-2000 Ajax Amsterdam 72 (12)
2000 Benfica Lisbon 5 0(0)
2000-2003 Atlético Madrid 64 (10)
National team
Years selection Games (goals)
1995 Portugal U-20 6 0(4)
1995-1998 Portugal U-21 15 0(8)
1996 Portugal Olympia 5 0(0)
1995-2000 Portugal 9 0(0)
1 Only league games are given.

Daniel da Cruz Carvalho , short Dani (born November 2, 1976 in Lisbon ) is a former Portuguese football player . In the mid-1990s, he was considered the upcoming Portuguese superstar. However, he was unable to meet this expectation throughout his career and ended it prematurely at the age of 27.

Club career

Career start at Sporting

Born in Lisbon, he started his career in Sporting's youth department . There he developed into the club's greatest talent and made his debut at the age of 18 in the professional team of Sporting. He came in the league only sparse times, he was used regularly in the Portuguese Cup and at international level. As a result, he also had a significant share in winning the 1995 Cup. His first big disappointment was in the 1995/96 European Cup. In the second leg of the round of 16 in the European Cup Winners' Cup against Rapid Vienna , he received a yellow / red card for "unnecessarily hitting the ball" in the 92nd minute of the game, with a score of 1-0 for Rapid. Sporting then lost the game 4-0 in extra time and were eliminated by the eventual finalists. The elimination was attributed, among other things, to the unnecessary dismissal. While still in sport, he also received the trophy for “Young Footballer of the Year” in Portugal . When Luis Figo left the club for FC Barcelona in the 1994/95 season , he should be built up as its successor in the long term. However, the Junior World Cup followed in 1995 , in which he was voted the second best player of the tournament and thus attracted the interest of various European clubs.

Sacked West Ham United

For a loan fee of £ 130,000, he was loaned to West Ham United in the Premier League in February 1996 . The media pressure in London turned out to be the first stumbling block in his career. Even before his arrival, the English media made their contribution by making him a "Portuguese glamor boy". In the heyday of the Liverpool “Spice Boys” (McManaman, Redknapp, McAteer, Fowler, Collymore) and the beginning hype about David Beckham in Manchester, London was desperately looking for a footballer who could also be sold in the tabloid press. Dani enjoyed the role and throughout his time in England made headlines more for his off-field activities than his on-field performance. He completed only 9 season appearances with 2 goals, in which he was able to convince as far as possible. When he missed a training session after being photographed in a London nightclub the day before, West Ham manager Harry Redknapp kicked him off the squad and sent him back to Sporting. Before that, Redknapp had allowed himself to be carried away by this momentous statement in the English press:

"Dani is so good-looking I don't know whether to play him or fuck him"

Ajax Amsterdam

His expulsion in England again called various international clubs on the scene and so it came about that he moved to the talent factory Ajax Amsterdam in the Eredivisie for the 1996/97 season. Above all, Ajax institution Johan Cruyff advocated signing the player. In Amsterdam he received the jersey with the number 10, which again led to certain expectations. There followed four seasons in which he was allowed to celebrate the championship title once and the cup victory twice. Although he showed his great talent at times, he could not meet the expectations placed in him. The "hype" about his person continued off the field in the Netherlands, which he intensified with a lifestyle that was not always exemplary. When his sporting performance began to fluctuate more and more in his last season and various escapades in Amsterdam's nightlife were reported, Ajax decided not to renew his contract.

Briefly at Benfica Lisbon

For the 2000/01 season he then moved back to Lisbon, to Benfica . This was resented by the Sporting fans, who were then very hostile to him. After just five games at Benfica, he moved to Spain that same season to Atlético Madrid, who had just been relegated to the Segunda División .

Promotion with Atletico Madrid

In Madrid he quickly found his way around and performed outstandingly. Nevertheless, you missed the immediate return to the Primera División in his first season with fourth place . In the following season, he was an outstanding man in the Madrid star ensemble and celebrated the championship title in the Segunde Division and the promotion associated with it. However, Atletico had financially taken over during his two-year stint in the second division and got into serious financial problems after promotion. As a result, the salaries of several players, including Dani, could no longer be paid. As a result, Dani canceled his contract with Atletico due to the lack of salaries in order to find another club.

Surprising end of career

Various trial training sessions followed in Spain, England and Scotland, which, however, did not result in the conclusion of a contract. After a trial period of several weeks at Celtic Glasgow , a commitment seemed more of a formality before Celtic manager Martin O'Neill decided against him due to his miserable physical condition.

After he couldn't find a club until spring 2004, he surprisingly announced the end of his career.

National team

At the international level, he first drew attention to himself during the 1995 World Junior Cup . Portugal finished third, Dani scored 4 goals in 6 games. Before that, he scored the important goal of the 1-0 win against eventual winners Argentina in the preliminary round. It was not until the semi-finals that Portugal had to admit defeat to Brazil 1-0. In the game for 3rd place, he again scored the winning goal to 3-2 against Spain. He was later voted second best player of the tournament with the Silver Ball . If Portugal hadn't been eliminated prematurely, he would have received the Golden Ball , and the experts agreed that he would have been the defining figure of the tournament.

The next highlight followed in 1996 with participation in the Olympic soccer tournament in Atlanta . Portugal were one of the favorites of the tournament and made it to the semi-finals, losing 2-0 to Argentina. The game for 3rd place against Brazil was also lost 5-0. As a result, they took the ungrateful 4th place and couldn't take a medal home with them. Dani completed 5 missions in the course of the tournament with no goal.

His career in the Portuguese national soccer team was less successful. Analogous to his meteoric rise, he made his debut on December 12, 1995 in a 1-1 draw against England . After that he was part of the squad again and again, but was only used regularly in the qualification for the European Football Championship 2000 in Belgium . Surprisingly, he did not appear in the final squad for the European Championship. He played his last international game on March 29, 2000, in a 2-1 win over Denmark .

After the active career

After finishing his football career, he switched to Portuguese television. Initially as a co-commentator and expert on football, he subsequently got his own entertainment program, which he moderated. To date he has also been working as a professional male model.

Its popularity is still unbroken, which is evident from the number of "Dani fan clubs" that still exist.

successes

In the club

National team

As a player

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Video excerpt from the Rapid-Sporting encounter with Dani sent off
  2. ^ Tony Hogg, Who's Who of West Ham United. London 2005, Profile Sports Media, p. 59 ISBN 1-903135-50-8
  3. ↑ Football's best ever quotes
  4. ^ No Celtic deal for Dani
personal data
SURNAME Cruz Carvalho, Daniel there
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Dani
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Portuguese soccer player
DATE OF BIRTH 2nd November 1976
PLACE OF BIRTH Lisbon