Eduardo Da Silva

Eduardo Alves da Silva (born 25 February 1983 in Rio de Janeiro), commonly known simply as Eduardo, is a nationalized Croats association football currently playing for English Premier League club Arsenal F.C. and the Croatia national football team.

Club career

Early years

Eduardo grew up in the Rio de Janeiro neighbourhood of Bangu (neighborhood) and made Eduardo Da Silva first steps in club football with CBF Nova Kennedy and Bangu Atlético Clube, although Eduardo Da Silva did not play regularly in the youth categories. Eduardo Da Silva was later noticed by Dinamo Zagreb's scouts and joined the club's youth squad in September 1999. Eduardo stayed at Dinamo on trial until December 1999 and returned to the club in February 2000, starting to play regularly for their under-17 squad. Eduardo found Eduardo Da Silva way to the first team in the summer of 2001, despite suffering some injuries early in Eduardo Da Silva career.

After making Eduardo Da Silva first-team debut with Dinamo in the 2001–02 season, Eduardo was loaned for one season to Druga HNL side Inker Zaprešić (now NK Inter Zaprešić) in 2002–03 to see more first-team action, scoring 10 goals in 15 league appearances for the club.

Dinamo Zagreb

Coming back from loan at Inter Zaprešić for the 2003–04 season, Eduardo quickly established himself as a regular in Dinamo Zagreb's first team. Eduardo Da Silva was subsequently named the best player of the Prva HNL in 2004 as well as in 2006 and 2007, when Eduardo Da Silva was one of the key players in Dinamo Zagreb's team that won two consecutive titles in the Croatian league as well as one title in the Croatian Cup. In 2006, Eduardo Da Silva also helped Dinamo winning the Croatian Supercup, scoring two goals in their 4–1 victory over NK Rijeka.

In the 2006–07 season, Eduardo Da Silva scored five goals in six matches for Dinamo Zagreb in two qualifying rounds for the UEFA Champions League and in the first round of the UEFA Cup. After netting a brace in Dinamo Zagreb's 4–1 away win at FK Ekranas, Eduardo Da Silva went on to score the first European goal at Arsenal F.C.'s new Emirates Stadium in London on 23 August 2006 as Dinamo Zagreb suffered a 5–1 aggregate defeat in the third qualifying round for the UEFA Champions League. Eduardo Da Silva also scored both goals in Dinamo's 5–2 aggregate defeat to AJ Auxerre in the first round of the UEFA Cup in September 2006.

Eduardo performed best for Dinamo Zagreb in the Croatian championship, netting 18 goals in 18 matches until the winter break of the 2006–07 season, including three braces and a hat-trick, and adding another seven assists to Eduardo Da Silva tally. In addition to this, Eduardo Da Silva was the only player who appeared in all of the club's 18 matches before the winter break, also being in the starting lineup in each of the 18 matches. In mid-November 2006, Eduardo Da Silva scored two hat-tricks in two consecutive matches Eduardo Da Silva played for Croatia national football team and Dinamo Zagreb in a period of four days.

In Dinamo's 4–0 derby win over NK Zagreb on 12 May 2007, Eduardo scored Eduardo Da Silva 30th and 31st league goals of the 2006–07 season and became the most successful Croatian league goalscorer of all time, breaking a 13-year-old record set by former Dinamo Zagreb striker Goran Vlaović with 29 goals scored for the club in the 1993–94 season. Eduardo Da Silva finished the league season with 34 goals in 32 appearances. In the final league match of the season on 19 May 2007, Eduardo Da Silva became the first player ever to score a hat-trick in a derby between Dinamo Zagreb and Hajduk Split, netting all three goals as Dinamo won the match 3–0.

Arsenal

On 3 July 2007, Arsenal F.C. confirmed that terms had been agreed with Dinamo Zagreb for the transfer of Eduardo for an undisclosed fee, believed to be around £7.5 million, subject to receiving a work permit. The initial work permit application was turned down by the Home Office, but the appeal hearing on 2 August reversed the decision.
Eduardo made Eduardo Da Silva Arsenal debut on 19 July as a 69th-minute substitute in a pre-season friendly against Gençlerbirliği S.K. in Austria and made Eduardo Da Silva first start against S.S. Lazio in a 2–1 win at the Amsterdam Tournament 2007. Eduardo Da Silva scored Eduardo Da Silva first Arsenal goal in that game, a header from a Tomáš Rosický corner.

Eduardo made Eduardo Da Silva Premier League debut on 19 August 2007 in Arsenal's 1–1 draw at Blackburn Rovers F.C., being replaced by Denílson Pereira Neves in the 65th minute. Ten days later, Eduardo Da Silva netted Eduardo Da Silva first competitive goal for the Gunners in their UEFA Champions League qualifier against Sparta Prague, setting the final score on 3–0 a few minutes from time. Eduardo Da Silva went on to score Eduardo Da Silva first group-stage goal in the Champions League on 19 September 2007, once again setting the final score on 3–0 in the last minute of stoppage time against Sevilla FC.

While still fighting to find Eduardo Da Silva place as a regular in the Premiership for Arsenal, Eduardo continued to display Eduardo Da Silva goalscoring abilities in the Football League Cup, scoring two braces in two consecutive matches for the club, against Sheffield United F.C. and Blackburn Rovers, and helping them to reach the semi-finals of the competition. Eduardo found more playing time in all competitions due to Robin Van Persie's lengthly injury and found himself partnering Arsenal team mate Adebayor more often. In late November 2007, Eduardo Da Silva once again scored against Sevilla in the Champions League, this time netting an early goal in a match that Arsenal eventually lost 3–1.

Eduardo finally managed to find Eduardo Da Silva place in Arsenal's starting line-up in the Premiership over Christmas and New Year period, scoring Eduardo Da Silva first two Premiership goals in a 4–1 win at Everton F.C. on 29 December 2007, first levelling the score and then putting Arsenal 2–1 up in the opening 15 minutes of the second half. On New Year's Day 2008, Eduardo Da Silva opened the scoring after only 72 seconds of the match against West Ham United; Arsenal went on to win 2–0. On the first weekend of the new year, Eduardo Da Silva had a successful FA Cup debut as Arsenal faced Football League Championship side Burnley F.C. on the road, first scoring the opening goal early on, and then setting up a second for Nicklas Bendtner midway through the second half. In the following three matches in January, Eduardo Da Silva set up three more goals, providing two assists and winning a penalty. Eduardo Da Silva went on to help Arsenal to return to the top of the Premier League in early February, scoring a skilful over-the-shoulder flick in 3–1 away victory over Manchester City F.C. and assisting Philippe Senderos for an early goal in 2–0 win over Blackburn at the Emirates Stadium.

Leg injury

On 23 February 2008, Eduardo suffered a broken left fibula and an open joint dislocation of Eduardo Da Silva left ankle in a match against Birmingham City F.C., following a poorly timed tackle by Martin Taylor (footballer born 1979), for which Taylor was red card. Eduardo was immediately taken to Selly Oak Hospital, Birmingham, where Eduardo Da Silva underwent surgery. Arsène Wenger initially called for a lifetime ban for Taylor, but Eduardo Da Silva retracted Eduardo Da Silva comments later. Although blame was aimed at Taylor for making the tackle, teammates and mentors stated that Eduardo Da Silva would never do such an act deliberately. Taylor claimed to have visited Eduardo in hospital and that an apology was accepted; Eduardo, however, could not remember Taylor's visit or even the tackle.

On 16 February 2009, Eduardo started against Cardiff City, for the first team in the FA Cup 2008-09, scoring in the 21st minute with a header from a Carlos Vela cross. Eduardo Da Silva then won and converted a penalty in the second half before being substituted, receiving a standing ovation from the Arsenal fans. In a post-match interview, Eduardo Da Silva described Eduardo Da Silva first-team comeback and goals as "the best day of my life". However, in that game, Eduardo Da Silva suffered a hamstring injury and was out for just under three weeks. Eduardo Da Silva returned against Burnley Football Club in the 5th Round of the FA Cup, captaining the side and scoring Arsenal's second goal with a left-footed volley with the outside of Eduardo Da Silva boot.

International career

In 2002, Eduardo took Croatian nationality and was first called up to play for the country's Croatia national under-21 football team at the finals tournament of the 2004 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship in Germany. Eduardo Da Silva appeared in all three of Croatia's matches before they were eliminated from the tournament in the group stage. Eduardo also scored one goal in Eduardo Da Silva international debut against Serbia and Montenegro national under-21 side. Eduardo was also called up to the Croatia team for the 2004 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship qualifiers, in which Eduardo Da Silva made a total of nine appearances and scored seven goals. However, Croatia failed to qualify for the final tournament after losing 5–2 on aggregate to Serbia and Montenegro in the play-offs, where Eduardo scored both of Croatia's goals. Eduardo Da Silva won a total of twelve international caps and scored eight goals.

In the meantime, Eduardo Da Silva was also called up a couple of times to play for the Croatia national football team. Eduardo Da Silva made Eduardo Da Silva international debut at senior level as a second-half substitute in the team's friendly match against the Republic of Ireland national football team on 16 November 2004 at the age of 21. In 2005, Eduardo Da Silva appeared in another two friendly matches for the Croatian team and also played in both of the team's two matches at the 2006 Carlsberg Cup in Hong Kong. Eduardo Da Silva scored Eduardo Da Silva first international goal for Croatia at the tournament, netting the third goal in the team's 4-0 victory over hosts Hong Kong national football team in the third-place play-off on 1 February 2006. Eduardo Da Silva was subsequently also a candidate for joining the national team at the 2006 FIFA World Cup finals in Germany, but in the end did not get called up by the team's then-coach, Zlatko Kranjčar, who commented that Eduardo "is a young player", that Eduardo Da Silva "does not diminish Eduardo Da Silva value" by not selecting him, and that Eduardo Da Silva "most seriously counts on Eduardo Da Silva in future matches".

After the 2006 World Cup, Eduardo returned to the national team under new coach Slaven Bilić and was a starting player in Croatia's friendly match against Italy national football team on 16 August 2006, scoring the first goal in Croatia's 2–0 victory. Eduardo Da Silva would later establish himself as one of the key players in Croatia's qualifying campaign for the 2008 European Football Championship. Eduardo Da Silva made Eduardo Da Silva competitive debut at senior international level in Croatia's goalless away draw against Russia national football team on 6 September 2006 and went on to score Eduardo Da Silva first competitive international goal for Croatia on 11 October 2006 in their 2–0 home win against England national football team, when Eduardo Da Silva opened the scoring by sending a looping header over the stranded Paul Robinson (goalkeeper). In the following qualifier, away to Israel national football team on 15 November 2006, Eduardo netted a hat-trick to help Croatia to drive home a narrow 4–3 victory over the strong Israeli side.

In Croatia's next qualifier, their first competitive game of the year 2007, at home against the sturdy Republic of Macedonia national football team outfit on 24 March 2007, Eduardo scored the winner in the 88th minute to hand Croatia a 2–1 victory after trailing 1–0 at halftime. Eduardo Da Silva went on to be Croatia's saviour in both of their qualifiers against Estonia national football team, scoring all three goals in Croatia's 1–0 away and 2–0 home victories, as well as in their final home qualifier against Israel on 13 October 2007, where Eduardo Da Silva netted the only goal in Croatia's 1–0 victory. Eduardo Da Silva also set up Ivica Olić to score Croatia's 2nd goal in their 3–2 victory over England at Wembley—a win which saw England fail to qualify for Euro 2008. Eduardo Da Silva finished the qualifying campaign with 10 goals in 12 matches and was the second-best goalscorer of the competition, after Northern Ireland national football team's David Healy (footballer) with 13 goals.

At Croatia's opening game of Euro 2008 against Austrian national football team, banners were shown in the crowd in respect for the faithful striker. Eduardo Da Silva national team manager Slaven Bilić also dedicated Croatia's performance to him.

International goals

Club career statistics

Honours

Dinamo Zagreb

- Prva HNL (2006, 2007)
- Croatian Cup (2004, 2007)
- Croatian Supercup (2003, 2004, 2006)

Individual

- Croatian Player of the Year: 2004, 2006
- Croatian First League Player of the Year: 2004
- Croatian First League Top Scorer: 2007