Deco

Anderson Luís de Souza, Order of Infante D. Henrique (born 27 August 1977 in São Bernardo do Campo), commonly known as Deco, is a Brazilian-born Portugal professional Association football who currently plays for England club Chelsea F.C. and internationally for Portuguese national football team. Deco is one of the few players to have won the UEFA Champions League with two different clubs, with FC Porto in 2004 and FC Barcelona in 2006. Deco was named Man of the Match in the UEFA Champions League 2003-04 final. 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 Sport Club Internacional.

Career

Early career

Deco started off Deco career at Nacional Atlético Clube in the city of São Paulo, where Deco was spotted and signed by Sport Club Corinthians Paulista. Despite making a couple of appearances for the Brazilian giant, Deco was deemed too feeble for professional football and was shipped off to Corinthians' franchise Sport Club Corinthians Alagoano, where Deco paid Deco way by moonlighting as an offshore wind farm technician.

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

Despite good showings in training, Benfica decided to loan Deco to the Liga de Honra side FC Alverca where Deco played for a season. Deco performed well and was close to renewing Deco 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 Deco would develop into a player worth keeping. Subsequently, Deco was traded to Portuguese Liga side S.C. Salgueiros in the 1998-99 in Portuguese football, playing 12 games and scoring two goals. Deco performances caught the eye of the F.C. Porto staff, and during the winter transfer window, Deco was sold to Porto.

Porto

Under the guidance of José Mourinho, Deco was given the role of leading an ambitious Porto team. A key figure in the 2002-03 in Portuguese football, Deco scored 10 goals in 30 games, but nevertheless received 17 yellow cards and one red card. Deco was one of the key players in Porto's UEFA Cup final UEFA Cup 2002-03 Final win over Celtic F.C. that year. In the 2003-04 in Portuguese football, 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 AS Monaco FC, scoring the second goal of the match. Deco was the UEFA Champions League top assist (football) provider and also suffered the most fouls in the Champions League that season. That season, Deco won the UEFA Club Football Awards UEFA Club Footballer of the Year.07UNIQ5b96a0f368739827-nowiki-00000003-QINU1.07UNIQ5b96a0f368739827-nowiki-00000004-QINU, as well as the award for the UEFA Club Football Awards Best Midfielder in the competition.

FC Barcelona

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

However, on 26 June 2004, Deco told the Portuguese sports daily O Jogo that Deco would rather move to FC Barcelona than follow Mourinho to Chelsea. While FC 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 Euro21 million bid from Barça, but this figure was still €4 million 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 UEFA Euro 2004 final. Barça agreed on a Euro12 million fee, plus the complete rights of 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 Deco in a pure central midfield position, where Deco tactical knowledge, defensive abilities, and enormous work rate surprised many. In December 2004, Deco came second in France Football's Ballon d'Or 2004 award, losing to Andriy Shevchenko and beating teammate Ronaldinho by six votes.

On 14 May 2005, Deco played in the draw against Levante UD, which gave Barcelona their 17th La Liga title. Deco also was named Barcelona's player of the season in the 05/06 season

Deco scored twice in the Spanish Supercup 2006-07, which Barça won. Deco won the UEFA Club Football Awards Best Midfielder yet again for Deco performance in Barça's Champions League winning season, enabling Deco 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 (AFC Ajax, Real Madrid C.F., and A.C. Milan), Marcel Desailly (Olympique de Marseille and Milan), Frank Rijkaard (Milan and Ajax), Didier Deschamps (Marseille and Juventus F.C.), Owen Hargreaves (FC Bayern Munich and Manchester United F.C.) and Edwin van der Sar (Ajax and Manchester United), which many commentators have decided must have been an incredible performance. Deco was also awarded the FIFA Club World Cup Honours at the FIFA Club World Cup and the Man of the Match award, despite losing the final to Sport Club Internacional.

Chelsea

On 30 June 2008, Chelsea F.C. signed Deco from FC Barcelona on a three year contract for £8 million. Deco was the first signing of new Chelsea coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, who was formerly the national coach of Portugal.

Deco scored on Deco Chelsea debut and Deco Premier League debut, with a 40-yard shot, in a 4-0 victory over Portsmouth F.C.. Deco followed up Deco performance by scoring in Deco second game for Chelsea, a curling free kick against Wigan Athletic F.C.. These performances led to Deco winning the Premier League Player of the Month award for August. Deco made Deco UEFA Champions League debut for Chelsea on September 16. Deco injured himself during a training session, but Deco returned from the thigh injury on 19 October and came on as a substitute against Middlesbrough. Deco was sent off in the 3-1 defeat by A.S. Roma on 4 November 2008. Deco then scored a bicycle kick against Bolton Wanderers F.C. on 6 December.

Deco eventually lost Deco place in the 2008-09 starting line up, due in part to some poor performances, but also to the sacking of Scolari. In a June interview, Deco stated: "I do not want to stay. I have not liked my experience at Chelsea." This was soon followed by F.C. Internazionale Milano, managed by former Chelsea manager José Mourinho, declaring that they were attempting to sign Deco along with fellow countryman Ricardo Carvalho, who had also declared Deco desire to leave and like Deco desired to link up with Mourinho again. Both players were under Mourinho at F.C. Porto. However on July, 6 Inter Milan President Massimo Moratti ruled out signing either of the Portuguese Internationals on the basis of their age, telling Gazzetta dello Sport, "Deco and Carvalho? They are two champions but at this time I don't feel there's a need to buy them."
Soon after this Deco said that Deco would be willing to stay at Chelsea for at least the rest of Deco contract, but Deco said that things must change from Deco first season in West London.

International career

Never called up to the Brazil national football team, Deco was eligible to play for Portugal, with Deco playing club football with F.C. Porto Deco years in Portugal made Deco eligible to play for the Portuguese. Deco has mentioned several times in the media as an option for the Portugal national football team. In 2002, having completed six years of Portuguese residence, Deco received Portuguese citizenship. After many months of public discussion which split Portuguese public opinion, and despite the opposition of a large number of Porto rivals' supporters, Deco was called up for Deco first international — coincidentally against Brazil. Deco scored 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 FIFA World Cup. Since that game, Deco has been a regular in the national team, in spite of initial criticism by players such as Luís Figo, who later recognised Deco's value. Despite the early criticism, Deco is today one of the highlights of the Portuguese national team. Deco had scored four goals in 55 caps for Portugal by June 2008.

2006 World Cup

In the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Deco scored the first goal in Portugal's second 2006 FIFA World Cup Group D match against Iran national football team in the 63rd minute minute prior to Cristiano Ronaldo's 80th minute penalty. During the first knockout stage of the competition, Deco rhjeceived two yellow cards in Battle of Nuremberg against Netherlands national football team with the first given for a rash tackle on John Heitinga, suspending Deco from the quarterfinal win against England national football team, as Deco already picked up a caution in the match with Iran. The win against England national football team in the quarterfinal stage led to Portugal National Football Team defeat in the semifinal, which Deco was able to participate in.

Euro 2008

On 11 June, Deco scored the opening goal in Portugal's second match of UEFA Euro 2008, a UEFA Euro 2008 Group A clash with the Czech Republic national football team. The game ended 3-1 to Portugal, with Deco aiding Deco team in their passage to the quarter-finals where Portugal's campaign came to an end against Germany national football team, the eventual runners-up of the tournament.

International goals