Meet The Players

Deco

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

Deco arrived at Portugal in 1997 at the age of 19 from an inexpressive Brazilian club called Corinthians Alagoano to play for Lisbon side SL Benfica, along with fellow Brazilian player Caju. Despite good showings in training, Benfica decided to loan the player 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 join the main squad. However, the Lisbon club and the player's representative did not reach an agreement, as the manager Graeme Souness did not think that he would develop into a player worth keeping. Subsequently Deco was traded to Porto side Salgueiros in the 1998-99 season, playing 12 games and scoring two goals by December. His performances caught the eye of FC Porto's staff, and during the winter transfer window he was sold to Porto, where he played six more games that season.

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, becoming one of the key players in the 2003 UEFA Cup 3-2 win over Celtic. The following year Deco helped Porto recapture the national title, and led the Champions League in assists and fouls suffered, in a run that ended with a 3-0 victory over AS Monaco in the Champions League final, where he scored the second goal. His final season at Porto earned him UEFA's MVP (Most Valuable Player) award, as well as the award for the best midfielder in the competition.

On 17 June 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 FC 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 26 June 2004 he told the Portuguese sports daily O Jogo that he would rather move to FC Barcelona than follow Mourinho, his former coach, to Chelsea.

A deal was achieved between FC Porto and Barcelona the day after the Euro 2004 final. Barça agreed on a €15M fee, plus the complete rights of Ricardo Quaresma. Deco signed a four year deal with the Spanish side on 6 July 2004.

Deco has been on hot form since the 2006-07 La Liga season. He scored twiced against Espanyol in the Spanish Supercup including a superb bicycle kick. He also scored a wonder goal in a 2-2 draw against Chelsea in the Champions League and a free kick against Levante. He is currently the player with the most "Vodafone Man of the Match" awards in the UEFA Champions League at 3 Awards.

He was also awarded The Golden Ball at the Fifa World Club Cup and the Man of the Match award despite losing the final to Internacional.^[3]

Personal information
Deco

Full name	Anderson Luis de Souza
Date of birth	August 27, 1977 (1977-08-27) (age 29)
Place of birth	São Bernardo do Campo, Brazil
Height	174 cm (5'8½")
Playing position	Attacking Midfielder Central Midfielder
Club information
Current club	FC Barcelona
Number	20
Youth clubs
1995-1996	Nacional
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1996-1997 1997 1997-1998 1998-1999 1999-2004 2004-present	Corinthians Corinthians (AL) FC Alverca Salgueiros FC Porto FC Barcelona	2 (0) 0 (0) 32 (13) 9 (2) 148 (32) 124 (18)^[1]
National team²
2003–	Portugal	44 (3)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of February 7, 2007. ² National team caps and goals correct as of February 7, 2007. * Appearances (Goals)

Honors

FC Barcelona: Fifa World Club Cup Runners-up, UEFA Supercup Runners-up, Spanish Supercup 2006-07, UEFA Champions League 2005-06, Spanish La Liga 2005-06, Spanish Supercup 2005-06, Spanish La Liga 2004-05.
FC Porto: UEFA Champions League 2003-04, Portuguese League 2003-04, UEFA Cup 2002-03, Portuguese League 2002-03, Portuguese Cup 2002-03, Portuguese Supercup 2002-03, Portuguese Cup 2000-01, Portuguese Supercup 2000-01, Portuguese Cup 1999-00, Portuguese League 1998-99, Portuguese Supercup 1998-99.
Portugal National Team: Euro 2003-04 Runners-Ups.
Individual Awards: Fifa World Club Cup Golden Ball: 2006; UEFA Champions League MVP: 2003/04; UEFA Best Midfielder Award: 2003/04 and 2005/06; European Silver Ball (Second position of the European Player of the Year Award): 2003-04; Portuguese Footballer of the Year: 2004; South American Sportsman of the Year : 2006.

For the full article go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deco

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