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Deco bio | press
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]
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.
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