Arturo Erasmo "Vidal" Pardo - The New Icon For Juventus

 














Arturo Erasmo Vidal Pardo (born 22 May 1987) is a Chilean footballer who plays as defensive midfielder for Juventus and Chile. Although usually deployed as a defensive midfielder, Vidal is a versatile box-to-box midfielder capable of playing in a more attacking role as well.

Early Life

Vidal was born in San Joaquín, a working class commune in the capital Santiago, the second of six children.His potential was discovered by his uncle and he later joined the youth squads of local Primera División giants Colo-Colo.

Colo-Colo

Vidal's professional debut came in the first leg of the 2006 Apertura Tournament final. The match was between Colo-Colo and arch rivals Universidad de Chile. Vidal came on as a late substitute for Gonzalo Fierro. Colo-Colo would go on to win the game 2–1 and win the championship as well. In the following season (2006 Clausura Tournament) he became a more important part of the squad and would lead Colo-Colo to their second championship win in a row. Vidal scored three goals in Colo-Colo's Copa Sudamericana 2006 campaign. His good showing caught the eye of scouts from various European clubs.

Bayer Leverkusen

The 2007 Apertura Tournament was Vidal's last with Colo-Colo as he left for Bayer Leverkusen in the summer. Bayer had tracked his progress for some time and his good showing at the U-20 World Cup that year convinced Bayer's Director of Football Rudi Völler to make the trip all the way to Chile in order to convince the twenty-year-old to sign. The two clubs then agreed on a fee of $11 million with Bayer Leverkusen paying $7.7 million for 70% ownership of his contract. His transfer broke the previous record of Matías Fernández's $9 million transfer to Villarreal.

Vidal missed the first game of the season through injury but was soon thrust into the starting line-up and made his debut on 19 August 2007 in the away loss against Hamburg. He started in half the season's games and scored his first goal for the club just three games into his Bayer career. He was ever present for the 2008–09 season and played a vital role in Bayer's run to the German Cup final. On 8 March, he suffered a concussion during the game against VfL Bochum and was out for a month. Upon his return, he scored a goal to break the deadlock in the 4–1 semifinal win over Mainz in the German Cup but Bayer eventually lost to Werder Bremen in the final.

The 2010-11 season would be Vidal's last with Bayer. He helped the club to a runner-up finish in the Bundesliga and topped the assist charts for his club with 11 assists, which was joint second in the league.He also contributed 2 goals in their run to the Round of 16 of the Europa League.

Juventus

After a good 2010-11 season, Vidal was linked with various clubs, including Bayer's Bundesliga rivals Bayern Munich. On 22 July 2011, he joined Serie A giants Juventus for €12.5 million on a 5-year contract. He made his competitive debut in the opening league game of the season against Parma, coming on as a second-half substitute for Alessandro Del Piero; he marked his first appearance with a goal six minutes after his introduction in Juventus' 4–1 win. He has since become an integral part of Antonio Conte's midfield alongside Italy internationals Andrea Pirlo and Claudio Marchisio.

International Career

Vidal represented Chile at the Under-20 level at the 2007 South American Youth Championship in Paraguay where he was the tournament's second top scorer with six goals. During the tournament he played central midfield and helped the team to qualify for the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup where Chile finished in third place with Vidal scoring two goals in the tournament, including the match winner against Portugal in the Round of 16. Vidal made his senior debut in a friendly against Venezuela where Chile won 1–0. He became a regular under Marcelo Bielsa when fit during 2010 World Cup qualifying, playing in 11 matches and scoring a goal. He was then named in the final 23-man squad for the tournament.

Read more »

Andik Vermansyah - The Indonesia Great Footballer !

 

Andik Vermansyah (born November 23, 1991) is an Indonesian football player, who currently plays for Persebaya 1927 in Indonesian Premier League.He has playing style similar to Lionel Messi. The attacking midfielder, considered one of the greatest talents in football in Indonesia, is being pointed to the interest of Benfica in the press in that country. The player, is just 20 years, but has several clubs interested in his services. Had recently been appointed to the LA Galaxy, the club of David Beckham, and now Benfica is reported to be interested in him. in December 10, Novara Calcio, a team from Italian Serie A, also reported to be interested in him.

Early life

Andik was born in Jember, East Java, to Saman, a coolie, and Jumiah a tailor, both indigenous Javanese. Andik spent his childhood as a seller of ice. His parents who earn barely enough for life, have no more funds to help Andik realize his dream as a footballer. So, do not be surprised if at first Andik not allowed to pursue football. however, a strong motivation made Andik to be not easily discouraged. He fend for himself to pursue his dream by all means. Various attempts were gone through, from selling cakes and ice, even playing football for antar-kampung tournament, just to be able to buy a pair of soccer shoes. The steps show a bright spot when Coach SSB Suryanaga, Rudi, saw the big talent. Rudi offered Andik to play at the this soccer school in Jember, free of charge.

Read more »

Ramires - Hard Work Man !

 

Ramires Santos do Nascimento commonly known as Ramires (born 24 March 1987 in Barra do Piraí, Rio de Janeiro), is a Brazilian footballer who plays for Chelsea and the Brazilian national side. A midfielder, he is comfortable in either the centre or the right of midfield. He has also been deployed as a defensive midfielder playing a box-to-box midfielder role because of his energy in supporting defensive and offensive play. He has been nicknamed Rambo, because of his strength and ability to beat opponents dribbling past them one by one.

Ramires began his career playing for Royal Sport Club. In 2005, he signed for Joinville, before joining Cruzeiro, whom he spent just over two seasons with appearing in 61 league matches and scoring 10 times. In 2009, Ramires moved to Portugal and signed for SL Benfica from Cruzeiro. He spent one season with Benfica in which he helped them to the Liga Sagres title, five points clear of second place Braga. He then joined English club Chelsea in the summer of 2010 on a four-year contract. He made his Chelsea debut in a 2-0 win against Stoke in late August 2010 and scored his first goal in a 4-0 victory against Bolton.

Ramires is a Brazilian international. He made his Brazil debut on 6 June 2009, in a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification game against Uruguay. He represented the Brazilian national team for 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification and the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup. Ramires represented his country at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China and won a Bronze medal.

Cruzeiro

In January 2008, Ramires agreed to a five-year deal with Cruzeiro in a permanent move from Joinville for a fee of $300,000 following a loan period, giving Cruzeiro 70% of the players' economic rights. Joinville kept 30% in the event of any transfers in the future. He was referred to by the fans and media during his time there as the "Queniano Azul", or "Blue Kenyan", due to Cruzeiro's blue kit and his endurance, which was considered reminiscent of Kenyan runners, who are famous for winning many Brazilian running marathons.

Benfica

On 21 May 2009, Ramires joined Portuguese club Sport Lisboa e Benfica for €7.5 million on a five-year contract with a minimum fee release of €30 million. Ramires was always starring as an important player for Benfica throughout the season as the Portuguese giants won the league title after a five-year wait. Ramires in his first and only season with Benfica also won the Taça da Liga beating FC Porto 3-0. In June 2010, Benfica sold 50% of the economic rights to Ramires to Jazzy Limited for €6 million.

Chelsea

On 4 August 2010, Benfica announced they had agreed a deal with English Premier League champions Chelsea and his third-party owner for €22 million. Ramires completed his move to Chelsea on 13 August 2010, on a four-year contract. He was handed the number 7 shirt, previously worn by Ukrainian international Andriy Shevchenko. 

He made his debut on 28 August 2010 against Stoke City, coming on as a substitute in the 84th minute, replacing Michael Essien, Chelsea won the game 2-0. On 11 September 2010, he made his full Premier League debut, starting against West Ham United at Upton Park, playing the full 90 minutes in a 3-1 win.He started in Chelsea's 2-0 win over Arsenal on 3 October 2010, winning possession and then putting Ashley Cole through to cross to Didier Drogba for Chelsea's first goal.
He recently started in Chelsea's 1-0 win over Bolton Wanderers on 29 December 2010, where his performance was praised and was known to have his best game with Chelsea to date where he made several runs forward and strong tackles winning the balls several times in the midfield. On Chelsea's return fixture at Bolton Wanderers, Ramires scored his first goal as a Chelsea player in a 4-0 victory at the Reebok Stadium. On 15 January 2011 he played the full 90 minutes against Blackburn Rovers in a 2-0 win at Stamford Bridge. On 1 March 2011, he started and played the full 90 minutes in the 2-1 league win over Manchester United at Stamford Bridge. On 20 March 2011, Ramires scored his second Premier League goal in a 2-0 win over Manchester City at Stamford Bridge, he scored alongside fellow Brazilian David Luiz and made a superb individual effort dribbling past 3 City defenders and scoring past Joe Hart in the top-left corner, which gained him goal of the season for Chelsea. Recent performances have garnered him a fan favourite amongst Chelsea fans, and the nickname Rambo, due to his tendency to destroy the opposition one by one. On April 12, 2011 he received a second yellow card for a challenge on Nani against Manchester United in the Champions League Quarter Final at Old Trafford. On 20 March 2011, his goal against Manchester City became Chelsea's "goal of the season". On 8 May 2011, Ramires came on as a second-half substitute for John Obi Mikel against Manchester United at Old Trafford in a 2-1 defeat which effectively gave them the title. At the end of the 2010-2011 season, he made 41 appearances and scored 2 goals for Chelsea in all competitions.
On 24th September 2011, Ramires scored two goals in a 4-1 victory over Swansea City.  He then went on to score a goal against Everton FC, sliding it in from a Juan Mata cross. However, he suffered a knee injury shortly after and the game ended 3-1 to Chelsea. This appearance was his 50th for the club. On 1 November 2011, Ramires scored his first Champions League goal for Chelsea against Genk. Ramires scored his 5th goal of the season in a decisive Champions League encounter against spanish side Valencia. The final score was 3-0 in favour of Chelsea.

International Career

On 21 July 2008, Ramires was named the replacement for Robinho on the Brazil U-23 team for the 2008 Summer Olympics at Beijing. He appeared four times at the Olympics, as Brazil went on to achieve bronze medal.
On 21 May 2009, he was called up for the first time to the Brazilian national team for 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification and the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup.
He played his first game for the national team on 6 June 2009, a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification game against Uruguay, in which he came as a substitute for Elano. Ramires scored his first International goal on 7 June 2010, against Tanzania leading up to the World Cup finals in South Africa. He scored again later on in the game setting the score to 5–1. In the Round of 16 at the 2010 FIFA World Cup Finals he made a run past three Chilean defenders to set up Robinho for the third goal in a 3-0 victory. Dunga, then Brazilian coach, blamed their loss to the Netherlands national team in the quarter-finals to Ramires absence who was serving suspension. Ramires was named in a 23-man squad for the 2011 Copa America Tournament held in Argentina. He currently wears the number 8 jersey for the national team and as of July 2011, has earned 26 caps and scored 2 goals for them.

Style Of Play

Ramires is known for his pace, acceleration, dribbling ability, hard work ethic and stamina.

Read more »

Shinji Kagawa - The Footballer From Asian

Shinji Kagawa (香川 真司, Kagawa Shinji) (born 17 March 1989) is a Japanese footballer who plays for German Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund. He previously played for Cerezo Osaka. He has been capped by Japan at international level.

Club Career

Kagawa started playing football in his primary school years. He joined Kobe NK Football Club and later moved to FC Miyagi Barcelona in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture. Cerezo Osaka quickly noticed his talent and signed him at the age of 17. He was the first player in Japan to sign a professional contract before graduating high school, except players promoted from youth teams of the J. League clubs. In 2007, he gained a regular position but the club missed the promotion to the J. League Division 1.
By mid-2010, Kagawa was represented with a sports agency run by retired German professional footballer Thomas Kroth, which ultimately handled his transfer to Borussia Dortmund.

Borussia Dortmund

In the summer of 2010, Kagawa transferred from Cerezo to Borussia Dortmund for €350,000. The relatively modest cost of the transfer was because of a release clause in Kagawa's contract with Cerezo, which allowed him to leave the club cheaply if he had an opportunity to play in Europe.

On 23 August 2010, he made his debut appearance in the German Bundesliga, starting for his new club Borussia Dortmund. After scoring his first two competitive goals for the club in the Europa League qualifying tie against Qarabağ Ağdam, he continued this form with his first goal in the Bundesliga match against Wolfsburg, which Dortmund won 2–0. In the Revierderby against archrival Schalke 04, which Dortmund won 3–1, Kagawa said pre-match that he would score two goals, he then went on to score twice, making him one of the fans' favorites.

Kagawa missed half of the Bundesliga season because of an injury he picked up on international duty, but managed to score 8 goals in 18 appearances. His strong effort in the first half of the season helped his side finish as champions of the Bundesliga and he was even named in the Bundesliga Best XI.

Kagawa was back in time for the start of the 2011–12 Bundesliga campaign and quickly found his way back into the starting line-up. Kagawa scored his first goal of the new Bundesliga season on 18 September, coming in a disappointing 2–1 loss to Hannover 96, as his side gave up two goals in the last three minutes. On 22 October, Kagawa opened the scoring in the 7th minute as Dortmund crushed 1. FC Köln 5–0 in front of 80,200 home fans at the Signal Iduna Park. Kagawa scored again on 5 November, as Dortmund brushed aside Wolfsburg 5–1 and moved within two points of league leaders Bayern Munich. He scored a late consolation against Arsenal FC in a 2-1 loss.

International Career

Kagawa played as a member of the Japan national under-20 football team in the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup held in Canada.

In 2008 he was also selected to play as a member of the Japanese team for the 2008 Summer Olympics.On 24 May 2008 he made his senior international debut in a friendly Kirin Cup match. Japan won the match against Côte d'Ivoire 1–0. He was not selected in Takeshi Okada's final 23 squad for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. In September 2010 he scored the only goal of the game in Japan's 1–0 win over Paraguay in Yokohama. It took Kagawa five months to rehab his injury from the AFC Asia Cup. He returned in Dortmund's final game as a substitute in the 87th minute.

2011 AFC Asian Cup

He was included in the 2011 AFC Asian Cup by coach Alberto Zaccheroni. In the quarterfinals against Qatar, he scored 2 goals. The game ended 3-2, a win for Japan. In the semifinal against South Korea, Kagawa broke his metatarsal and missed the final where Japan beat Australia after extra-time.

Read more »

Marek Hamšík - Clever, Naughty, Workhorse ?

 






















Marek Hamšík (born 27 July 1987) is a Slovak football midfielder who currently plays for Serie A club S.S.C. Napoli and captains the Slovakia national team.

Early Career

Despite the fact that Hamšík grew up in Banská Bystrica, he never played for major local team Dukla Banská Bystrica. Instead he began playing for a small youth team Jupie Podlavice. In 2002, he signed with a major Slovak team Slovan Bratislava. He played once for the Slovan A-team and scored a goal.

He moved from Slovan to Brescia in 2004 as a 17 year old young talent at a transfer fee of €500,000. His first match in Serie A with Brescia was against Chievo Verona on 20 March 2005 when he was 17 years and 237 days old. Later in that season, Brescia finished 19th in the Serie A league and were relegated to the Serie B. In 2005–06, he played 24 league matches for Brescia in Serie B, with Brescia finishing tenth. He had an impressive 2006–07 season, scoring 10 goals in 40 matches.

Napoli

On 28 June 2007 newly-promoted Serie A club Napoli announced that Hamšík had signed a five-year contract with them. The transfer cost Napoli €5.5 million. The president of the club De Laurentiis described him as a player who should be closely watched in the future.

He played his first major match with Napoli against Cesena in the first round of the Italian Cup. Napoli won 4–0, Hamšík made the opening goal and scored the second himself. He scored his first goal in the Serie A on 16 September 2007 in the match against Sampdoria.

His football icon is Czech midfielder Pavel Nedvěd. In 2007 he was voted the second best Slovak footballer of the year (after Martin Škrtel) and also he was voted the best young Slovak footballer (The Peter Dubovský Trophy). Hamšík ended his first season with Napoli as the club's top scorer, with nine goals from 37 games. At the start of the 2008–09 season, Hamšík scored in both of Napoli's first two games and went on to score a further 9 goals in his second season with the club, finishing as Napoli's top scorer for the second year running.In 2009 he was again runner-up as best Slovak footballer of the year and repeated his success as the best young Slovak footballer. On 19 September 2010, Hamsik scored Napoli's first goal as they came back from a goal down to defeat Sampdoria 2-1 in Genoa. Following this on 23 September, Hamsik signed a three-year contract extension on his contract that ties him with the club until June 2015. Three days later Hamsik scored his second goal of the new season with an 81' minute penalty to earn Napoli a 4-1 comeback win away to newly promoted Cesena. The 2010-11 season was very productive for Hamsik as he helped lead Napoli to a very successful season and earn automatic qualification into the Champions League by finishing third in Serie A. Hamsik played in 36 of the 38 Serie A games that season, netting 11 goals and contributing with a further six assists. Hamsik scored the winning goal in their 2-0 home victory over Villarreal on 27 September, earning Napoli their first ever victory in the UEFA Champions League. He provided an assist for Gökhan Inler's opening goal against Villareall on 7 December and then scored the decisive goal, helping Napoli to a 2-0 victory in Spain. The win secured qualification to the Round of 16 in a very difficult group, that also included Bayern Munich and Manchester City. Hamsik helped Napoli finish the first half of the 2011-12 campaign on a high, netting a superb goal in their 6-1 hammering of Genoa on 21 December.Hamsik also provided assists for strikes by Goran Pandev and Walter Gargano during the game. Through the first half of the 2011-12 campaign, Hamsik had appeared in 16 Serie A games, contributing with both five goals and five assists. In their European campaign, Hamsik appeared in all six group stage matches and contributed with two goals and an assist.

International Career

Hamšík represented Slovakia at junior level, playing in the UEFA Under-17 European Championships qualifiers  and the UEFA Under-19 European Championships. He played also for the Slovak U-21 national team.

He is a regular member of the Slovak national team. He made his debut on 7 February 2007 in the friendly match against Poland which ended 2–2. He played his second match against Germany in the Euro 2008 qualification, which Slovakia lost 2–1. He has become the key member of the attack in the national team, usually playing as a left or central attacking midfielder. Hamsik captained his country in their first World Cup experience in South Africa 2010, where Slovakia was beaten by later finalist Netherlands in the first knockout stage match.

Read more »

Antonio Nocerino - The Next Gennaro Ivan Gattuso ?

 

Antonio Nocerino (Italian pronunciation: [anˈtɔnjo notʃe'rino]; born 9 April 1985 in Naples) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Serie A club Milan and the Italian national team.Antonio Nocerino was born in Naples, Southern Italy on the 9 April 1985 to Ciro and Giovanna.

Juventus And Early Career

He started his career at Juventus and, after a loan spell at U.S. Avellino, Genoa bought him in a co-ownership deal, as part of Domenico Criscito and Francesco Volpe went to Turin. He was priced €450,000 for half of his rights. In June 2006 the co-ownership deal was renewed, but soon sold to Piacenza in July for undisclosed fees from Genoa.
In July 2007 Juventus, who held 50% of the player's rights, bought the remainder from Piacenza, for €3.7M.

Palermo

He was transferred from Juventus to Palermo in a transfer package deal for Amauri for the 2008-2009 season which Nocerino was priced €7.5M. He signed a 4-year contract. Despite some initial difficulties, he became an integral part of the Palermo's midfield.

Milan

On 31 August 2011, the last day of the Italian transfer window and only an hour before the window ended, he joined Milan on a five year contract, for €500,000. He made his debut for the Milan based club in the first 2011-12 Serie A game of the season (on 9 September) coming on as a late substitute for fellow debutante Alberto Aquilani. He made his UEFA Champions League debut in the next game on the 12 September, when Milan drew 2-2 against FC Barcelona. On 15 October 2011 he scored his first goal in the home match won 3–0 against his former club Palermo, completing a great team move lead by Antonio Cassano and Robinho. Due to the injury crisis, he played every match for Milan, until suspended on 6 November for the fourth caution (yellow card). On 26 October, 2011, Nocerino notched a hat-trick for Milan in a 4-1 win against Parma. It was his first hat-trick in his career and came 3 days after team mate Kevin-Prince Boateng scored a hat-trick against U.S. Lecce. Since his move from Palermo, Nocerino has established himself as a regular goalscorer in A.C. Milan: as of 23rd of December, he is the second top scorer coming second to only Ibrahimovic.

International Career

He played for Italy's U-20 in the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship and with their U-21 in the 2007 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship. Nocerino also captained the U-21's triumphing over Chile to win the Toulon tournament for the first time for the Azzurrini. He also competed in the 2008 Beijing Olympics as captain of Italy's Olympic squad. He received his first call up to Italy's national team by Roberto Donadoni In 17 October 2007 in a friendly with South Africa.

Read more »

Alexandre Pato - The Boy From Brazil With Great Skill

 

Alexandre Rodrigues da Silva (born 2 September 1989), commonly known as Alexandre Pato or simply Pato, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Italian Serie A club Milan and the Brazilian national team. His nickname, Pato, refers to his place of birth, Pato Branco. The literal translation of Pato from Portuguese to English is 'Duck' which has evolved into a common nickname for him.

Internacional

In June 2006, at only 16 years of age, Pato was signed by Sport Club Internacional to compete in the Campeonato Brasileiro Sub-20. Despite the fact that he was competing against players up to four years older than he was, Pato became top scorer of the competition as Internacional Sub-20 defeated Grêmio 4–0. Ready to join the Inter first team in November that same year, his debut finally happened at the Estádio Palestra Itália against São Paulo giants Palmeiras for the Campeonato Brasileiro. Alexandre Pato met and surpassed any and all expectations of what was expected of him as he scored his first professional goal within the first minute of the game. The rest of his participation was spent dribbling and confusing defenders as he made two assists (and almost scoring another himself) to help Internacional rout Palmeiras 4–1. He was substituted off in the 77th minute.

Pato was included in the Internacional squad that won the 2006 FIFA Club World Cup. During this event, Pato broke Pelé's long standing record as he became the youngest ever player to score in a FIFA organised competition at the age of 17 years and 102 days old against African club champions Al-Ahly. Pelé was 17 years and 239 days old when he scored against Wales during the 1958 FIFA World Cup.

Keeping up with his promising figure, Pato debuted at the Campeonato Gaúcho on February 24 against Veranópolis and scored a goal in the 2–1 victory. He also debuted in Copa Libertadores on 28 February against Emelec of Ecuador (also his first game at Beira-Rio) and scored once during the 3–0 thumping. But the biggest highlight of Pato's time with Internacional was during the Recopa Sudamericana as he helped Internacional win their first ever title. Against Pachuca of Mexico, he scored one goal in the 2–1 defeat in Mexico. But on the return game on June 7 and with more than fifty-one thousand Colorados present, Pato had a great performance as he scored once and led the 4–0 thrashing to win Internacional's third international title.

Milan

Incumbent European champions AC Milan officially confirmed the signing of Pato on 2 August 2007,paying nearly €24 million to transfer his contract from Internacional.

Due to FIFA football regulations regarding non-EU minors, Pato was unable to play official matches for Milan until 3 January 2008, when the Italian transfer window and registration reopened. However, Milan was allowed to include the player in friendlies and training beginning 3 September 2007, one day after his 18th birthday. Pato made his non-competitive debut in a 2–2 draw against Dynamo Kiev on 7 September 2007 and scored a header. On 4 January 2008, Pato's transfer to Milan became official.

Pato scored his first Milan goal on his Serie A debut against Napoli in a 5–2 home victory on 13 January 2008. He scored his first brace for Milan, in a 2–0 victory over Genoa at the San Siro on 27 January 2008. He finished the 2007–08 season with 9 goals in 20 appearances (18 in the league).

In the first match of the season against Lecce, he scored 2 goals in Milan's 4–0 win. However, he found himself on the treatment table just after his first 2 matches of the season which ruled him out for the next 3 matches. In his next full match after his injury, he scored twice against Chievo at the San Siro, returning to his position as a striker in a 4–3–1–2 formation. He then scored once again against Bari in San Nicola. After a string of great performances, Pato injured his hamstring for the third time in less than a year. This injury ruled him out for six weeks.

On 9 January, he scored his first two goals of 2011 to help Milan draw 4–4 against Udinese after going down 3–1. On 26 January, he scored two goals helping Milan to win 2–1 against Sampdoria in Coppa Italia. On February 6 he scored a goal against Genoa helping Milan to draw 1–1. Another remarkable goal of his came on 20 February when he scored the winning goal in a 2–1 away victory over Chievo, when he dribbled in between two defenders and finished off with a goal off the post. He scored the third goal after assisting Boateng in a 3–0 victory over Napoli on 28 February. With Ibrahimovic suspended for the Milan derby Pato's two goals saw Milan secure their much needed 3 points. He dedicated his brace to his supporters. Assisted by Boateng, he scored the second goal in a 2–1 away win against Fiorentina on 10 April. On September 13, in a Champions League group-stage match against Barcelona, Pato scored the 5th fastest goal in the competition's history, 24 seconds after kick-off. Later that month, he suffered a thigh injury during a 1–1 draw with Udinese. Pato made his return as a sub against Fiorentina and hit the post in the 79th minute in a 0-0 draw. He then scored and won a penalty in a 4-0 win against Chievo and in midweek scored against Viktoria Plzen and setup Robinho in a 2-2 draw. He started against Bolonga the next week in a 2-2 draw.

International Career

After gaining prominence at club level, Pato was called up for the youth teams of Brazil. He helped Brazil win the 2007 South American Youth Championship, which qualified the country for the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup, and was selected by Brazil coach Dunga for the 2008 Summer Olympics. He scored his first goal for the senior Brazilian team on his debut against Sweden at the Emirates Stadium in England on 26 March 2008, beating Pelé's record of scoring a goal within seconds of his full international debut.

He took part at the 2009 Confederations Cup in South Africa, where he played only in the first round match against Egypt. Then, he was not called by Dunga to play in the 2010 World Cup.

He became a regular under new coach Mano Menezes, wearing the number 9 jersey. He scored a goal in Brazil's 2–0 friendly win over the United States on 10 August 2010. He scored the second goal in Brazil's 3–0 win against Iran on 7 October 2010. Pato's success in the Brazil national team continued as he again scored in a friendly match against Ukraine where they won 2–0.

Pato has so far participated in the 2011 Copa América and has scored a notable brace in the group stage against Ecuador.

Personal Life

Pato said in an interview with the Brazilian television program, Esporte Espetacular that at age 11, he broke his arm and while examining the injuries, doctors found a tumour in the arm and feared the arm needed to be amputated. A successful operation removed the tumour.

In 2007, Pato was engaged to Brazilian actress Sthefany Brito. They mutually split up in January 2009 due to their inability to keep a long-distance relationship. However, they got back together, and on 7 July 2009, they married in a ceremony at the Copacabana Palace in Rio de Janeiro. However, the marriage lasted less than ten months, and the couple divorced on 21 April 2010, with Brito citing Pato's constant partying as the reason for their split. In 2010, he had a brief romance with Miss Brazil 2010, Débora Lyra. In 2011, Pato has been linked as being in a romance with Barbara Berlusconi, daughter of Silvio Berlusconi.

Read more »