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Date of Birth: Saturday, August 27, 1977
Birth Place: Portugal
Height: 174cm
Position: Midfielder
Former Clubs/Teams: FC Barcelona, FC Porto, SC Salgueiros, FC Alverca

Biography

Deco is an attacking midfielder for Portugal and Chelsea in the English Premier League. He was born in Brazil, but opted to play for Portugal after gaining citizenship in the country where he first made him name as a footballer. He has been hailed as ‘World Class’ by many commentators and managers, and is one of an elite group of players who have won the Champions League with two different clubs (Porto and Barcelona).

Childhood

Deco was born on 27th August 1977 in Sao Paolo, Brazil. His full name is Anderson Luiz de Souza, but he has been known as Deco for as long as he can remember! He was initially scouted by Corinthians, the largest Sao Paolo-based team, but struggled to make much of an impact in their youth teams, and was loaned out to a sister club Corinthians Alagoano.

Early Career

Deco may have expected his career to take off in his homeland of Brazil, but over there he was considered too small and fragile to make the grade. Benfica’s take-over of Corinthians Alagoano saw Deco sent across to Portugal as a Brazilian player who may have some potential, but this was never fully recognised, and Deco was sent on loan at Alverca before being sold to minnows Salgueiros. Famously, Graeme Souness (then the manager of Benfica) snubbed Deco and told him he would not be able to play at the highest level.

It was FC Porto who first spotted the real value of Deco – they watched him playing for their tiny neighbours and bought him back to the Premiera Liga after just 4 months in the lower leagues.

Deco slowly established himself in the centre of midfield, and by the time Jose Mourinho took over as manager he was their key man. As an attacking midfielder, Deco was trusted to pull all the strings, which he did with a great deal of flair. Porto took Europe by storm, winning the UEFA Cup in 02/03 and then the Champions League the year after, confirming that this was an extraordinary collection of young players.

With Mourinho and team-mate Paulo Ferreira moving across to Chelsea, Deco was offered a role with the London club, but instead chose to go to Barcelona, the club of his childhood dreams. Deco linked up brilliantly with Ronaldinho at the heart of the team, and helped Barca to take home the Champions League in 2006, as well as numerous league titles. After a poor season (finishing as runners up in the Primera Liga) Barcelona had a massive re-shuffle, with Deco suddenly surplus to requirements because of his age.

Current Club

Deco signed for Chelsea on 30th June 2008, joining as Felipe Scolari’s first signing, and was in direct competition with German legend Michael Ballack for the attacking midfielder role. Deco was thrust into the first-team, and won himself many fans with a stunning goal from 40 yards on his debut.

International

Deco was overlooked by Brazil throughout his football career, with Ronaldinho and Robinho relied upon to give them their creative edge. Deco gained his Portuguese nationality in 2003, and there was much debate about whether or not he should be called up to play for Portugal. Ironically, Felipe Scolari (who had Managed Brazil up until 2000, and had always overlooked Deco) called him up to the Portugal squad, and he made his debut in March 2003 against Brazil.

Injury kept him out of Euro 2004, but he was the star performer throughout Portugal’s World Cup 2006 campaign that ended in the Semis, and the Euro 2008 run to the Quarter Finals.