Nani Messages delivered but no guaranteed response

Team(s):

Date of Birth:	Monday, November 17, 1986
Birth Place:	Portugal
Height:	175cm
Position:	Midfielder
Former Clubs/Teams:	Sporting Lisbon

Biography

Nani is a midfielder for Portugal and Manchester United in the English Premier League. He is an attacking wide-midfielder or winger who uses his quick feet to trick defenders, get round them, and cross the ball in to the strikers. He has pace and a fantastic engine. He was long tipped as the ‘next Cristiano Ronaldo’ having come from Sporting Lisbon and been a tricky midfielder, and he is starting to live up to that tag in his second season.

Childhood

Nani was born on 17th November 1986 in Praia on the Portuguese-ruled Cape Verde Islands off the coast of Africa. He is similar to Cristiano Ronaldo in that both were born on small Portuguese islands close to the equator – Ronaldo was born in Madeira. He was sent to live with his Aunt in the outskirts of Lisbon, on the mainland, at an early age, and counted Manuel Fernandes (now also a pro footballer) as one of his best mates.

Early Career

Nani was scouted by Sporting Lisbon after some impressive performances for his local team, and he joined their youth academy at 13 years old. He progressed rapidly through the youth ranks but was held back from making the first team because of his small frame. When he was 19 years old he was handed his Sporting Lisbon debut, playing on either wing he would come on and terrorise defences.

His second season at Sporting saw him become a regular in the first-team, and he got his first taste of silverware later that year with victory the Portuguese Cup. A runners-up spot in the league proved that Sporting was one of the best teams around, and it was no surprise that Nani was being scouted by some of Europe’s biggest clubs.

Current Club

Nani joined Manchester United for around £14m on 7th June 2007, and was unveiled to the press alongside fellow new signing Anderson. Nani was billed as the next brilliant Portuguese winger, following in Ronaldo’s footsteps, and looked good when he scored on United’s tour of China and celebrated by doing numerous back-flips and somersaults.

Nani had an impact on United, scoring some spectacular long-distance goals as United romped home to the Premier League and Champions League double. He scored United’s crucial fifth penalty in the Champions League Final, which put John Terry under pressure on his penalty next (he promptly missed and handed the momentum to United).

International

Nani’s performances for the Portugal U-21 team at the 2006 U-21 European Championships convinced manager Felipe Scolari to give him a go in the first-team – Nani made his debut at the senior level on September 1st 2006.

With Ricardo Quaresma, Ronaldo and Simao all competing with Nani for the spots on the wings, Nani has not yet made any position his own, though he was part of the squad that travelled to Euro 2008 – playing one game. He has a bright future ahead of him with Portugal.