Anderson Luiz de Sousa, born 27 August 1977 in São Bernardo do
Campo, Brazil is a professional footballer widely known as Deco.
The European arrival
Deco arrived to Portugal in 1997 at the age of 19 from Brazilian
club Corinthians Alagoano to play for Lisbon side SL Benfica,
but despite good showings in training and some internal
opposition, Benfica's poor financial condition did not allow the
side to keep the player, and he was released to second division
side Alverca. He played there for a season before being traded
to Oporto side Salgueiros in the 98-99 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.
Porto years
His early years at Porto revealed him as a very talented, yet
truculent "numéro dix" (number ten), registering as many cards
as assists and goals. His unreliable behaviour proved costly to
Porto in games where he was either sent off or wasn't "tuned in"
with the game. Nevertheless, he was Porto's key figure during
the three-year drought in the early 2000s, and was linked with a
move to Spanish giant FC Barcelona.
Glory
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), and was one of the key players in the
2003 UEFA Cup win. The following year Deco helped Porto
recapture the 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 award, as
well as the best midfielder award.
National Team
Never called to the 'Escrete' (Brazilian national team), Deco
was mentioned several times as an option for the Portuguese
national team. In 2002, having completed six years of Portuguese
residence, he received his Portuguese citizenship. After many
months of public discussion which split Portuguese public
opinion, and despite the opposition of a large number of FC
Porto rivals' supporters, he was called up for the Portugal -
Brazil friendly played at the Estádio das Antas on 29 March
2003. He played only eight minutes, but that was enough time to
score the free kick that stunned Brazil 2-1, marking Portugal's
first win over Brazil since the 1966 World Cup. Since then, he
has been a regular in the national team, despite criticism by
players such as Luis Figo.
FC Barcelona
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 and
signing a 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 to Chelsea. While FC Bayern München gave up on Deco
after the Chelsea deal seemed concluded, it was uncertain
whether the German side would make a new bid. The best offer at
that time was €21M from Barça, but this figure was still 4M
short of the request by Porto's board. Portuguese newspapers
then reported that Barça would try to offer Portuguese winger
Ricardo Quaresma in order to ease the deal.
Finally, 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 4 year
deal with the Catalan side on 6 July 2004.
In Barcelona some suggested Deco would be completely eclipsed by
Brazilian star Ronaldinho (a duo that according to Luiz Felipe
Scolari "can make rain fall"), and although he played more on
the midfield than on attacking roles (taking advantage of his
above-average capacity to recover balls for a attacking
midfielder), he continued to perform exemplarily. In December
2004, he ended up second in France Football's Ballon D'Or 2004
award, losing to Andriy Shevchenko and beating Ronaldinho by six
votes. |
