Deco

At 47 years old, Deco has this physical status:

Anderson Luís de Souza (born 27 August 1977), known as Deco (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈdɛku]), is a retired professional footballer who primarily played as an attacking or central midfielder. Born and raised in Brazil, he acquired Portuguese citizenship and played for Portugal.

Deco is one of the few players to have won the UEFA Champions League with two clubs, with Porto in 2004 and Barcelona in 2006. He was named UEFA Club Footballer of the Year and UEFA Best Midfielder in Porto's Champions League-winning season and was named Man of the Match in the 2004 UEFA Champions League Final. Deco was the first player to win the UEFA Best Midfielder Award with two clubs, Porto and Barcelona. He was awarded the 2006 FIFA Club World Cup Golden Ball and the Man of the Match award in the final despite losing to Internacional.

Born and raised in Brazil, Deco received Portuguese citizenship in 2002 having completed five years of Portuguese residence, and subsequently opted to play internationally for the Portugal national team. He earned 75 caps for them, playing at two UEFA European Championships and two FIFA World Cups, reaching the final of Euro 2004, and achieving a fourth-place finish at the 2006 World Cup.

Personal life

Deco is the brother-in-law of fellow footballer Alecsandro, who plays for Coritiba Foot Ball Club, and Richarlyson. Deco is an ambassador for the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation. He also has a charitable organisation, the Deco Institute, based in the Brazilian city of Indaiatuba, near São Paulo, where he grew up.

After retiring, Deco set up D20 Sports Management, a sports agency registered in Dublin, Ireland. The agency, whose clients include Brazil international Fabinho, recorded €300,000 profit in 2017.

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Club career

Deco, a born in S. Bernardo de Campo, spent time as a youth at Corinthians, competing in the Copa Snior de Futebol Jnior for them. Benfica sent Toni to scout the tournament in 1997, but he soon found Deco, who encouraged his signing. Benfica purchased his rights from CSA and immediately sent him on loan (along with fellow Brazilian Caju) to Alverca's farm team. He returned to Benfica in July 1998 after helping them win promotion to the top of the charts in 1997–98 by scoring 13 goals in 32 appearances. Nevertheless, he left Salford in exchange for Nandinho, who went in the opposite direction. When asked by Nuno Gomes in an interview with FourFourTwo why he did not stay and become a hero at Benfica, Deco said, "Benfica decided, it wasn't my decision." They didn't like me. At the time, the coach was Graeme Souness. "I was young and Benfica needed some players."

Deco, a slew of injuries and only made a few appearances before being drafted in March 1999, just in time to win the league crown. António Simes' departure from Benfica and subsequent success with Porto was seen as a "historic mistake," according to Toni, who said in Deco, the club needed a replacement for Rui Costa after his departure.

Deco scored a goal in his first season with Porto, taking the 1–0 away victory over Molde in the 1999–2000 UEFA Champions League.

Deco scored ten goals in 30 matches under manager José Mourinho's watchdogship, winning 17 yellow cards and 1 red card. He was one of Porto's key players in that year's UEFA Cup final 3–2 victory over Celtic. Deco helped Porto regained the national championship and led the team to the 2004 UEFA Champions League Final, in which Porto defeated Monaco 3–0 in the second goal of the match. He was the best assist provider in the Champions League this season, and he also had the most fouls in the Champions League this season. Deco received the UEFA Club Footballer of the Year award as well as the trophy for the best midfielder in the country during the campaign.

The day after the Euro 2004 final, a slew of results was struck between Porto and Barcelona. Barcelona accepted a €15 million cash commitment, as well as the complete rights of Riro Quaresma to Porto, which tagged Quaresma for €6 million.

Deco was drawn against Levante on May 14, 2005, Barcelona's 17th La Liga victory for the club. In the 2005–06 season, he was also named Barcelona's Player of the Season.

In the 2006 Supercopa de Espaa, which Barça won, Deco scored twice. Deco received the UEFA Best Midfielder Award once more this season, allowing him to join the exclusive group of players to have won the same award more than once with different clubs, having competed in the Champions League before with Porto. Despite losing the final to Internacional, he was also warded the Golden Ball at the FIFA Club World Cup and the Man of the Match award.

Chelsea signed Deco from Barcelona on a three-year deal worth €10 million (£8 million). Luiz Felipe Scolari, the Portuguese national team's head coach, was the first signing of new Chelsea coach Luiz Felipe Scolari.

In a 4–0 victory over Portsmouth, Deco scored on his Chelsea debut and his Premier League debut with a 30-yard goal. Deco finished up his game for Chelsea by scoring in his second game for Chelsea, a curling free-kick against Wigan Athletic. Following his success, he was named Premier League Player of the Month for August. Deco made his UEFA Champions League debut for Chelsea on September 16th. Deco suffered himself during a training session, but he returned from the thigh injury on October 19th and made his way into Middlesbrough as a substitute. In the 3–1 loss by Roma on November 4, 2008, he was sent off. He then scored a bicycle against Bolton Wanderers on December 6th.

Deco eventually resigned from the 2008–09 starting lineup, due in large part to some bad results, but also Scolari's dismissal. "I do not want to stay" in a June interview, Deco said. I haven't adored Chelsea's "experience." Internazionale, under former Chelsea coach José Mourinho's guidance, announced that Inter was trying to sign Deco alongside fellow countryman Ricardo Carvalho who had also expressed his desire to leave and, like Deco, wanted to link-up with Mourinho again. Both players had played under Mourinho at Porto before. However, Inter club president Massimo Moratti has refused to sign one of the Portuguese internationals purely based on their age, according to Gazzetta dello Sport, "Deco and Carvalho?" says Gazzetta dello Sport. They are two champions, but I don't believe there is a need to buy them at this moment.

Deco signed former Chelsea and Barcelona teammate Juliano Belletti on a free transfer on August 6, 2010.

Deco died on August 26, 2013, capping a 17-year career. The decision was taken the day before his 36th birthday. His last match against Goiás was four days before. Deco competed in the Campeonato Brasileiro in 2010 and 2012, but they didn't win the Campeonato Brasileiro.

During his stay with Fluminense, Deco failed a drug test. The result may have been due to a false positive or the contamination of the urine sample container in 2014. Deco and the Brazilian Football Confederation and Deco decided to resolve the lawsuit, but Deco was not guilty of doping.

International career

Deco was never called up to the Brazil national team for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, as the Brazil squad for the Brazil squad included other attacking midfielders such as Ronaldinho, Rivaldo, and Juninho. After six years of Portuguese life, he was able to obtain Portuguese citizenship and play for Portugal's national team. Under FIFA's player quotas, none of his great-grandparents, grandparents, or parents were Portuguese, so his citizenship was the only factor in allowing him to play for Portugal. He was also mentioned in the media several times as a back-up plan for the Portugal national team.

He was called up for his first international, coincidentally against Brazil, after lengthy months of public discourse that split Portuguese public opinion and stunned a large number of Porto's allies. He appeared as a replacement for Sérgio Conceiço and scored the free-kick, which won the match 2–1. This was Portugal's first victory over Brazil after the 1966 FIFA World Cup. Since being a regular in the national team for the first two years. Luis Figo's deposition before UEFA Euro 2004 blasted Deco's participation, saying, "Se você nasceu chinês, bem, você tem que jogar pela China": "Se você nasceu chinês, bem, você tem que jogar pela China." "You're born Chinese, so you'd better play for China." "Eu nasci no Brasil no Brasil e seria uma mentira dizer que sou português agora eso brasileiro," Deco said. "E adoro pela seleço jogar pela seleço," mómo selecion "tot." "I was born in Brazil, and it would be a lie to say that I'm Portuguese now and not Brazilian." "I love Portugal, but I love playing for the national team."

Despite early mockery, Deco was one of the Portugal national team's most notable players. He scored 5 goals in 75 caps for Portugal by June 2010, when his international career came to an end after losing to Spain in the 2010 World Cup second round.

Deco scored his first goal in Portugal's second Group D match against Iran in the 63rd minute, ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo's 80th-minute penalty. Deco received two yellow cards in the match against the Netherlands, the first of which was suspended after he had already picked up a caution against Iran in the first knockout stage of the tournament. Portugal's demise in the semi-finals, which Deco was unable to participate in after defeating England in the quarter-finals.

Deco scored the first goal in Portugal's second match of Euro 2008, a Group A match against the Czech Republic on June 11th. Portugal lost 3-1, with Deco assisting his team in their journey to the quarter-finals, where Portugal's campaign came to an end against Germany, the tournament's eventual runners-up.

After the 2010 World Cup in February 2010, Deco revealed that he would have left international football after the 2010 World Cup.

In their first game against the Ivory Coast, Deco played for Portugal. He was hurt during the game and was ruled out of the remaining two group matches against North Korea and Brazil. He was fit for the round of 16 games against Spain, but Portugal head coach Carlos Queiroz picked Tiago over Deco.

Deco retired from international football with 75 caps and 5 goals.

Career statistics

Appearances and goals by club, season, and competition.

Appearances and goals of the national team and year-olds as well as the year's.

International goals

Portugal's goal came first in terms of scores and rankings.

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