Anderson
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[edit] BiographyThe southern city of Porto Alegre in Brazil is the birthplace of Barcelona's Ronaldinho but now it may have a new local hero. Anderson Luís De Abreu Oliveira was born there in 1988 and by 1993 he had signed for Porto Alegre's Gremio FC - he was just five years old!!! He appeared at the FIFA U17 World Cup and won the Adidas Golden Ball for the most valuable player of the tournament. Previous winners include Cesc Fabregas of Arsenal. Anderson made his first team debut for Gremio when he was 18 years old and scored the goal that won the clubs promotion to Brazil’s top division in an infamous match against Nautico in 2005 - Gremio had four players sent off and two penalty kicks given against them but still won 1-0. However the player made only five first team appearances for Gremio before joining moving to Europe later that year and to FC Porto. He made his Porto debut a little over 12 months ago in March 2006, helping the club land the Portuguese League and Cup double. Last season for FC Porto, he appeared in 15 games, nine of them from the start and grabbed two goals. But he would have played more frequently were it not for a broken leg suffered in October. In May 2007 he won his second championship winner's medal as Porto won the title.
BBC Sport columnist and south American football pundit Tim Vickery has described the strong, left-footed midfielder as having the acceleration of the Millennium Falcon. And Manchester United have stolen a march on admirers such as Real Madrid and Chelsea to land a player many have already labelled as the long-term replacement for Old Trafford stalwart Paul Scholes. Portuguese football journalist Miguel Padayda says "He is very young, very skilled in the pass, very intelligent and very fast. Unfortunately, this season he had an injury that allowed him to play only half of the season, but he was still a very important figure at Porto. He could definitely go straight into the United first XI." Anderson himself has said: "I cannot wait to play in the same team as Cristiano Ronaldo, who is a great player, as well as Wayne Rooney and many more. I could not imagine I would ever get to work with a manager like Sir Alex Ferguson but it has happened. What can I say? It is a dream the size of the world."
==Statistics== [edit] Honors[edit] References[edit] Related Articles[edit] Recent Anderson ArmchairGM Stories |
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