César Peixoto

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Paulo César Silva Peixoto (born 12 May 1980 in Guimarães, Portugal) is a professional footballer now playing for Spanish side RCD Espanyol.

[edit] Career

After playing his first two professional seasons in the Caçadores das Taipas (based on Caldas das Taipas near Guimarães), his ability as a left winger allowed him to jump from the Third division side to Superliga team Belenenses thanks to former player João Cardoso, where he scored 7 goals in his debut, one of them a long range shot closing a historical 3-0 victory against FC Porto at the Estádio do Restelo. It was enough for José Mourinho who signed the talented left-footed player at the end of the season.

However, his career in FC Porto did not go as planned: while talented and with an accurate left foot, he failed to impose in the first team, and in his first season he only played 15 matches, scoring 3 goals. Mourinho was still convinced of his abilities, so he refused to release him. Again with a slow start, when he was starting to keep up with high profile players such as Benni McCarthy, Derlei and Deco he was injured in the match against Olympique Marseille (22 October), and while it did not seem serious at first (he continued running and playing for a few minutes), in the next day a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament was diagnosed, which forced him to miss most of the season. After his recovery, he crashed his Mercedes-Benz SL500 while speeding to arrive in time at Porto's training center in Vila Nova de Gaia, and while only getting minor bruises, the car was completely wrecked and he was promptly asked for explanations by Mourinho.

His image as a professional suffered much from the accident, and in the next season he was loaned to Vitória SC, where he regained his previous form, and returned to Porto for the 2005-06 season.

Facing another loan, Peixoto was in the transfers list until the eleventh hour, being one of the final players to get a sit in the team. Following the internal problems with Nuno Valente and the under par performances of Leandro, Co Adriaanse expects to turn him into a prolific left defender, in the same fashion of Miguel (a renowned right winger turned national team wingback when he played for Benfica) or Paulo Ferreira (who played right midfielder during most of his U-21 career). To his dismay, he again suffered a major injury that would keep him away from the pitch for the rest of the 05/06 season, eliminating any hope of World Cup selection. He was dismissed from FC Porto in May 2006 by coach Co Adriaanse,and was loaned to Spanish side RCD Espanyol in the beginning of the 2006/07 season.

[edit] Personal life

At the 2005 offseason photos of him and Portuguese model Isabel Figueira dancing and hugging appeared in the pink press, and after a few weeks both announced their engagement. His colleagues noticed the engagement had a significant effect on his focusing abilities, and it helped vanish the image of the reckless, self-centered playboy he had in the past. César Peixoto and Isabel Figueira are now married and expecting a child.

RCD Espanyol - Current Squad
1 Gorka | 2 Sá | 3 David García | 4 Lacruz | 5 Sergio Sánchez | 6 Costa | 7 Pandiani | 8 Zabaleta | 9 de la Peña | 10 Luis García | 11 Riera | 12 Velasco | 13 Kameni | 14 Ito | 15 Fredson | 16 Jônatas | 17 Moha | 18 Rufete | 19 Torrejón | 20 Corominas | 21 Jarque | 22 Moisés Hurtado | 23 Tamudo | 24 Jonathan Soriano | 25 Peixoto | 26 Biel Ribas | 27 Julián | 30 Chica | Coach Valverde