Vágner Love

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Personal information
Vágner Love
Full name	Vágner Silva de Souza
Date of birth	June 11, 1984 (age 22)
Place of birth	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Height	171 cm / 5' 7"
Nickname	Vágner Love
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	CSKA Moscow
Number	11
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
2002-2004 2004-present	Palmeiras CSKA Moscow	20 (11) 57 (25)
National team²
2003-present	Brazil	6 (2)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of March 11, 2007. ² National team caps and goals correct as of 28 March 2007. * Appearances (Goals)

Vágner Love, real name Vágner Silva de Souza, (born June 11, 1984 in Rio de Janeiro) is a Brazilian football (soccer) striker who currently plays for CSKA Moscow.

[edit] Club Career

Vágner started his career with Palmeiras, he was a great aid in the 2003 season to help them return to the Brazilian Série A, the national first division (premier league). He was bought by CSKA Moscow in the summer of 2004, prior to their Champions League Campaign, for an estimated 8 million dollars.

For over a year after his arrival at CSKA, rumors kept appearing that he did not want to stay in Moscow, and a transfer to Corinthians in particular was hinted at numerous times. However these rumors have now subsided and Vágner has mentioned a number of times that he is fully committed to his contract and is looking forward to completing its full tenure. As of April 17th, he has scored 29 goals in 73 games, 17 of them in 38 Russian Premiership games. He scored the final goal that sealed CSKA's 3-1 victory in the 2005 UEFA Cup final over Sporting Lisbon on Sporting's home ground in Lisbon. Additionally to this UEFA Cup final, he has gone on to win the Russian Premier League title and Russian Cup in 2005, and the Russian Super Cup in 2006.

Since in the background it is known that Roman Abramovich`s money brought him to Moscow, rumors are circulating claiming Vágner will sign for Chelsea in the near future. However after CSKA's Championship title in 2005 they are qualified for the UEFA Champions League and will probably stay at the Dynamo Stadium, due to the fact that Manager Valery Gazzaev will have him in the starting squad alongside Jô or Ivica Olic. This because he very fast and is one of most agile players in the world.

[edit] International Career

Vágner was part of the Brazil squad that won the Copa America in Peru in 2004. but saw very little action for Brazil under coach Carlos Alberto Parreira. However, he was called up for the Seleção by the new manager Carlos Dunga together with his teammates Daniel Carvalho and Dudu Cearense. In his fourth game for the national team, against Wales, he scored his first goal. He has recently returned to Carlos Dunga Seleção after his impressive start to the season with CSKA Moscow.

PFC CSKA Moscow - Current Squad
1 Mandrykin \| 2 Šemberas \| 4 Ignashevich \| 6 A. Berezoutski \| 7 Carvalho \| 8 Gusev \| 10 Jô \| 11 Vágner Love \| 15 Odiah \| 17 Krasić \| 18 Zhirkov \| 20 Dudu \| 22 Aldonin \| 24 V. Berezoutski \| 25 Rahimić \| 35 Akinfeyev \| 37 Kochubei \| 39 Taranov \| 40 Salougin \| 50 Grigoryev \| 56 Tatarchuk \| 77 Gaboulov