Andrés D'Alessandro

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Andrés D'Alessandro
Personal information
Full name	Andrés Nicolás D'Alessandro
Date of birth	April 15, 1981 (1981-04-15) (age 27)
Place of birth	Buenos Aires, Argentina
Height	1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Playing position	Attacking Midfielder, Winger
Club information
Current club	San Lorenzo
Number	10
Youth clubs
	River Plate
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1998–2003 2003–2007 2006 2006–2007 2007– 2008	River Plate Wolfsburg → Portsmouth (loan) → Zaragoza (loan) Zaragoza → San Lorenzo	70 (19) 61 (8) 13 (1) 36 (2) 14 (3) 08 (2)
National team2
2001-present	Argentina	26 (4)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21 April 2008. 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 10 June 2006. * Appearances (Goals)

Andrés Nicolás D'Alessandro (born April 15, 1981 in La Paternal, Buenos Aires, Argentina) is a left-footed Argentine footballer who currently plays for San Lorenzo de Almagro in Argentina. He is best known for his flashy world-class dribbling and his short passing ability.

[edit] Career

D'Alessandro started off his working career as a young pizza delivery boy^[1] in Argentina before becoming a professional footballer. Known as El cabezón ("The Big Headed") for how large his head looks on his small frame (he is only 5'6") rather than any ego connotations, he emerged through the River Plate youth system that has produced much of Argentina's top talent over the years. He followed the likes of Santiago Solari and Pablo Aimar through the ranks, together with Javier Saviola, with whom he shared the limelight in the 2001 Youth World Championship held in Buenos Aires. D'Alessandro started out that tournament as a substitute, but injuries in the team allowed him a place in the team during the later games. Argentina won the title after beating Ghana 3-0.

After his transfer to Wolfsburg for a club record €9m,^[2] D'Alessandro played in the Argentine U-23 team that won the gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics. On September 21, 2005, D'Alessandro scored the Bundesliga's 4,000th goal since its creation in 1963, for the fourth goal in a 4-2 victory over Hannover 96.

In January 2006, much to the surprise of most fans, D'Alessandro joined English Premiership club Portsmouth on loan for the remainder of the season.^[3] His main objective with his new club was to blend in with new teammates and help his club survive relegation. On Easter Monday April 17 2006, he scored his first goal in English football - a contender for goal of the season - in Portsmouth's 2-1 defeat away to Charlton Athletic. Portsmouth survived and manager Harry Redknapp was looking to sign D'Alessandro on a permanent basis for Portsmouth. But D'Alessandro was attracting the attention of many European clubs with strong interest from the likes of Atlético Madrid and Benfica. On 17 June 2006 he ended the speculation regarding his career by completing a season-long loan switch to La Liga outfit Real Zaragoza citing his desire to play in Spain as a major factor in his decision. On June 6 2007 he signed a contract at Zaragoza, keeping him at the club until 2011.

[edit] References

1. ^ Page 12 of News of the World sport section; April 9, 2006.
2. ^ uefa.com - UEFA Intertoto Cup - News & Features - News Specific
3. ^ uefa.com - Football Europe - News & Features - News Specific

[edit] External links

• (German) Interview
• (Spanish) Argentine Primera statistics at Futbol XXI
• (English) ESPN Stats
• (English) Short Bio
• (English) Portsmouth snap up D'Alessandro from the BBC Sport website
• (English) D'Alessandro joins Real from Sky Sports

v • d • e Argentina squad - 2004 Copa América 1 Abbondanzieri • 2 Ayala • 3 Sorín • 4 Quiroga • 5 Mascherano • 6 Heinze • 7 Saviola • 8 Zanetti • 9 Figueroa • 10 D'Alessandro • 11 Tévez • 12 Cavallero • 13 Placente • 14 Rodriguez • 15 Fernández • 16 L.González • 17 M.González • 18 K.González • 19 Delgado • 20 Medina • 21 Rosales • 22 Coloccini • Coach: Bielsa