Anderson | ||
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Personal information | ||
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Full name | Anderson Luís de Abreu Oliveira | |
Date of birth | 13 April 1988 | |
Place of birth | Porto Alegre, Brazil | |
Height | 5 ft 9 in (1.76 m)[1][2] | |
Playing position | Attacking midfielder Left winger |
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Club information | ||
Current club | Manchester United | |
Number | 8 | |
Youth clubs | ||
1993–2004 | Grêmio | |
Senior clubs1 | ||
Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
2004–2005 2005–2007 2007– |
Grêmio Porto Manchester United |
18 (2) 32 (0) |
6 (1)
National team2 | ||
2007– | Brazil | 7 (0) |
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
Anderson Luís de Abreu Oliveira (born 13 April 1988 in Porto Alegre, Brazil), best known as Anderson, is a Brazilian footballer, currently playing for Manchester United. His regular position is as an attacking midfielder, but he can also operate on the left wing.
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Anderson joined Grêmio as a youth player and in 2005 he made his first appearance for the team, playing 5 Brazilian Série B games in the second half of the year, as well as playing in the 2005 Gaúcho State Championship in the first half. He earned himself iconic status by scoring the goal that lifted Grêmio back into Serie A in a promotion playoff against Nautico. This goal was particularly memorable because Grêmio only had seven players on the pitch at the time and had just seen the opposition have a penalty saved. The goal gave Grêmio a 1-0 victory in the most unlikely of circumstances.
He joined Porto in December 2005 after only five first team appearances at a national level with Gremio, and made his league debut on 5 March 2006, playing a part in helping the team seal the Portuguese Championship that season. The following season, he made his UEFA Champions League debut in Porto's first group game against CSKA Moscow.[3] However, Anderson was forced to miss five months of the 2006-07 season due to a broken leg.[4]
On 30 May 2007, the Manchester United website confirmed that the club had agreed in principle to sign Anderson from Porto for an undisclosed fee, reported to be approximately £18 million.[5] On 29 June 2007, he was granted a work permit to play in the United Kingdom, and the move was completed on 2 July, with Anderson signing a five-year contract to become United's second Brazilian player after the disappointing Kléberson.[6]
Anderson was friends with Portuguese-speaking team mates, Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani prior to joining the club.[7] He was handed the number 8 shirt previously worn by Wayne Rooney and made his Manchester United debut on 3 August 2007, playing 45 minutes of a pre-season friendly against Doncaster Rovers, which United won 2-0.
Anderson made his competitive debut for Manchester United against Sunderland on 1 September 2007, before he was substituted at half time and replaced by Louis Saha. Anderson made his Champions League debut against Sporting CP on 19 September 2007, coming on as a substitute for Ryan Giggs in the 76th minute. He played the full 90 minutes in the League Cup match against Coventry City on 26 September 2007, in a team consisting almost entirely of youth and reserve team players.
In the 2008 UEFA Champions League Final in Moscow, Russia, Anderson was brought on as a substitute in the final minute of extra time to replace Wes Brown, and converted United's sixth attempt in the penalty shootout. He followed it up by kicking the ball back into the net, an act which Alex Ferguson credited with returning the momentum to Manchester United.[8]
In April 2005, he played for Brazil in the South American U-17 Championship, and the following October he won the Adidas Golden Ball with his national team at the 2005 FIFA U-17 World Championship.[9]
Anderson made his international debut for the Brazil national football team on 27 June 2007 in their 2-0 loss against against Mexico in Copa América, coming on as a substitute.[10] He made his first start for Brazil on 1 July 2007 against Chile in a 3-0 victory.
In July 2008, Brazil coach Dunga named Anderson to the 18-man squad for the 2008 Summer Olympics.[11] He scored Brazil's first goal in its second group match against New Zealand, a match it went on to win 5-0.[12] On 22 August 2008, Brazil won the bronze medal as they defeated Belgium 3-0.
Olympic medal record | |||
Competitor for ![]() |
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Men's Football | |||
Bronze | 2008 Beijing | Team Competition |
Club | Season | League | Cup | League Cup | Continental | Other[13] | Total | ||||||
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Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Grêmio | 2004 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | ||
2005 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
Total | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | |||
Porto | 2005–06 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
2006–07 | 15 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 2 | |
Total | 18 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 2 | |
Manchester United | 2007–08 | 24 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 38 | 0 |
2008–09 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 0 | |
Total | 33 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 53 | 0 | |
Career total | 58 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 80 | 3 |
Statistics accurate as of match played 3 December 2008[14]
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