Nani (footballer)

This is a Portuguese name; the first family name is Almeida and the second is da Cunha.

Nani
Personal information
Full name	Luís Carlos Almeida da Cunha
Date of birth	17 November 1986 (1986-11-17) (age 22)
Place of birth	Praia, Cape Verde
Height	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Playing position	Winger
Club information
Current club	Manchester United
Number	17
Youth clubs
2000–2003 2003–2005	Real de Massamá Sporting CP
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
2005–2007 2007–	Sporting CP Manchester United	58 (9) 32 (4)
National team2
2006– 2006–	Portugal U21 Portugal	10 (1) 19 (4)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 4:56, 1 November 2008 (UTC). 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 12:41, 14 September 2008 (UTC). * Appearances (Goals)

Luís Carlos Almeida da Cunha (born 17 November 1986 in Praia, Cape Verde), better known as Nani, is a Portuguese football winger who plays for English Premier League club Manchester United and the Portugal national team.

Biography

Nani emigrated with his family from Praia to Portugal at an early age. He was raised by his aunt in the Amadora district of Lisbon,^[1] where he and childhood friend, Valencia CF midfielder Manuel Fernandes, would often kick a ball about together.^[2]

Career

Early career

Nani grew up supporting Porto, and played junior football alongside Ricardo Vaz Té at Massamá youth club Real Sport Clube,^[3] before joining the youth squad of Sporting CP.^[1]

Sporting

Nani made his debut for Sporting in 2005–06, making 29 appearances and scoring four goals. In his second season, he had similar numbers with twenty-nine appearances and five goals. He also played in six European games, scoring once.

Manchester United

Nani was sold to Manchester United for an undisclosed fee,^[4] thought to be around £14–17 million,^[5][6] five percent of which was paid to Real de Massamá.^[1][7] He passed his medical on 6 June 2007, and signed a five-year contract.^[8][9]

Nani scored on his debut in a pre-season friendly against Shenzhen Shangqingyin, in which United ran out 6-0 winners. He also scored in the following game against Guangzhou Pharmaceutical with a chip off the right post from the left side of the penalty area. Nani decided to set the record straight after reports suggested he had been banned by Sir Alex Ferguson from doing his trademark somersault celebration for fear of injuring himself. "That is not true", he said. "Ferguson has never spoken to me about this subject and I am going to continue to celebrate goals in this way. The conversations he has had with me are normal conversations, like he has with all players".^[10]

Nani with Gilberto Silva

Nani made his competitive debut for Manchester United on 5 August 2007, coming on as a substitute in the Community Shield against Chelsea. He marked his debut with a trophy after the Red Devils won 3-0 on penalties, following a 1-1 draw in normal time.^[11] This was followed up by Nani's third goal for the club three days later, when he scored against Glentoran.

Nani's Premier League debut came in United's opening match at home to Reading on 12 August as a substitute for Wayne Rooney, who had suffered a foot injury.^[12] On 26 August 2007, Nani scored his first competitive goal for Manchester United, scoring a 30-yard winner in the 69th minute against Tottenham Hotspur. Nani also set up crucial goals for Louis Saha and Nemanja Vidić allowing United to beat each of Sunderland and Everton 1-0.^[13][14] He returned to his previous club, Sporting, in a Champions League tie in September, though it was team-mate and fellow former Sporting man Cristiano Ronaldo who stole the limelight by scoring the winner in a 1-0 win.^[15]

On 16 February 2008, Nani put in a man of the match performance against Arsenal in the FA Cup Fourth Round, his goal and two assists helping United to a 4–0 win over their rivals. During the match, Nani was involved in an altercation with Arsenal captain William Gallas who felt that the Portuguese was "showboating".^[16] After the match, Arsène Wenger was equally displeased, while Gilberto Silva said that Nani had a "big head".^[17]

On 23 March 2008, Nani set up the second and scored the final goal in a 3-0 victory over rivals Liverpool, in the 79th and 81st minutes respectively, after coming onto the pitch as a substitute.^[18]

On 3 May, towards the end of a 4–1 win over West Ham United, Nani was sent off for the first time in his Manchester United career for a head-butt on West Ham defender Lucas Neill.^[19]

On 21 May, Nani came on as a substitute for Wayne Rooney in the 2008 UEFA Champions League Final as United defeated Chelsea 6-5 on penalties following a 1-1 draw after extra time. Nani took and scored Manchester United's crucial fifth penalty in the shootout.^[20]

He scored his first goal of the 2008-09 season on 23 September 2008, scoring United's third goal in a 3–1 win over Middlesbrough in the last minute to secure passage to the Fourth Round of the Carling Cup.^[21] On 18 October, he scored from a Wayne Rooney assist to complete the 4–0 rout of West Bromwich Albion at Old Trafford.^[22]

International career

Nani was the youngest member of the Portugal U-21 squad at the 2006 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship. He made his first appearance for the senior Portugal team on 1 September 2006, and marked his debut with a goal in Portugal's 4-2 friendly defeat to Denmark.^[2]

Nani was a regular member of the Portuguese squad in qualification for UEFA Euro 2008, and scored one of the goals in the 2–1 away win over Belgium on 2 June 2007.^[23] He also provided the assist for Ricardo Quaresma's goal in a friendly against Italy on 6 February 2008.^[24] Nani's form for Manchester United during the 2007–08 season ultimately earned him a call-up to Luiz Felipe Scolari's 23-man squad for Euro 2008, alongside club team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo. He was only used sparingly during the campaign, but did manage to provide the assist for Hélder Postiga's goal during a 15-minute cameo in the quarter-finals against Germany on 19 June 2008. Portugal eventually lost the match 3-2.^[25]

Celebration

Nani celebrates with a "mortal" or, in English, a "Leap of death", similar to that of Obafemi Martins and Lomana LuaLua. The celebration derives from Nani's background in capoeira, which he used to practice as a child. For a while, it was widely reported that United boss, Alex Ferguson, had banned Nani's celebration, fearing for his safety,^[26] although this was never supported by any direct quotes from Ferguson or Nani. Despite the supposed ban, Nani has celebrated in this manner every time he has scored for United.

Career statistics

Statistics accurate as of match played 3 December 2008

Honours

Nani playing for United in 2008, their title-winning season in the Premier League and the Champions League

Club

Sporting CP

• Taça de Portugal
  • Winner (1): 2006–07

Manchester United

• Premier League
  • Winner (1): 2007–08
• FA Community Shield
  • Winner (2): 2007, 2008
• UEFA Champions League
  • Winner (1): 2007–08
• UEFA Super Cup
  • Runner-up (1): 2008

References

External links

• Profile at ManUtd.com
• Nani career stats at Soccerbase
• Nani statistics and biography at FootballDatabase.com
• UEFA.com profile

Portugal squad – UEFA Euro 2008 1 Ricardo • 2 Ferreira • 3 Alves • 4 Bosingwa • 5 Meira • 6 Meireles • 7 Ronaldo • 8 Petit • 9 Almeida • 10 Moutinho • 11 Simão • 12 Nuno • 13 Miguel • 14 Ribeiro • 15 Pepe • 16 Carvalho • 17 Quaresma • 18 Veloso • 19 Nani • 20 Deco • 21 Nuno Gomes • 22 Patrício • 23 Postiga • Coach: Scolari