| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Alexsandro de Souza | ||
| Date of birth | 14 September 1977 | ||
| Place of birth | Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil | ||
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||
| Playing position | Attacking Midfielder | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Fenerbahçe | ||
| Number | 10 | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1995–1997 | Coritiba | 17 | (5) |
| 1997–2002 | Palmeiras | 141 | (78) |
| 2000 | → Flamengo (loan) | 10 | (3) |
| 2001 | → Cruzeiro (loan) | 13 | (2) |
| 2002 | → Parma | 5 | (2) |
| 2002–2004 | Cruzeiro | 55 | (27) |
| 2004– | Fenerbahçe | 223 | (127) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 1997– | Brazil | 49 | (12) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22 December 2011. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Alexsandro de Souza, (born 14 September 1977 in Curitiba) is a Brazilian footballer and the captain of Turkish club Fenerbahçe.
He is a former captain of the Brazilian national team, he has also played for Coritiba, Palmeiras, Flamengo and Cruzeiro in Brazil and Parma in Serie A.
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Alex first played professionally for Coritiba, a Brazilian football club from the state of Paraná, where he stayed from 1995-97, when he was sold to Palmeiras, from São Paulo. It was playing for Palmeiras where he became a national star, in Brazil. He conquered for the Parque Antárctica club a Libertadores da América cup title, in 1999, a Rio-São Paulo cup title in 2000 and a Copa do Brasil title and a Mercosul cup title in 1998.
He leftPalmeiras and signed with Flamengo, of Rio de Janeiro in 2000. His performance for the Gávea team, however, was disappointing. He scored three times in twelve games and had his contract terminated. In 2000, he returned to Palmeiras for a few months and then signed with Cruzeiro, where he stayed until 2002, when he returned to Palmeiras. After another great season, Alex was sold to Parma, of Italy. There he had a hard time with coach Cesare Prandelli, and eventually returned to Cruzeiro, after playing only five times for the Italian team.
At Cruzeiro Alex had the best performance in his career. Made team captain and wearing jersey number ten(10), he led his team (which also had other remarkable players, such as Deivid, Edu Dracena, Luisão, Maicon, Aristizábal, Zinho, Felipe Melo, Gomes and Cris) to winning the Brazilian triple crown (that is the State Championship, the Brasileirão and the Brazilian Cup). Cruzeiro won the Brazilian League (Brasileirão) with a record breaking 100 points, 13 ahead of the second place, Santos, with more than 100 goals scored in 46 games.
Alex was then sold by Cruzeiro in 2004 for 5 million pounds to Fenerbahçe.[1] He became Fenerbahçe captain after the team's captain Ümit Özat's transfer to Köln and vice-captains Tuncay Şanlı's transfer to Middlesbrough and Rüştü Reçber's transfer to rival Beşiktaş.[2] Alex scored his 100th goal in the Süper Lig for Fenerbahçe in 13 November 2010 against Gaziantepspor when they lost 2–1.[3] At 33 years of age Alex scored a hat-trick against Bucaspor in the first 35 minutes of the game. Fenerbahçe won the match 5–2.[4] Alex plans to retire after the 2012-2013 season.
His first goal on this game was Fenerbahçe's 3000th goal in the Süper Lig, so his kit and shoes used in the Bucaspor match are now shown in the club's museum.[5] On 9 February 2011, he signed another two years contract with Fenerbahçe.[6][7] On 15 May 2011, he scored five goals, including three penalties and a free-kick, in a 6–0 win against Ankaragücü.[8] After Fenerbahçe's league title for the year 2010-11, Alex won the golden boot award with 28 goals for the season, nine more than second place Burak Yılmaz.[9] He made his 900th career appearance on 12 September 2011 in the opening match of the Super Lig season, a 1–0 victory against Orduspor.[10]
| Club | Season | League[13] | Cup[14] | Europe[15][16] | Total | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Assts | Apps | Goals | Assts | Apps | Goals | Assts | Apps | Goals | Assts | ||
| Fenerbahçe | 2004–05 | 31 | 24 | 16 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 44 | 28 | 20 |
| 2005–06 | 31 | 15 | 24 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 43 | 20 | 27 | |
| 2006–07 | 32 | 19 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 1 | 7 | 47 | 20 | 21 | |
| 2007–08 | 28 | 14 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 4 | 6 | 43 | 18 | 20 | |
| 2008–09 | 26 | 11 | 12 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 40 | 17 | 12 | |
| 2009–10 | 26 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 7 | 1 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 43 | 21 | 14 | |
| 2010–11 | 33 | 28 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 38 | 28 | 13 | |
| 2011–12 | 16 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 5 | 2 | |
| Total | 223 | 127 | 101 | 34 | 17 | 7 | 57 | 14 | 19 | 314 | 158 | 128 | |
| Turkey total | 223 | 127 | 102 | 34 | 17 | 7 | 56 | 14 | 19 | 314 | 158 | 128 | |
He married Daianne in 2000.[17] The couple have two daughters and one son: Maria Eduarda, born in 2004, Antonia, born in 2006 and Felipe born in 2010.[18] A devout Evangelical Christian, Alex is a member of the organisation Atletas de Cristo (English: "Athletes of Christ")[19] among with Brazilian star Kakáand Ronaldo.[20]
He features prominently in Puma advertising and also has a modeling contract with Armani.[21]