| Personal information | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Andrés Nicolás D'Alessandro | |||||||||||
| Date of birth | April 15, 1981 | |||||||||||
| Place of birth | Buenos Aires, Argentina | |||||||||||
| Height | 1.74 m (5 ft 8 1⁄2 in) | |||||||||||
| Playing position | Attacking Midfielder, Winger | |||||||||||
| Club information | ||||||||||||
| Current club | Internacional | |||||||||||
| Number | 10 | |||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||
| River Plate | ||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† | |||||||||
| 1998–2003 | River Plate | 70 | (19) | |||||||||
| 2003–2007 | Wolfsburg | 61 | (8) | |||||||||
| 2006 | → Portsmouth (loan) | 13 | (1) | |||||||||
| 2006–2007 | → Zaragoza (loan) | 36 | (2) | |||||||||
| 2007 | Zaragoza | 14 | (3) | |||||||||
| 2008 | San Lorenzo | 15 | (2) | |||||||||
| 2008– | Internacional | 82 | (18) | |||||||||
| National team‡ | ||||||||||||
| 2003– | Argentina | 25 | (3) | |||||||||
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Honours
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| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of January 2, 2012. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Andrés Nicolás D'Alessandro (born April 15, 1981 in Buenos Aires) is a left-footed Argentine footballer who currently plays for Sport Club Internacional in Brazil. He is best known for his dribbling and his short passing ability.
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D'Alessandro was born in the La Paternal section of Buenos Aires, Argentina. He joined the labor force as a pizza delivery boy before becoming a professional footballer.[1] Known as El Cabezón ("The Big Headed") for how large his big head looks on his small frame rather than any ego connotations, he emerged through the River Plate youth system[2] 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,[3] 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 40,000th 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 Premier League club Portsmouth on loan for the remainder of the season.[4] 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.[5] 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 June 17, 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.
In 2008, he joined his former River Plate manager Ramón Díaz at Argentine club San Lorenzo. However, after Díaz left the club, D'Alesandro opted to move to Brazil to play for Internacional. Playing for the former Copa Libertadores champions, he described as a "step forward" in his career.[6]
On December 13, 2008 it was reported on ESPN Deportes that the Los Angeles Galaxy had made a $10 million dollar offer to Internacional for D'Alesandro but was declined. Internacional vice president Fernando Carvalho was quoted; "The offer came from the Los Angeles Galaxy of the United States. I didn't even want to listen to the details. The offer was for more money than we paid for D'Alessandro, who arrived here for five million euro, but we want to keep the Argentinian."[7]
On August 20, 2010, Argentina National Team Coach Sergio Batista recalled Andrés D' Alessandro to the Argentina National Team for a friendly against Spain, which was played on Tuesday September 7, 2010 at the Monumental Stadium River Plate.
| Argentina national team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Apps | Goals |
| 2003 | 9 | 2 |
| 2004 | 10 | 1 |
| 2005 | 3 | 0 |
| 2010 | 3 | 0 |
| 2011 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 25 | 3 |
*Stats as of February 17, 2011[8]
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