| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Sandro Raniere Guimarães Cordeiro[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 15 March 1989 | ||
| Place of birth | Riachinho, Brazil | ||
| Height | 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)[2] | ||
| Playing position | Defensive midfielder | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Tottenham Hotspur | ||
| Number | 30 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2005–2008 | Internacional | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2008–2010 | Internacional | 99 | (4) |
| 2010– | Tottenham Hotspur | 28 | (1) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2009 | Brazil U20 | 8 | (1) |
| 2009– | Brazil | 8 | (1) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 31 October 2011. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Sandro Raniere Guimarães Cordeiro or simply Sandro (born 15 March 1989) is a Brazilian international defensive midfielder, who plays for Tottenham Hotspur. He joined English Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur at the end of Internacional's victorious 2010 Copa Libertadores campaign in September, 2010.
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Sandro is a product of Internacional's youth academy. He signed his first professional contract and began his senior career in 2007 as an 18 year old. He has been described as a defensive midfielder who gets forward.[3]
Sandro was one of the main players of Inter's winning 2010 Copa Libertadores campaign. Sandro was already signed to Tottenham through most of the competition, but that did not affect his performance negatively: on the contrary, he said he "live[d] with great intensity, as each game could be the last".[4] With this in mind, he worked hard to stay in Internacional as long as possible in order to help the team reach the finals. After winning South America's top trophy, he flew to England the following week.[5]
On 30 August 2009, Tottenham Hotspur were reported to have had a £14 million bid rejected for the player.[6] However, on 20 October 2009, Spurs and Internacional agreed an affiliation of the two clubs, ensuring that Tottenham have first option on all academy players from the Brazilian outfit. Following this agreement, there were rumours of a near-concluded deal pending for the 2009–10 Premier League January transfer window.[7] Six days later, on 26 October 2009, Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp confirmed he was interested in Sandro, for a fee rumoured to be around £8 million.[8]
On 10 March 2010, Internacional President Vitorio Piffero confirmed the transfer of the midfielder to Tottenham, after the Copa Libertadores. The transfer amount was speculated to be around €10 million, with only the contract yet to be signed.[9]
On 23 March 2010, both Internacional and Tottenham announced on their respective websites that a deal had been agreed for Sandro for an undisclosed fee.[10][11] It was also announced Sandro would join Tottenham following the end of the Copa Libertadores, which finishes on 18 August,[12] subject to the player passing a medical.[13]
On 26 March 2010, Tottenham Hotspur confirmed that a deal for Sandro had been completed, and that he would join up at the end of Internacional's Copa Libertadores campaign.[14] Sandro said of the move to England that he thought Spurs were "a great fit for me" and that "a club that is growing every year makes it the ideal club for me".[15] He made his Tottenham debut in a 4–1 home defeat against Arsenal in the third round of the League Cup on the 21 September 2010.
On 9 January 2011, Sandro made a start against League One side Charlton Athletic, assisting Andros Townsend and playing the full match. He made his UEFA Champions League debut for Tottenham on 15 February 2011 at the San Siro against seven times winners A.C. Milan, receiving special praise from manager Harry Redknapp in his side's 1–0 win. Playing a pivotal role just in front of the back four, he was man of the match in the return leg at White Hart Lane.[16] He scored his first goal for the club against Chelsea with a 35-yard volley in a 2–1 defeat.
He received an Injury to the knee during the Copa America 2011 and was out for the beginning of the new premiership season. He was match fit and returned in September playing against stoke with a new hair cut, (a black mohawk with blue sides).
Sandro signed a new five year contract with Tottenham on 8 September 2011, a deal which will run till 2016.[17]
Having represented Brazil at Under-20 level,[18] and captaining them at the 2009 South American Youth Championship,[19][20] Sandro made his full debut for the Brazilian national team as a substitute in a World Cup qualifier against Chile on 9 September 2009.[21] He was named as 1 of 7 back-up players to the 2010 FIFA World Cup squad.[22] Sandro scored his first full international goal against Gabon in a friendly match on 10 November 2011.
| International goals | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Result | Goal | Competition |
| 2011 | ||||||
| 1. | November 11, 2011 | Libreville, Gabon | Gabon | 2–0 | 1 | Friendly |
| Club | Season | League | Cup | League Cup | Continental1 | Other | Total | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Assists | Apps | Goals | Assists | Apps | Goals | Assists | Apps | Goals | Assists | Apps | Goals | Assists | Apps | Goals | Assists | ||
| Internacional | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2008 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 1 | |
| 2009 | 41 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45 | 1 | 1 | |
| 2010 | 20 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 1 | 1 | |
| Total | 68 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 89 | 4 | 3 | |
| Tottenham Hotspur | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2010–11 | 19 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 1 | 1 | |
| 2011–12 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 1 | |
| Total | 26 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 1 | 2 | |
| Career Total | 94 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 124 | 5 | 5 | |
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