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Deco
| Biography |
Anderson Luis de Souza, known in the world of football as 'Deco', began his professional career in Brazil with Nacional Sao Paulo (1995-96 and 1996-97). He spent a brief time with Corinthians (1997) before making the leap to European football.
He signed for Benfica for the 1997-98 season but was sent to their reserve team, Alverca, in the second division. He had a good first season and came to the attention of Porto. He spent the 1998-99 season playing for another small club, SC Salgueiros but then moved definitively to Porto on the recommendation of coach Fernando Castro. He had five successful seasons with Porto from 1999 to 2004.
He attracted the attention of some of Europe's biggest clubs and with José Mourinho at the helm won a Champions League medal in May 2004. In addition he was chosen as best player in the final against Monaco. He arrived at Barca in the summer of 2004 and soon won the fans over with his skilful and intelligent football. Rijkaard early on made him one of the pillars of the new Barca he was building and he figured in 35 of the league winning season's 38 games, contributing goals, determination and a winning mentality.
He took Portuguese nationality and made his international debut with his adopted country on 29th March 2003, curiously enough against his country of birth, Brazil. He scored the only goal of the match and gave Portugal their first win over Brazil for 37 years. In the summer of 2004, he took part in the European Championship with Portugal, losing in the final to Greece (1-0).
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