Dani Alves
Daniel Alves da Silva, commonly known as Dani Alves, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a right back for Brazilian national team. Before joining Barcelona in 2008, Alves spent a successful six-year spell with Sevilla, winning two UEFA Cups and the Copa del Rey with the Andalusian side. He joined Barcelona for €32.5 million, becoming the third-most expensive defender of all time. He won the Treble in his first season with the club and in the next season he won the Spanish Super Cup, European Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup. Additionally, he helped the club to clinch another two Spanish Super Cups, five league titles and two UEFA Champions League in the years that followed. Alves has held a Spanish passport since 2005. Alves is the second-most decorated footballer of all time in European competitions with nine European medals, leaving him one behind Paolo Maldini on the all-time list. A full international for Brazil since 2006, Alves was included in their squads for two World Cups and four Copa América tournaments, winning the 2007 edition of the Copa América, as well as the 2009 and 2013 Confederations Cups.
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On 2 July 2008, Alves joined Barcelona, leaving Sevilla in tears and saying he would love to play for the club again. He said he came to Sevilla as a boy and was leaving as a man. The official price of the transfer stood at £23 million up-front, with approximately £7 million more depending on a number of performance-related factors over the next few seasons of Alves’ Barcelona career, making him one of the most expensive defenders in history and the third-most expensive player bought by Barça. He signed a four-year contract with Barcelona, which included a buy-out clause of €90 million. Alves made his competitive and European debuts for Barcelona against Wisła Kraków in the 2008–09 UEFA Champions League third-round qualifiers on 13 August 2008. He made his La Liga debut in the Liga season-opener away to Numancia on 31 August 2008. Later on in his debut season, he missed the 2009 UEFA Champions League Final due to a yellow-card suspension, although Barcelona nonetheless defeated Manchester United 2–0 to complete the treble after also winning La Liga and the 2008–09 Copa del Rey. In his second season at Barça, the club retained the Liga title and won the 2009 FIFA Club World Cup. In the 2010–11 season, Alves was instrumental in Barcelona’s winning of their third consecutive Liga title. On 28 May 2011, Alves played in his first Champions League final as Barcelona defeated Manchester United 3–1 at Wembley Stadium to win its fourth European Cup. In 2011–12, Alves was part of a Barcelona team that won the Copa del Rey and the Club World Cup. In 2012–13, Alves won the Liga title for the fourth time in his five seasons at Barça. On 6 June 2015, Alves started for Barça in the 2015 Champions League final as the club won its fifth European Cup by beating Juventus at the Olympiastadion in Berlin. This made Barcelona the first club in history to win the treble of domestic league, domestic cup and European Cup twice. Alves, Lionel Messi, Andrés Iniesta, Xavi, Gerard Piqué, Pedro and Sergio Busquets are the only players to have been a part of both treble-winning teams. On 9 June 2015, Alves signed a two-year contract with Barcelona, keeping him at the club until 30 June 2017, with the option to extend a further year. After Barcelona were eliminated by compatriots Atlético Madrid in the quarter-finals of the 2015–16 UEFA Champions League, Alves recorded a “bizarre” video in which he impersonated his wife consoling him for the defeat, and posted it on Instagram; manager Luis Enrique subsequently dropped him from the following match against Valencia. On 2 June 2016, Roberto Fernández, Barcelona’s technical secretary, announced Alves was leaving Barcelona that summer after eight years. Although under contract until 30 June 2017, Barcelona allowed Alves to leave prematurely on a free transfer.
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Regarded as one of the best full-backs of his generation, Alves is an offensive right-back or wing-back who is known in particular for his pace, stamina, overlapping attacking runs, and technical skills, which also enable him to play in midfield, or as a winger; he is also gifted with good crossing accuracy and distribution, which allows him to link up with midfielders, and makes him an effective assist provider along the right flank. In addition to his ability to create chances, he is an accurate striker of the ball, and is known for his ability to score goals in particular from outside the area or long-range set-pieces. Despite not being particularly imposing physically, he possesses significant strength and tenacity, which along with his energy, anticipation and work-rate, enable him to intercept passes or chase down and press opponents when not in possession, thus allowing him to aid his team both offensively and defensively. However, despite his skill and offensive ability, he has drawn criticism at times in the media for neglecting the defensive aspect of his game. Alves made his Brazil debut as a substitute in an unofficial friendly match against Kuwaiti club Al-Kuwait Selection on 7 October 2006. Three days later, he earned his first international cap in a friendly against Ecuador. He was included in Brazil’s team for the 2007 Copa América. He appeared in four matches including the final against Argentina, where he gave an assist and scored a goal in a 3–0 victory. Despite being the most expensive right-back in history, he has been unable to hold down a regular starting spot in the national team, with Maicon being the first choice ahead of him. Alves came on as a substitute in the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup semi-final against South Africa and scored the winner, a free-kick and a goal in the 88th minute in a 1–0 win. He was named to Brazil’s squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. He scored another long-range free-kick against Iran on 7 October 2010. On 7 May 2014, Alves was named to Brazil’s squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. He lost his position as a starter during the competition due to poor performances. After Brazil defeated Colombia 2–1 in the quarter-finals, Alves and teammate David Luiz were applauded for comforting James Rodríguez, an act they were both commended for by both Rodríguez and the media for showing respect. Alves was picked as a starter in both the 2015 and Centenario Copa América tournaments by manager Dunga. He retained his position following the appointment of Tite and helped Brazil secure qualification for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, but was ruled out of the tournament due to a knee injury suffered in the 2018 Coupe de France Final. On 29 September 2011, Alves was appointed as a Special Olympics Ambassador for its Global Football program, charged with promoting respect and inclusion in football for people with intellectual disabilities, particularly in the run up to the 2014 World Cup. Along with his ex-teammate turned rapper, José Manuel Pinto, Alves released a song called Suave on YouTube on June 15, 2018.
Neymar
Dries Mertens
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On 27 April 2014, during a match at Villarreal’s stadium, El Madrigal, Alves was targeted by Villareal supporter David Campaya Lleo, who threw a banana at him. Alves picked up the banana, peeled it and took a bite. He responded to the incident by saying:
“We have suffered this in Spain for some time. You have to take it with a dose of humour. We aren’t going to change things easily. If you don’t give it importance, they don’t achieve their objective.” Teammate Neymar’s response – to post a photograph of himself on social media also eating a banana – went viral. Other footballers have also since taken photographs of themselves eating bananas. Cyrille Regis, who had been racially abused while a player in the 1970s and 1980s, expressed concern that the viral campaign would detract from the important issues of combating racism in the game. Alves said that whoever threw the banana at him should be publicly shamed, and on 30 April 2014, a man was arrested in connection with the incident. Villareal were later fined €12,000 for the incident. Alves had previously been subjected to racist taunts in Spain. He complained of racial abuse after being taunted by monkey chants during a Copa del Rey semi-final at Real Madrid in 2013.
Fabio Cannavaro
Mario Balotelli
Philippe Coutinho and Luis Suarez