This is a Portuguese name; the first family name is Vieira and the second is Silva.

Marcelo Vieira da Silva Júnior (born 12 May 1988) is a Brazilian footballer who plays for Real Madrid and the Brazil National Football Team. Mainly a defender, he can also operate as a midfielder, always on the left side of the pitch.

Club career

Fluminense

Marcelo started playing futsal at the age of 9 and by the age of 13 he was on the books of Fluminense. He comes from a very poor background and even considered quitting football, but his club considered him as one of their "Crown Jewels" and ensured that he continued playing.

Real Madrid

Marcelo joined Real Madrid during the January transfer window in 2007. On his arrival, club president Ramón Calderón said, "He is an important signing for us. He is a young player who will inject some freshness into the side and is part of our plan to bring younger players into the squad. We're very happy because he's a pearl that half of Europe wanted."[2] Many spectators hailed him as Roberto Carlos' potential successor in the left-back role.

Marcelo during 2008–09 season

Marcelo made his debut as a substitute in the 2–0 defeat against Deportivo La Coruña on 7 January 2007.[3] On 14 April 2007, Marcelo made his first start for Real Madrid against Racing de Santander, which Real Madrid lost 2–1. Under his new manager Bernd Schuster, Marcelo had started nearly all of Madrid's league games. His ability, speed running across the field, attack, and defence had enabled him to become a very important player for Real Madrid.

After a string of poor performances Marcelo has found himself on the bench for much of the remaining season while under new manager Juande Ramos, mainly as deputy to Gabriel Heinze. Juande Ramos deployed Marcelo as a left winger on more than one occasion, and the Brazilian adapted well to his new role. He scored his first goal after receiving a heel flick from striker Gonzalo Higuaín and slotting the ball past the goalkeeper in Real Madrid's 4–0 thumping of Sporting de Gijón. After the game, coach Ramos declared that Marcelo's future would be positioned as a left winger, but will push back to defense when required. Marcelo scored his second goal for Real Madrid in their recent victory over Almeria, a powerful strike from outside of the box with his weaker right foot.

On 18 April 2009 he scored his third goal of his Real Madrid career, when he scored the only goal of the game against Recreativo de Huelva away from home.[4] He scored his fourth goal against Sevilla at the Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán in April 2009.

Under the new head of coach Manuel Pellegrini, Marcelo has consistently been a favorite in Pellegrini's starting eleven for his versatility and pace along the left flank in offensive and defensive roles. His successful performance in Madrid's 2009/2010 campaign so far earned him a contract extension on February 5, 2010 with the club until June of 2015.[5]

International career

Marcelo's first taste of international football came at the youth level. He was called up for the 2005 FIFA U-17 World Championship and the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup.

Marcelo scored on his Brazil debut against Wales at Tottenham Hotspurs' White Hart Lane (the scored finshed 2–0). He picked up the ball just outside the Wales box and shot for a traditional Brazilian full back goal. Marcelo has become one of the preferred choices of Brazil's football coach Dunga. Marcelo has recently been compared to former Real Madrid and Brazilian national team left-back Roberto Carlos. The two played together during the second half of the 2006–07 season before Roberto Carlos' move to Turkish team Fenerbahçe.

He was called up for the 2008 Olympic squad where he won a bronze medal.

Marcelo was called up for the 12 August 2009 match against Estonia but had to withdraw due to injury. In May 2010, he was named as one of the seven players serving as backup for Brazil's 2010 FIFA World Cup squad.[6].Despite Not being called up by former Brazil coach Dunga he was selected again from new Brazil coach Mano Menezes for a friendly against USA on August 10, 2010.

Luís Carlos Almeida da Cunha (born 17 November 1986), commonly known as Nani, is a Portuguese football winger who plays for English club Manchester United and the Portuguese national team. Early life Born in Praia, Cape Verde, Nani emigrated with his family to Portugal at an early age. He was raised by his aunt Antonia in the Amadora district of Lisbon,[1] where he and childhood friend, midfielder Manuel Fernandes, would often kick a ball about together.[2] Career Early career Nani grew up supporting Porto and played junior football alongside Ricardo Vaz Tê at Massamá youth club Real Sport Clube,[3] before joining the youth squad of Sporting CP.[1] Sporting CP Nani made his debut for Sporting in 2005–06, making 29 appearances and scoring four goals. In his second season, he had similar numbers with 29 appearances and five goals. He also played in six European games, scoring once. Manchester United Nani was sold to Manchester United for an undisclosed fee,[4] thought to be around £14–17 million,[5][6] five percent of which was paid to Real de Massamá.[1][7] He passed his medical on 6 June 2007, and signed a five-year contract.[8][9] Nani scored on his debut in a pre-season friendly against Shenzhen Shangqingyin, in which United ran out 6–0 winners. He also scored in the following game against Guangzhou Pharmaceutical with a chip off the right post from the left side of the penalty area. Nani decided to set the record straight after reports suggested he had been banned by Alex Ferguson from doing his trademark somersault celebration for fear of injuring himself. "That is not true", he said. "Ferguson has never spoken to me about this subject and I am going to continue to celebrate goals in this way. The conversations he has had with me are normal conversations, like he has with all players".[10] Nani with Gilberto Silva Nani made his competitive debut for Manchester United on 5 August 2007, coming on as a substitute in the Community Shield against Chelsea. He marked his debut with a trophy after the Red Devils won 3–0 on penalties, following a 1–1 draw in normal time.[11] This was followed up by Nani's third goal for the club three days later, when he scored against Glentoran. Nani's Premier League debut came in United's opening match at home to Reading on 12 August as a substitute for Wayne Rooney, who had suffered a foot injury.[12] On 26 August 2007, Nani scored his first competitive goal for Manchester United, scoring a 30-yard winner in the 69th minute against Tottenham Hotspur. Nani also set up crucial goals for Louis Saha and Nemanja Vidić allowing United to beat both Sunderland and Everton 1–0.[13][14] He also scored with a stunning strike against Middlesbrough, which set the ball rolling to a 4–1 win. It was the first game in which it was thought that Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tévez showed the first real promise of forming a good strike partnership. He returned to his previous club, Sporting, in a Champions League tie in September, though it was team-mate and fellow former Sporting man Cristiano Ronaldo who stole the limelight by scoring the winner in a 1–0 win.[15] Nani playing for United in 2008 On 16 February 2008, Nani put in a man of the match performance against Arsenal in the FA Cup Fourth Round, his goal and two assists helping United to a 4–0 win over their rivals. During the match, Nani was involved in an altercation with Arsenal captain William Gallas who felt that the Portuguese was "showboating".[16] After the match, Arsène Wenger was equally displeased, while Gilberto Silva said that Nani had a "big head".[17] On 23 March 2008, Nani set up the second and scored the final goal in a 3–0 victory over rivals Liverpool, in the 79th and 81st minutes respectively, after coming onto the pitch as a substitute.[18] On 3 May, towards the end of a 4–1 win over West Ham United, Nani was sent off for the first time in his Manchester United career for a headbutt on West Ham defender Lucas Neill.[19] On 21 May, Nani came on as a substitute for Wayne Rooney in the 2008 UEFA Champions League Final as United defeated Chelsea 6–5 on penalties following a 1–1 draw after extra time. Nani took and scored Manchester United's crucial fifth penalty in the shootout.[20] Nani scored his first goal of the 2008–09 season on 23 September 2008, scoring United's third goal in a 3–1 win over Middlesbrough in the last minute to secure passage to the Fourth Round of the Carling Cup.[21] On 18 October, he scored from a Wayne Rooney assist to complete the 4–0 rout of West Bromwich Albion at Old Trafford.[22] On 20 January 2009, he opened the scoring for United in their 4–2 win at home to Derby County in the second leg of their League Cup semi-final.[23] Nani opened the scoring in the 10th minute of the 2009 FA Community Shield, but United eventually lost the match on penalties after a 2–2 draw. Nani suffered a dislocated shoulder during the match, which was originally expected to keep him out of the start of the season,[24] but he recovered in time to play 17 minutes for Portugal against Liechtenstein on 12 August,[25] and started the match against Birmingham City on 16 August. Although he provided the assist for Wayne Rooney's winning goal in the 34th minute, Nani was replaced by Ryan Giggs at half-time.[26] With the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid, there would be many wanting to take over free-kick duties and Nani put his mark down as first choice as he scored his first goal of the 2009–10 season from a free-kick against Wigan Athletic, scoring the final goal of a 5-0 away win.[27] International career Nani was the youngest member of the Portugal U-21 squad at the 2006 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship. He made his first appearance for the senior Portuguese team on 1 September 2006, and marked his debut with a goal in Portugal's 4–2 friendly defeat against Denmark.[2] Nani was a regular member of the Portuguese squad in qualification for UEFA Euro 2008, and scored one of the goals in the 2–1 away win over Belgium on 2 June 2007.[28] He also provided the assist for Ricardo Quaresma's goal in a friendly against Italy on 6 February 2008.[29] Nani's form for Manchester United during the 2007–08 season ultimately earned him a call-up to Luiz Felipe Scolari's 23-man squad for Euro 2008, alongside club team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo. He was only used sparingly during the campaign, but did manage to provide the assist for Hélder Postiga's goal during a 15-minute cameo in the quarter-finals against Germany on 19 June 2008. Portugal eventually lost the match 3–2.[30] Celebration Nani celebrates with a "mortal" or, in English, a "Leap of death", similar to that of Obafemi Martins and Lomana LuaLua. The celebration derives from Nani's background in capoeira, which he used to practice as a child. For a while, it was widely reported that United boss, Alex Ferguson, had banned Nani's celebration, fearing for his safety,[31] although this was never supported by any direct quotes from Ferguson or Nani. Despite the supposed ban, Nani has continued to celebrate in this manner.

rui costa

Rui Manuel César Costa, OIH (Portuguese pronunciation:; born 29 March 1972) is a former Portuguese football player and current Director of Football for Sport Lisboa e Benfica. An attacking midfielder also capable of playing as a deep-seated defensive midfielder, he most recently played for Portuguese club Benfica. In 2004, he was named by Pelé to the FIFA 100, a list of the 125 greatest living football players. Career At the age of five, Costa joined the infant indoor football team of Damaia Ginásio Clube. Rui tried his luck at Benfica. Within ten minutes of training, Portugal legend Eusébio, who was supervising the youngsters, was impressed at Rui's skills. Up until 1990, Rui played for Benfica's youth squads. That season he was loaned to Fafe on a season long deal. In 1991, after the Under-21 World Cup, which Portugal won after a victorious penalty kick scored by Costa, he returned to Benfica. There, he won the Cup of Portugal in 1993 and the Portuguese First Division title in 1993-94. This would be Benfica's last league title for 11 years. At the end of his third season in Benfica's senior squad, Fiorentina offered 1200 million escudos (about 6 million euros) for the young midfielder, an impressive fee at the time. Since Benfica was struggling with financial problems, Rui Costa had to leave. Despite the heavy competition with the best midfielders in that time such as Zinedine Zidane, Costa was named the best number 10 player in the Serie A a few times. His departure from Fiorentina was discussed every season, since many clubs constantly showed interest in signing him. However, he only left when Fiorentina went bankrupt after the 2001-02 season. Fatih Terim was the coach of Fiorentina in the 2000-01 season. When he was leaving Fiorentina for Milan, he took Costa with him, paying €35 million for the player. In doing so, Costa became Milan's most expensive transfer of all-time. Costa played five seasons in Milan, where he won one Serie A title, one Italian Cup, one Italian Super Cup, one UEFA Champions League, and one European Super Cup. In 2003, Brazilian youngster Kaká joined the ranks at Milan and relegated Costa to the bench. Though pleased with Kaká's success, he was disappointed to be restricted to the bench in the twilight of his career.[citation needed] In 2004, Costa played his last match for the Portuguese squad at the UEFA Euro 2004 final, when Portugal lost to underdogs Greece 1-0 in what was considered a titanic upset. On 25 May 2006, Costa's return to Benfica to play for the forthcoming season was announced in a press conference. He had been released from Milan after both the player and the club reached an agreement to end his contract. Costa also gave up his €4.6 million per year contract to play in the club that, year after year, had dreamt of his return.[1] Costa's affection for Benfica is publicly known and so is his desire to end his career at the Portuguese club. On 11 May 2008, Costa played his last game for Benfica against Vitória de Setúbal before announcing his retirement from football. On the following day, Costa was presented as the new leader of the football department, hiring Quique Sánchez Flores as the new manager of Benfica and being responsible for the formation of the team in the next season. During the 2008 Summer transfer window, Costa was able – already as Director of Football – to sign a few well-known players, such as Argentine playmaker Pablo Aimar and bringing in Spanish left-winger José Antonio Reyes and Honduran striker David Suazo in on loan, thus gaining general praise from both board and fans alike. On the following Summer, Costa further increased his efforts to build a solid Benfica team, with such signings as Argentinean striker Javier Saviola, Brazilian centre midfielder Ramires and Spanish defensive midfielder Javi García, along with experienced Portuguese manager Jorge Jesus. Golden Generation Costa is a member of the popularly coined "Golden Generation" in Portuguese football, alongside players such as Luís Figo, João Pinto, and Pauleta. The Portuguese under-20 national team won two successive World Youth Championships in 1989 and 1991; Costa and fellow FIFA 100 member Figo were members of the 1991 team. With their success at youth level, much was expected of the Portuguese national team at senior level. However, they did not win a major international tournament at senior level, although they reached the semi-finals at UEFA Euro 2000, qualified for the 2002 FIFA World Cup and the last several members helped lead Portugal to its first-ever major final at UEFA Euro 2004, losing in a massive upset to Greece. Despite being principally a provider, Costa scored 26 goals in 94 games for Portugal. Despite not winning any major international titles, they managed to bring Portugal to their finest moments since the days of the legendary Eusébio in the 1960s.