Afonso Alves

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This name uses Portuguese naming customs. The first or maternal family name is Alves and the second or paternal family name is Martins.

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Afonso Alves
Afonso Alves 1.jpg
Personal information
Full name Afonso Alves Martins Júnior
Date of birth (1981-01-30) 30 January 1981 (age 43)
Place of birth Belo Horizonte, Brazil
Height Script error: No such module "person height".
Position(s) Striker
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2001–2002 Atlético Mineiro 6 (4)
2002–2003 Örgryte 39 (28)
2004–2006 Malmö FF 55 (29)
2006–2008 Heerenveen 39 (45)
2008–2009 Middlesbrough 42 (10)
2009–2010 Al Sadd 12 (2)
2009–2010 → Al Rayyan (loan) 7 (8)
2010–2012 Al Rayyan 27 (19)
2012–2013 Al Gharafa 4 (0)
Total 231 (145)
International career
2007 Brazil 8 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Afonso Alves Martins Júnior (born 30 January 1981), known as simply Afonso Alves, is a former Brazilian footballer who played as a striker. Alves enjoyed the most successful period of his career playing at Heerenveen in the Dutch Eredivisie, where his goal-to-game ratio was higher than a goal a game. This precipitated a club record move to English club Middlesbrough in January 2008. Alves was capped for Brazil on eight occasions.

Early life

Alves was born on 30 January 1981, in Belo Horizonte, Brazil's third biggest city. He was brought up by his mother, Dona Eliade, and has a brother, Alexsander, and sister, Alexandra. His father died when he was nine years old.[1]

Club career

Early career

Alves started his career with Brazilian side Atlético Mineiro. In 2002 he left Atlético Mineiro for the Swedish club Örgryte from Göteborg. In 2004 he moved to Malmö FF, where he won the Swedish League that year. He stayed for the 2005 season, scoring 14 in 24 games, becoming the club's top-scorer for the second year running when Malmö finished fifth. Alves was at Malmö for the start of the 2006 season, and scored three goals in seven matches.

Heerenveen

Afonso Alves with Heerenveen

In Summer 2006, he moved to the Dutch club SC Heerenveen of the Eredivisie for €4.5 million, which remains their highest-ever transfer fee paid.

In his first season, he finished as top goalscorer of the Eredivisie with 34 goals (in 31 games), which is a club record. Alves is the third Brazilian to become topscorer in the Dutch first division, joining former PSV strikers Romário and Ronaldo, and the second Brazilian who scored over 30 goals in the same competition, with Ronaldo netting 30 in the 1994–95 season. Other than finishing first in the scorers table, he was runner-up in the race for the European Golden Boot, a single point behind Roma forward Francesco Totti.

On 7 October 2007, in only his second appearance of the season, Alves scored seven goals in his side's 9–0 victory over Eredivisie rivals Heracles Almelo,[2] setting a new Eredivisie record for most goals scored in a single match. Heerenveen's manager (Gertjan Verbeek) had already made three substitutions yet chose to take Alves off the pitch in the 89th minute to pay tribute to his fantastic performance.

Despite his impressive track record, his departure was surrounded by some controversy after he did not show up at several training sessions, while still under contract at SC Heerenveen and some remarks he made, insinuating that teammates in the Brazilian national team laughed at him for playing for such a small club.[citation needed]

Middlesbrough

Alves with Middlesbrough

In the January transfer window of the 2007-08 season he moved to Premier League side Middlesbrough on 31 January 2008. Alves' transfer fee was said to have been €20 million, on a four and a half year contract.[3]

He made his debut on 9 February, against Fulham as a second-half substitute for Lee Dong-Gook. His first Middlesbrough start came on 27 February in an FA Cup home tie against Sheffield United, when he was substituted in the 73 minute. Middlesbrough eventually won the game 1–0.[4]

His first two goals for Middlesbrough came at the Riverside Stadium on 6 April against Manchester United in a 2–2 draw.[5] He finished his first season in England with a hat-trick in an 8–1 home victory against Manchester City.[6]

Alves' first goal of the 2008–09 season came on 30 August, where he scored a 25-yard free-kick which flew into the top corner of the Stoke City net.[7] He then scored goals against Blackburn Rovers and a penalty against Manchester City, two against Barrow and one against local rivals Sunderland with a goal from 18 yards out. However, Alves could not find the form which led to his record move, and with a haul of just four league goals the season turned out to be a disappointing one for both him and Middlesbrough, who were relegated to the Championship.

Al-Sadd

On 4 September 2009 Alves moved to Al-Sadd on a three-year deal for £7 million.[8] He scored 2 goals in 12 league matches, and scored one goal in the Qatari Stars Cup after three games. Alves then accepted a loan bid from another Qatari League club, Al Rayyan SC.

Al-Rayyan (loan)

On 31 January 2010, Alves was loaned to the Qatari seven-time league champion Al Rayyan SC, coached by the Brazilian coach Paulo Autuori. Alves scored 18 goals on his loan spell, 9 of them in seven matches of the AFC Cup, and seven goals in seven league matches. He officially moved to Al-Rayyan in May 2010.[9]

Al-Rayyan

Alves in Al-Rayyan colours

Alves officially moved to Al Rayyan SC for a further two years after winning the 2010 Emir of Qatar Cup with Al Rayyan on 15 May 2010.[10]

Alves shortly emerged as a fan favorite, however he suffered a ligament injury in his left knee in December which kept him out of action for eight months. While recovering, he stated "Offers may’ve come to me during the transfer period, but I never bothered to listen to them and left them all to my agent. While recuperating from surgery, I remained in touch with coach Paulo (Autuori) and the club management, and kept them updated on my progress." He is expected to rejoin Al-Rayyan as their top striker and start the 2011–12 season in Al-Rayyan's starting eleven.[11]

Al Gharafa

On 11 September 2012, he signed a 1–year deal with QSL giants Al Gharafa as their fourth professional player.[12]

Retirement

Alves announced his retirement from professional football on his Instagram page on 5 October 2015.[13] Alves had been training with the youth team of his former club Heerenveen the days before his decision to retire.[14]

International career

On 17 May 2007, Alves received his first call-up for the Brazilian national team for friendlies against England and Turkey.[15] On 1 June, in the game against England, Alves was brought on to replace Kaká after 71 minutes of play and very nearly scored after a Wes Brown slip. He was also part of the Brazilian squad which won the Copa America 2007 in Venezuela. Alves scored his first international goal on 12 September 2007 against Mexico in a 3–1 win.

Personal life

Alves left Brazil as a 21-year-old in 2002 to move to Sweden. He has a son, Felipe Henrique, who is a footballer at Atletico Mineiro's Tupinambas Academy, and lives with Alves' former girlfriend in Brazil.[1]

Career statistics

Club Performance[16]
Club Season Qatari League Qatari Stars Cup Emir of Qatar Cup Asia Total
App Goals App Goals App Goals App Goals App Goals
Al Gharafa 2012–13 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0
Al Rayyan 2011–12 18 15 2 3 0 0 0 0 20 18
2010–11 9 4 3 3 0 0 0 0 12 7
Al Rayyan (loan) 2009–10 7 9 0 0 3 2 7 9 17 18
Al-Sadd 2009–10 12 2 3 1 0 0 0 0 15 3
Club Season Premier League FA Cup League Cup Europe Total
App Goals App Goals App Goals App Goals App Goals
Middlesbrough 2008–09 31 4 1 3 1 0 0 0 33 7
2007–08 11 6 3 0 0 0 0 0 14 6
Club Season Eredivisie KNVB Cup Europe Total
App Goals App Goals App Goals App Goals App Goals
Heerenveen 2007–08 8 11 1 0 1 0 10 11
2006–07 31 34 1 0 6 3 38 37
Club Season Allsvenskan Swedish Cup Europe Total
App Goals App Goals App Goals App Goals App Goals
Malmö FF 2006 7 3 0 0 0 0 7 3
2005 24 14 3 0 6 3 33 17
2004 24 12 1 0 2 0 27 12
Örgryte IS 2003 21 10 3 3 2 2 26 15
2002 18 13 0 0 18 13
Atlético Mineiro 2001–02 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 1
Total 224 137 21 13 4 2 24 17 273 169
a Updated 19 December 2012

Honours

Club

Malmö FF

Allsvenskan: 2004

Al-Rayyan

Emir of Qatar Cup: 2010

Qatar Crown Prince Cup: 2012

Country

Brazil

Copa América: 2007

Individual

References

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External links

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