Denílson Pereira Neves
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- This is a Portuguese name; the first family name is Pereira and the second is Neves.
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Denílson Pereira Neves | ||
| Date of birth | 16 February 1988 | ||
| Place of birth | São Paulo, Brazil | ||
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)[1] | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Arsenal | ||
| Number | 15 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| São Paulo | |||
| Senior career1 | |||
| Years | Club | Apps (Gls)2 | |
| 2005–2006 | São Paulo | 12 (0) | |
| 2006– | Arsenal | 60 (3) | |
| National team3 | |||
| Brazil U-20 | |||
| 2006– | Brazil | 0 (0) | |
| 1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 15:08, 25 May 2009 (UTC). 2 Appearances (Goals). |
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Denílson Pereira Neves, known as Denílson (born on 16 February 1988 in São Paulo, Brazil) is a Brazilian footballer who usually plays as a central midfielder. He plays for English side Arsenal and used to be the captain of the Brazil under-20 national team.
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[edit] Early life
Denilson is the second of four sons born to Jose and Luciene Pereira. His father, Jose, is a former midfielder at Botafogo in North Brazil. However, he was forced to quit football in order to support his family. Once his family moved to São Paulo, Jose worked as a security guard for 15 years in order to support his wife and sons, but taught his children the game he loved. When Denilson turned 10, his mother died of a heart condition. Before she died she told Denilson that he would be a great footballer who would "make his dad and her very happy".
Denilson and his family survived extreme poverty as his parents struggled to raise him and his brothers in the dangerous favelas in São Paulo. Many times, he and his brothers could not leave their home because of an ensuing gun fight. Many of Denilson's childhood friends have since died as they become involved in the drug trade.[2]
[edit] Club career
[edit] São Paulo
He started his career at São Paulo, where he was part of the side that won the 2005 Copa Libertadores and the 2005 FIFA Club World Cup. However, he was "basically a reserve" for São Paulo, having only made twelve appearances for the club, eight of those coming off the substitutes' bench.
[edit] Arsenal
[edit] 2006–07 season
On 31 August 2006, Denílson joined English club Arsenal for a fee of £6.4 million wearing the number 15. Many were surprised by his transfer to Arsenal because of his lack of experience in club football.[3] He has been described as "a little bit in between Tomáš Rosický and Gilberto" by Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger.[4]
Denílson was included in Arsenal's 18-man squad that travelled to face CSKA Moscow in the UEFA Champions League on 17 October 2006; he was named on the substitutes bench for the match, but did not play. He had to wait until 24 October 2006 for his first-team debut, when he started a Carling Cup third round match against West Bromwich Albion. He was ever-present in Arsenal's 2006–07 Carling Cup campaign.
He made his Premiership debut for Arsenal on 30 December 2006, coming on as a substitute in a 1–0 defeat against Sheffield United at Bramall Lane.
[edit] 2007–08 season
His first goal for Arsenal came in the Carling Cup third round fixture against Newcastle United on 25 September 2007, sealing a 2–0 win. The good performance and goal seemed to have secured him a long-term place at Arsenal after it was announced that he had secured a new contract with the club on 18 October 2007. Denílson scored another long-range shot in a Carling Cup match against Sheffield United on 31 October 2007, netting the final goal in Arsenal's 3–0 win. Denílson's first league start came on 24 November 2007 in a match against Wigan Athletic and the young Brazilian once again impressed, with Arsenal eventually winning the match 2–0 thanks to late goals from William Gallas and Tomáš Rosický. He received his first red card at Ewood Park against Blackburn Rovers in the Carling Cup quarter-finals, where he was sent off moments before extra time.
[edit] 2008–09 season
Due to the sale or departure of many experienced players such as Mathieu Flamini and Alexander Hleb, Denílson received more playing time and has since partnered Cesc Fàbregas in central midfield on many occasions. He was named in the starting line-up for all of Arsenal's five competitive matches in August 2008, scoring his first Premier League goal on 30 August 2008 in their 3–0 win at home to Newcastle United. He continued to play as a regular for Arsenal through December and scored his second Premier League goal in their 3–1 away win at Bolton Wanderers on 20 September 2008. With Fàbregas out for the last remaining months of 2008, he did well to fill in for the captain and was rewarded with more playing time. Denílson added a third Premier League goal at Aston Villa in a 2–2 draw on 26 December 2008. On 11 March 2009, he converted his penalty to seal a 7-6 shoot-out victory over A.S. Roma in the Champions League Round of 16 second-leg match. This season Denilson was statistically Arsenals best player[1]Overall, he managed on average 59 accurate passes a game this season and Alexandre Song just 38 while Matthieu Flamini last year made 47.
[edit] International career
Denilson has played for and captained Brazil at every level since he was a member of the under-15 squad.[5] In November 2006, Denílson was called up to the Brazilian national side for a friendly match against Switzerland to replace his Arsenal team mate Gilberto Silva who pulled out for personal reasons.[6] However, he did not make his debut, as he was an unused substitute in the match.
[edit] Personal life
Denilson is described as "very quiet and polite" and is often compared to Gilberto Silva, his former teammate at Arsenal. Denilson often credits Gilberto with his current success as he acted as a "father" to him when he first moved from Brazil to London.[7]
Denilson is fond of Brazilian music and the samba—he can even be found on YouTube singing and dancing with his former Brazilian Arsenal teammates Gilberto Silva and Julio Baptista.[8] After scoring his first goal in the 2008–09 season he danced a samba in front of the crowd.
[edit] Arsenal career statistics
- (correct as of 25 May 2009)[9]
| Club | Season | League | Cup[10] | Europe | Total | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Assists | Apps | Goals | Assists | Apps | Goals | Assists | Apps | Goals | Assists | ||
| Arsenal | |||||||||||||
| 2006–07 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 0 | 1 | |
| 2007–08 | 13 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 2 | 3 | |
| 2008–09 | 37 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 51 | 3 | 7 | |
| Career totals | 60 | 3 | 10 | 16 | 2 | 1 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 93 | 5 | 11 | |
[edit] Honours
São Paulo
Brazil national team
[edit] References
- ^ "Denilson Profile". http://soccernet.espn.go.com/players/profile?id=73264&&cc=3888.
- ^ http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/article1853539.ece
- ^ Bellos, Alex (2007-01-31). "Denilson times his run to perfection". The Guardian. http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,,2002448,00.html.
- ^ "Denilson in 18 man squad for trip to Moscow". arsenal.com. http://www.arsenal.com/article.asp?thisNav=News&article=422344&lid=NewsHeadline&Title=Denilson+in+18-man+squad+for+trip+to+Moscow. Retrieved on October 16 2006.
- ^ http://www.tribalfootball.com/?q=content/denilson-credits-arsenal-breakthrough-gilberto-silva
- ^ Gilberto and Edmilson both missing
- ^ http://www.tribalfootball.com/?q=content/denilson-credits-arsenal-breakthrough-gilberto-silva
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfwGyU86WQo
- ^ Denílson Pereira Neves, soccernet.espn.go.com, accessed 1 January 2009.
- ^ Includes FA Cup, League Cup and FA Community Shield
[edit] External links
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