Robinho

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Robinho

Personal information
Full name	Robson de Souza
Date of birth	25 January 1984 (1984-01-25) (age 25)
Place of birth	São Vicente, Brazil
Height	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[1]
Playing position	Striker / Winger
Club information
Current club	Manchester City
Number	10
Senior career1
Years	Club	Apps (Gls)2
2002–2005	Santos	142 (60)
2005–2008	Real Madrid	131 (35)
2008–	Manchester City	031 (14)
National team3
2004	Brazil U-23	008 0(3)
2003–	Brazil	070 (19)[2]
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of May 28, 2009 (UTC). 2 Appearances (Goals) 3 National team caps and goals correct as of June 29, 2009.

Robson de Souza (born 25 January 1984 in São Vicente, São Paulo), commonly known as Robinho, is a Brazilian footballer, who currently plays for Manchester City and the Brazilian national team.

Robinho was personally picked by Pelé as his heir apparent at only 15 years of age and went on to lead Santos to its first Campeonato Brasileiro title since Pelé himself played for the same legendary Brazilian club.^{[citation needed]} Since then he won another title with Santos, two more with Real Madrid and one Copa América title with the Brazil.

[edit] Club career

[edit] Santos

In 2002, at the age of seventeen, Robinho signed his first professional contract with Santos in Brazil. He made 24 appearances in his debut season and scoring 10 goals as Santos won the 2002 Campeonato Brasileiro. He reached the final of the 2003 Copa Libertadores with Santos, but lost in the final to Boca Juniors. In 2004, Robinho finished with 21 goals and led Santos to another title.

His form had brought him to the attention of many European clubs in the summer of 2004, but Robinho remained with Santos after the Brazilian club rejected all offers. However, his form suffered in the 2004-05 season after his mother, Marina da Silva Souza, was kidnapped by gunmen at her Praia Grande home on November 6, but she was released unharmed six weeks later after a ransom was paid.^[3]

Robinho scored nine goals in twelve league games, and his value continued to increase as his talent became more and more apparent to the powers of European football. Santos began to realize it would become increasingly difficult to hold on to their star player. In July 2005, Spanish giants Real Madrid signed Robinho by agreeing to pay a fee equal to 60 percent of the buyout clause in his contract belonging to Santos (€24 million).^[4]

[edit] Real Madrid

Robinho earned the shirt number 10 for Real Madrid. He ended up making 37 appearances and scored 14 goals in his first season. The pressure and high expectations imposed on Robinho led to infighting in the Real Madrid dressing room between the Spanish based 'Raul faction' and the Ronaldo and Zidane led Galactico faction brought in by Florentino Perez. Robinho got caught in the middle of this battle of egos between 'Galacticos' and the 'Raulista' faction and although he had some outstanding games and showed plenty of brilliance and promise, without a capable and united supporting cast he was unable to show the world his consistent best.^{[citation needed]}

At the start of the 2006–07 campaign, Robinho and David Beckham were considered too flashy and glamorous and rapidly fell out of favor with new footballing regime instituted by Ramon Calderon and carried out by manager Fabio Capello and he spent much of the first few months of the season on the bench, this even after being player of the match in the first Super Classico against Barcelona that year. Only after the winter break did Robinho and Beckham find themselves in the starting eleven and they were both as Real Madrid won their thirtieth league title. That title was the third league title of Robinho's career.

However, Capello was subsequently fired and Bernd Schuster was appointed as head coach of Real Madrid. He finished with eleven goals and fourteen assists for Madrid in the 2007–08 La Liga season as well as six goals during Real Madrid's UEFA Champions League campaign. Robinho then got injured at the beginning of the second half of the season. He didn't recover fully enough to help Madrid against Roma in the Champions League. The week before though, Robinho saved Real Madrid's La Liga title hopes with a clutch two goal performance on 3 March 2008, as Madrid defeated Recreativo away from home.^[5] That game kept a resurgent Barcelona at bay and ultimately secured Real Madrid's fourteenth league title and Robinho's fourth.

Despite being Real Madrid's highest scorer during his Madrid years behind strikers Raul and Van Nistelrooy, the player with the most assists behind Guti, and the only Madrid player, along with goalkeeper Casillas, to finish in the top ten of the Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year nominations for 2007–08, there were dark clouds forming over team president Ramon Calderon's refusal to renew his contract which was first promised to take place at mid-season then promised to happen at the end of the season. Calderon went back on his word twice, as moves were already underway to use Robinho as trade bait to bring in Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United. Robinho only found out about it when the initial deal with Cristiano Ronaldo fell through as a result of Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson's outright refusal to bargain with Real Madrid, who then backtracked and tried to finally make a concerted effort to renew Robinho's contract once their attempts to sign Cristiano Ronaldo failed. For Robinho, Madrid's behavior under Calderon was not only disrespectful, but a betrayal, which he would not soon forgive. Against tremendous pressure from the Spanish media and the Real Madrid club itself, Robinho demanded to be traded and a deal with Chelsea looked to be in the making. Chelsea didn't meet Real Madrid's asking price, which eventually led Robinho to choose Manchester City, as his new destination in the Barclay's English Premiership.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Manchester City

Robinho playing for Manchester City.

On 1 September 2008, the final day of the Premier League summer transfer window, Robinho completed a €42.5 million (£32.5m) move to Manchester City, with wages in the region of £160,000 per week.^[6] This occurred on the same day the club was bought out by the Arab investment company Abu Dhabi United Group.^[7][8]

He had previously been linked with a transfer to Chelsea,^[9] and he had emphasised his desire to play for the London club up to the eve of the transfer.^[10] On 27 August, Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon said that the club were "confident" that the transaction would go through,^[11] and Madrid had also given their consent for the player to leave.^[11]

In an interview with The Guardian, Robinho stated that City being a big club and the presence of friends Jô and Elano were incentives for him to join the team. He made his team debut and scored his very first Premier League goal on 13 September 2008, in a 3–1 home defeat to Chelsea.^[12] On 26 October, he scored his first Premier League hat-trick against Stoke City,^[13] and he scored his first European goal for City in a 3–2 UEFA Cup group stage win over Twente on 6 November. He was given the captain's armband for the match against Hull City, due to Richard Dunne's suspension, which ended in a 2–2 draw.

On 19 April he scored his 13th league goal for Manchester City in the 2–1 win away at Everton on 25 April, Manchester City's first away win since 31 August 2008. The following week, he scored his third consecutive goal in three games, against Blackburn Rovers to help Manchester City to a 3–1 win. Robinho has his own song from the City fans, which is simply "We've got Robinho", which they sang on the night they signed him and continue to sing on match days.^{[citation needed]} Robinho finished the season as City's top goal scorer with 14 and the 4th top scorer in the league.

[edit] International career

Robinho playing against Switzerland.

Robinho earned his first cap for Brazil in the 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup match on July 13, which Brazil lost 1–0 to Mexico. Although Brazil chose to send their under-23 team, the CONCACAF Gold Cup matches are considered as full international matches by FIFA. He was part of Brazil squad for 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup, which Brazil went on to win.

He played in four of Brazil's five 2006 FIFA World Cup matches as a reserve, but finished the tournament goalless. However, Robinho was in top form in the Copa América 2007 a year later. For the tournament, he wore the number 11 jersey, the same number that his childhood hero Romário wore. Robinho scored all four of Brazil's group stage goals via a hat-trick in Brazil's 3-0 group stage match against Chile, and a penalty in a 1–0 win over Ecuador. His last two goals came in a 6–1 quarterfinal thrashing of Chile. Robinho reaped the individual honors, finishing as the Golden Boot winner in addition to being named the best player of the tournament. Robinho has one cap as captain and that was a friendly against Algeria on 22 August 2007, due to the absence of regular captains, Lúcio and Gilberto Silva, while Kaká and Ronaldinho were on the bench.

On 28 June 2009, he was a member of the Brazil team that won the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa. He played in every games in the competition, including in the final against the United States, which Brazil came back from two goals deficit to finally won the game 3–2.^[14]

[edit] Career statistics

As of May 10, 2009

[edit] International statistics

As of June 29, 2009^{[17][18][19][20][21]}

National team Club Season Apps Goals Brazil Santos 2003 5 0 2004 1 0 2005 11 4 Real Madrid 2005–2006 10 1 2006–2007 15 6 2007–2008 13 2 Manchester City 2008–2009 15 6 Total 70 19

International appearances and goals # Date Venue Opponent Result Goal Competition 2003 1. July 13, 2003 Mexico City, Mexico  Mexico 0–1 0 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup (Brazil U-23) 2. July 16, 2003 Mexico City, Mexico  Honduras 2–1 0 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup (Brazil U-23) 3. July 19, 2003 Miami, United States  Colombia 2–0 0 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup (Brazil U-23) 4. July 23, 2003 Miami, United States  United States 2–1 0 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup (Brazil U-23) 5. July 27, 2003 Mexico City, Mexico  Mexico 0–1 0 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup (Brazil U-23) November 15, 2003 São Paulo, Brazil Corinthians 2–0 1 Unofficial friendly (Brazil U-23) November 18, 2003 Santos, Brazil Santos 3–1 1 Unofficial friendly (Brazil U-23) 2004 January 7, 2004 Concepción, Chile  Venezuela 4–0 1 2004 Olympic Games qualification (Brazil U-23) January 9, 2004 Concepción, Chile  Paraguay 3–0 1 2004 Olympic Games qualification (Brazil U-23) January 11, 2004 Concepción, Chile  Uruguay 1–1 1 2004 Olympic Games qualification (Brazil U-23) January 15, 2004 Concepción, Chile  Chile 1–1 0 2004 Olympic Games qualification (Brazil U-23) January 18, 2004 Valparaíso, Chile  Colombia 3–0 0 2004 Olympic Games qualification (Brazil U-23) January 21, 2004 Valparaíso, Chile  Argentina 0–1 0 2004 Olympic Games qualification (Brazil U-23) January 23, 2004 Viña del Mar, Chile  Chile 3–1 0 2004 Olympic Games qualification (Brazil U-23) January 25, 2004 Viña del Mar, Chile  Paraguay 0–2 0 2004 Olympic Games qualification (Brazil U-23) 6. September 5, 2004 São Paulo, Brazil  Bolivia 3–1 0 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification 2005 7. February 9, 2005 Hong Kong, Hong Kong  Hong Kong 7–1 1 Friendly 8. March 27, 2005 Goiânia, Brazil  Peru 1–0 0 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification 9. March 30, 2005 Montevideo, Uruguay  Uruguay 1–1 0 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification 10. April 27, 2005 São Paulo, Brazil  Guatemala 3–0 0 Friendly 11. June 5, 2005 Porto Alegre, Brazil  Paraguay 4–1 1 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification 12. June 8, 2005 Buenos Aires, Argentina  Argentina 1–3 0 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification 13. June 16, 2005 Leipzig, Germany  Greece 3–0 1 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup 14. June 19, 2005 Hanover, Germany  Mexico 0–1 0 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup 15. June 22, 2005 Cologne, Germany  Japan 2–2 1 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup 16. June 25, 2005 Nuremberg, Germany  Germany 3–2 0 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup 17. June 29, 2005 Frankfurt, Germany  Argentina 4–1 0 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup 2005–2006 18. August 17, 2005 Split, Croatia  Croatia 1–1 0 Friendly 19. September 4, 2005 Brasília, Brazil  Chile 5–0 1 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification September 6, 2005 Seville, Spain Sevilla FC 1–1 0 Unofficial friendly 20. October 9, 2005 La Paz, Bolivia  Bolivia 1–1 0 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification 21. October 12, 2005 Belém, Brazil  Venezuela 3–0 0 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification 22. November 12, 2005 Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates  United Arab Emirates 8–0 0 Friendly May 30, 2006 Basel, Switzerland FC Lucerne Selection 8–0 1 Unofficial friendly 23. June 4, 2006 Geneva, Switzerland  New Zealand 4–0 0 Friendly 24. June 13, 2006 Berlin, Germany  Croatia 1–0 0 2006 FIFA World Cup 25. June 18, 2006 Munich, Germany  Australia 2–0 0 2006 FIFA World Cup 26. June 22, 2006 Dortmund, Germany  Japan 4–1 0 2006 FIFA World Cup 27. July 1, 2006 Frankfurt, Germany  France 0–1 0 2006 FIFA World Cup 2006–2007 28. August 16, 2006 Oslo, Norway  Norway 1–1 0 Friendly 29. September 3, 2006 London, England  Argentina 3–0 0 Friendly 30. September 5, 2006 London, England  Wales 2–0 0 Friendly October 7, 2006 Kuwait City, Kuwait Al Kuwait Selection 4–0 1 Unofficial friendly 31. October 10, 2006 Stockholm, Sweden  Ecuador 2–1 0 Friendly 32. November 15, 2006 Basel, Switzerland  Switzerland 2–1 0 Friendly 33. March 24, 2007 Gothenburg, Sweden  Chile 4–0 0 Friendly 34. March 27, 2007 Stockholm, Sweden  Ghana 1–0 0 Friendly 35. June 1, 2007 London, England  England 1–1 0 Friendly 36. June 5, 2007 Dortmund, Germany  Turkey 0–0 0 Friendly 37. June 26, 2007 Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela  Mexico 0–2 0 Copa América 2007 38. July 1, 2007 Maturín, Venezuela  Chile 3–0 3 Copa América 2007 39. July 4, 2007 Puerto la Cruz, Venezuela  Ecuador 1–0 1 Copa América 2007 40. July 7, 2007 Puerto la Cruz, Venezuela  Chile 6–1 2 Copa América 2007 41. July 10, 2007 Maracaibo, Venezuela  Uruguay 2–2 0 Copa América 2007 42. July 15, 2007 Maracaibo, Venezuela  Argentina 3–0 0 Copa América 2007 2007–2008 43. August 22, 2007 Montpellier, France  Algeria 2–0 0 Friendly 44. September 9, 2007 Chicago, United States  United States 4–2 0 Friendly 45. September 12, 2007 Boston, United States  Mexico 3–1 0 Friendly 46. October 14, 2007 Bogotá, Colombia  Colombia 0–0 0 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification 47. October 17, 2007 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil  Ecuador 5–0 0 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification 48. November 18, 2007 Lima, Peru  Peru 1–1 0 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification 49. November 21, 2007 São Paulo, Brazil  Uruguay 2–1 0 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification 50. February 6, 2008 Dublin, Ireland  Republic of Ireland 1–0 1 Friendly 51. March 26, 2008 London, England  Sweden 1–0 0 Friendly 52. May 31, 2008 Seattle, United States  Canada 3–2 1 Friendly 53. June 6, 2008 Boston, United States  Venezuela 0–2 0 Friendly 54. June 15, 2008 Asunción, Paraguay  Paraguay 0–2 0 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification 55. June 18, 2008 Belo Horizonte, Brazil  Argentina 0–0 0 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification June 22, 2008 Volta Redonda, Brazil Rio de Janeiro State Selection 1–0 0 Unofficial friendly (Brazil U-23) 2008–2009 56. September 7, 2008 Santiago, Chile  Chile 3–0 1 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification 57. September 10, 2008 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil  Bolivia 0–0 0 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification 58. October 10, 2008 San Cristóbal, Venezuela  Venezuela 4–0 2 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification 59. October 15, 2008 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil  Colombia 0–0 0 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification 60. November 19, 2008 Brasília, Brazil  Portugal 6–2 0 Friendly 61. February 10, 2009 London, England  Italy 2–0 1 Friendly 62. March 29, 2009 Quito, Ecuador  Ecuador 1–1 0 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification 63. April 1, 2009 Porto Alegre, Brazil  Peru 3–0 0 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification 64. June 6, 2009 Montevideo, Uruguay  Uruguay 4–0 0 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification 65. June 10, 2009 Recife, Brazil  Paraguay 2–1 1 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification 66. June 15, 2009 Bloemfontein, South Africa  Egypt 4–3 0 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup 67. June 18, 2009 Pretoria, South Africa  United States 3–0 1 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup 68. June 21, 2009 Pretoria, South Africa  Italy 3–0 0 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup 69. June 25, 2009 Johannesburg, South Africa  South Africa 1–0 0 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup 70. June 28, 2009 Johannesburg, South Africa  United States 3–2 0 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup

[edit] Honours

Santos

• Campeonato Brasileiro: 2002, 2004

Real Madrid

• La Liga: 2006–07, 2007–08
• Supercopa de España: 2008

International

• FIFA Confederations Cup: 2005, 2009
• Copa América: 2007

Individual

• Bola de Ouro: 2005
• World Soccer Young Player of the Year: 2004-2005

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Robinho career stats at Soccerbase
• Robinho FIFA competition record
• Robinho Profile and Stats - Football Database
• Robinho official website - Official Robinho website
• Robinho Stats - Futpédia
• Robinho Profile - sambafoot.com

Brazil squad v • d • e Brazil squad – 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup Runners-up 1 Gomes • 2 Maicon • 3 Luisão • 4 Alex • 5 Adriano • 6 Paulo Almeida • 7 Júlio Baptista • 8 Kaká • 9 Ewerthon • 10 Diego • 11 Robinho • 12 Alexandre Negri • 13 Coelho • 14 André Bahia • 15 Nilmar • 16 Nadson • 17 Carlos Alberto • 18 Thiago Motta • Coach: Ricardo Gomes v • d • e Brazil squad – 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup Winners (2nd Title) 1 Dida • 2 Maicon • 3 Lúcio • 4 Roque Júnior • 5 Emerson • 6 Gilberto • 7 Robinho • 8 Kaká • 9 Adriano • 10 Ronaldinho • 11 Zé Roberto • 12 Marcos • 13 Cicinho • 14 Juan • 15 Luisão • 16 Léo • 17 Gilberto Silva • 18 Juninho • 19 Renato • 20 Júlio Baptista • 21 Oliveira • 22 Edu • 23 Gomes • Coach: Parreira v • d • e Brazil squad – 2006 FIFA World Cup 1 Dida • 2 Cafu • 3 Lúcio • 4 Juan • 5 Emerson • 6 Roberto Carlos • 7 Adriano • 8 Kaká • 9 Ronaldo • 10 Ronaldinho • 11 Zé Roberto • 12 Rogério Ceni • 13 Cicinho • 14 Luisão • 15 Cris • 16 Gilberto • 17 Gilberto Silva • 18 Mineiro • 19 Juninho • 20 Ricardinho • 21 Fred • 22 Júlio César • 23 Robinho • Coach: Parreira v • d • e Brazil squad – Copa América 2007 Winners (8th Title) 1 Helton • 2 Maicon • 3 Alex • 4 Juan • 5 Mineiro • 6 Gilberto • 7 Elano • 8 Gilberto Silva • 9 Vágner Love • 10 Diego • 11 Robinho • 12 Doni • 13 Daniel Alves • 14 Alex Silva • 15 Naldo • 16 Kléber • 17 Josué • 18 Fernando • 19 Júlio Baptista • 20 Anderson • 21 Afonso Alves • 22 Fred • Coach: Dunga v • d • e Brazil squad – 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup Winners (3rd title) 1 Júlio César • 2 Maicon • 3 Lúcio • 4 Juan • 5 Felipe Melo • 6 Kléber • 7 Elano • 8 Gilberto Silva • 9 Luís Fabiano • 10 Kaká • 11 Robinho • 12 Victor • 13 Daniel Alves • 14 Luisão • 15 Miranda • 16 André Santos • 17 Josué • 18 Ramires • 19 Júlio Baptista • 20 Kléberson • 21 Pato • 22 Nilmar • 23 Gomes • Coach: Dunga