Alex Rodrigo Dias da Costa

Alex

Personal information
Full name	Alex Rodrigo Dias da Costa
Date of birth	17 June 1982 (1982-06-17) (age 28)
Place of birth	Niterói, Brazil
Height	1.89 m (6 ft 2 1⁄2 in)[1]
Playing position	Centre back
Club information
Current club	Chelsea
Number	33
Youth career
2000	CA Juventus
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2001–2004	Santos	103	(20 [2])
2004–	Chelsea	70	(5)
2004–2007	→ PSV (loan)	84	(11)
National team‡
2004	Brazil U-23	8	(2)
2003–	Brazil	17	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17:55, 22 July 2010 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 16:00, 19 July 2010 (UTC)

Alex Rodrigo Dias da Costa, better known as Alex (pronounced [aˈlɛks]; born 17 June 1982 in Niterói), is a Brazilian professional football player. Alex plays as a centre back currently for Chelsea and the Brazil national football team.

Having been bought by the Premier League club Chelsea in 2004, he was loaned to Dutch team PSV and he won 3 Eredivisie titles with them. Alex finally joined the Chelsea squad in the summer of 2007 after three years on loan to PSV in the Netherlands.^[3]

Contents 1 Club career 1.1 Santos 1.2 PSV 1.3 Chelsea 1.3.1 2007–08 1.3.2 2008–09 1.3.3 2009–10 1.3.4 2010–11 2 International career 3 Career statistics 3.1 All competitions 3.2 International career 4 Honours 4.1 Santos 4.2 PSV 4.3 Chelsea 4.4 Brazil 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Club career

[edit] Santos

Alex began his career with Santos of Brazil, making his first team debut in 2002. He, Diego, Elano, and Robinho were known as the famous group that played for Santos. He was signed by English club Chelsea in 2004 on the recommendation of famed PSV and Chelsea scout Piet de Visser, but because of potential problems in attaining a work permit, he was loaned out to Dutch club PSV.^[4]

[edit] PSV

The joint contract of Chelsea and PSV loaned Alex to PSV for three years, with Chelsea having a €1 buy-out clause. Alex eventually played three years at PSV, donning the number 4 jersey for the Dutch club.

He formally joined PSV in the 2004–05 season, helping the club win a domestic double of both the Dutch Eredivisie championship and Dutch Cup that year. In the UEFA Champions League 2004-05, Alex played a key role in the PSV team that was eliminated in the semi-finals against Milan on away goals (PSV won their home game 3–1 but had previously lost 0–2 in San Siro). The team eliminated Monaco and Lyon on their way to the semis.

Alex won a second straight Dutch league championship in the 2005–06 season with PSV. Chelsea did not recall Alex, even though Abramovich adviser Piet de Visser and Chelsea head of scouting Frank Arnesen recommended that Alex be brought over from PSV to solve the club's defensive problems.^[5] Instead, Chelsea manager José Mourinho insisted on the signing of Khalid Boulahrouz instead.^[5] Therefore, Alex stayed a third season at PSV on loan in 2006–07. He won a third straight Eredivisie title with PSV, after a dramatic final-day finish to the season in which PSV sensationally trumped both Ajax and AZ. Alex scored in a UEFA Champions League first knockout round against Arsenal for both teams in the second half, turning in an own goal past his own goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes, but compensating for it with a storming headed goal with eight minutes left to play to redeem himself and in the process ensure PSV a place in the quarter finals.^[6] However, he was later injured and played no part in PSV's UEFA Champions League quarter-final against Liverpool, which PSV lost 4–0 on aggregate.

[edit] Chelsea

[edit] 2007–08

In an interview with Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf, Alex confirmed that Chelsea were in the process of getting him a work permit and that the possibilities of him joining Chelsea next season were very high.^[7] Alex later confirmed that Chelsea had almost completed the process of acquiring him a work permit and that he would start next season as a Chelsea player.

Alex was granted a work permit on 2 August 2007, and completed his transfer to Chelsea after agreeing personal terms and passing a medical, signing a three year deal, and adding to Chelsea's options at centre-back, along with team captain John Terry, Portuguese international Ricardo Carvalho, and Israeli international Tal Ben Haim.

On 14 August 2007, Alex was presented to the English media, in a press conference with manager José Mourinho, and was given shirt number 33. He made his debut on 19 August 2007 when he came on as a substitute for Florent Malouda against Liverpool in the 85th minute, with the teams tied at 1–1. He also played in the 2–0 defeat away at Aston Villa and the 4–0 victory over Hull City in the Carling Cup.^[8]

Alex scored his first goal for Chelsea on 20 October 2007, bulging the net from an absolutely stunning free kick 30 yards out against Middlesbrough. He scored another goal from a free kick on 28 November 2007 in a Champions League game against Rosenborg.^[9] He then scored in Chelsea's 4–4 draw with Aston Villa, scoring his first goal at Stamford Bridge from an Andriy Shevchenko pass, taking his tally for the season to 3.

[edit] 2008–09

Alex enjoyed his longest spell in the first team during the 2008–09 season. He was given his chance due to Ricardo Carvalho being injured for long periods of the campaign. He scored Chelsea's 1000th Premier League goal against Sunderland on 1 November 2008. Alex started every game for Chelsea under Guus Hiddink, who managed Alex at PSV and also scored in an FA Cup quarter-final tie against Coventry City.

In the 2009 Champions League quarter-finals second leg at Stamford Bridge against Liverpool, Alex scored a sensational swerving canonball freekick from 30 yards to level the score to 2–2. The game eventually ended 4–4 and Chelsea won 7–5 on aggregate.^[10] Chelsea gained a semi-final tie against Barcelona. The first-leg at the Nou Camp ended goalless and in the second leg at Stamford Bridge, Alex played the full match. Chelsea were leading 1–0 up until the 93rd minute when Barcelona scored a dramatic, last-minute goal to draw the game 1–1 and Chelsea went out on away-goals.^[11] On 10 May, Alex scored a header in Chelsea's 4–1 Premier League win over Arsenal in the from a Didier Drogba free-kick.^[12] The goal was his second against the Gunners in his career.

[edit] 2009–10

Alex made his first pre-season debut against AC Milan in the World Football Challenge.^[13] On July 28, 2009, Real Madrid had made an £18m bid for Alex, but a few days later Chelsea rejected it.^[14]

Alex had yet to feature for Chelsea in the new season, because he had been out with a groin injury since August 15, 2009.^[15]

On October 13, 2009, Alex signed a new four-year contract with Chelsea, keeping him at Stamford Bridge until the summer of 2013.^[16]

Alex started his first game of the season in a Carling Cup match against Bolton Wanderers on 28 October 2009 playing the full 90 minutes. On Saturday 13 March 2010 he scored his first goal of the season at Stamford Bridge giving Chelsea the lead in a 4–1 league win over West Ham United.^[17]

Alex made his first Premier League start of the season against Portsmouth on December 16, 2009.^[18]

[edit] 2010–11

In light of Ricardo Carvalho's departure, Alex started the 2010/11 season as first choice centre back for Chelsea, alongside John Terry.

[edit] International career

Alex made his debut for Brazil on July 17, 2003 against Mexico in 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup. Although he played under Brazil U-23 team at the tournament, the tournament was a full international tournament, hence the international cap gained was fully recognized by FIFA.^[19]

He was overlooked for the 2006 FIFA World Cup squad. However, after the World Cup, he earned regular call-ups with the new head coach, Dunga. He was a member of the Brazil squad that won the Copa América 2007 with a 3–0 victory over arch-rivals Argentina in the final. He was dropped from Brazilian squad to 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup due to injuries.

On 11 May, he was called up to 2010 FIFA World Cup squad as one of the seven backup players.^[20]

[edit] Career statistics

[edit] All competitions

Season	Club	Country	Competition	Matches	Goals
2002	Santos	Brazil	Campeonato Brasileiro	24	3
2003	Santos	Brazil	Campeonato Brasileiro	34	9
2004	Santos	Brazil	Campeonato Brasileiro	4	0
2004–05	PSV	Netherlands	Eredivisie	40	5
2005–06	PSV	Netherlands	Eredivisie	36	2
2006–07	PSV	Netherlands	Eredivisie	37	8
2007–08	Chelsea	England	Premier League	39	3
2008–09	Chelsea	England	Premier League	40	4
2009–10	Chelsea	England	Premier League	23	1
Total				265	33

[edit] International career

As of April 1, 2009^{[21][22][23][24][25][26]}

National team Club Season Apps Goals Brazil Santos 2003 5 0 2004 0 0 PSV 2004–2005 0 0 2005–2006 0 0 2006–2007 9 0 Chelsea 2007–2008 3 0 2008–2009 0 0 Total 17 0

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 0 Unofficial friendly (Brazil U-23) November 18, 2003 Santos, Brazil Santos 3–1 0 Unofficial friendly (Brazil U-23) 2004 January 7, 2004 Concepción, Chile  Venezuela 4–0 0 2004 Olympic Games qualification (Brazil U-23) January 9, 2004 Concepción, Chile  Paraguay 3–0 0 2004 Olympic Games qualification (Brazil U-23) January 11, 2004 Concepción, Chile  Uruguay 1–1 0 2004 Olympic Games qualification (Brazil U-23) January 15, 2004 Concepción, Chile  Chile 1–1 1 2004 Olympic Games qualification (Brazil U-23) January 18, 2004 Valparaíso, Chile  Colombia 3–0 1 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) 2005–2006 September 6, 2005 Seville, Spain Sevilla FC 1–1 0 Unofficial friendly 2006–2007 6. August 16, 2006 Oslo, Norway  Norway 1–1 0 Friendly 7. September 5, 2006 London, England  Wales 2–0 0 Friendly October 7, 2006 Kuwait City, Kuwait Al Kuwait Selection 4–0 0 Unofficial friendly 8. June 5, 2007 Dortmund, Germany  Turkey 0–0 0 Friendly 9. June 26, 2007 Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela  Mexico 0–2 0 Copa América 2007 10. July 1, 2007 Maturín, Venezuela  Chile 3–0 0 Copa América 2007 11. July 4, 2007 Puerto la Cruz, Venezuela  Ecuador 1–0 0 Copa América 2007 12. July 7, 2007 Puerto la Cruz, Venezuela  Chile 6–1 0 Copa América 2007 13. July 10, 2007 Maracaibo, Venezuela  Uruguay 2–2 0 Copa América 2007 14. July 15, 2007 Maracaibo, Venezuela  Argentina 3–0 0 Copa América 2007 2007–2008 15. November 21, 2007 São Paulo, Brazil  Uruguay 2–1 0 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification 16. February 6, 2008 Dublin, Ireland  Republic of Ireland 1–0 0 Friendly 17. March 26, 2008 London, England  Sweden 1–0 0 Friendly

[edit] Honours

[edit] Santos

• Campeonato Brasileiro Série A: 2002

[edit] PSV

• Eredivisie: 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07
• KNVB Cup: 2004–05

[edit] Chelsea

• FA Premier League: 2009–10
• FA Cup: 2009, 2010
• FA Community Shield: 2009

[edit] Brazil

• Copa América: 2007

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Alex Rodrigo Dias da Costa

• Alex career stats at Soccerbase
• Chelsea profile
• Interview on Chelsea website
• Alex at PSV Eindhoven photos by Tvw
• Fanpage of Alex
• Dutch fanpage of Alex

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 (c) • 9 Ewerthon • 10 Diego • 11 Robinho • 12 Alexandre Negri • 13 Coelho • 14 André Bahia • 15 Nilmar • 16 Nádson • 17 Carlos Alberto • 18 Thiago Motta • Coach: Ricardo Gomes

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 (c) • 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 Chelsea F.C. – current squad 1 Čech · 2 Ivanović · 3 Cole · 5 Essien · 7 Ramires · 8 Lampard · 10 Benayoun · 11 Drogba · 12 Mikel · 15 Malouda · 17 Bosingwa · 18 Zhirkov · 19 Ferreira · 21 Kalou · 22 Turnbull · 23 Sturridge · 26 Terry · 33 Alex · 38 Van Aanholt · 39 Anelka · 40 Hilário · 43 Bruma · 44 Kakuta · 45 Borini · 46 McEachran · Manager: Ancelotti