Douglas Franco Teixeira

Douglas

Personal information
Full name	Douglas Franco Teixeira
Date of birth	12 January 1988 (1988-01-12)
Place of birth	Florianópolis, Brazil
Height	1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)
Playing position	Defender
Club information
Current club	Twente
Number	19
Youth career
2004–2006	Joinville
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2006–2007	Joinville	2	(0)
2007–	Twente	115	(9)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18:45, 15 September 2011 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals).

Douglas Franco Teixeira (born 12 January 1988), simply known as Douglas, is a Brazilian-born Dutch professional footballer who currently plays for FC Twente in the Netherlands.

He is a commanding central defender, displaying strong aerial ability, and he is widely considered to be one of the best defenders in the Eredivisie.

Career

Club career

Born in Florianópolis, Douglas began his career with Joinville at the age of 16. He joined Dutch team FC Twente on trial prior to the 2007–08 season, playing his first match in a friendly against Borussia Mönchengladbach on 7 September 2007. Douglas made his competitive Twente debut on 22 December 2007, coming on as a 90th minute substitute in an Eredivisie match against SC Heerenveen. His first start came on 23 February 2008 against AZ Alkmaar, in a 0–0 draw.

In May 2008, his playing form attracted interest from "several bigger clubs". However, he opted to sign a contract extension until 2012.

His impressive form over the next season drew the attention of Italian team Juventus, as well as German teams Hamburger SV and VfL Wolfsburg. He dismissed interest from fellow Dutch clubs PSV and AFC Ajax as he felt it was "inconceivable" for him to play for any team in the Netherlands other than Twente.

On 28 February 2011, Douglas was suspended for six matches by the Dutch FA. The suspension related to an incident in Twente's previous match against AZ Alkmaar in which he was sent off for what initially looked like a punch on AZ midfielder Pontus Wernbloom, but after replays it was discovered there was no contact. In protest he proceeded to push match referee Ruud Bossen and then push Pontus Wernbloom whilst being escorted off. Douglas had already been fined and suspended by Twente for the original sending off.

International career

Douglas has yet to represent the Brazil national team. In September 2010 he said that although he would still prefer to represent Brazil, he felt this was unrealistic due to his lack of exposure playing in the Netherlands and that, if the opportunity were to arise, he would be interested in playing for the Netherlands. He decided to begin the process of attaining Dutch citizenship, a decision welcomed by national team manager Bert van Marwijk. On 2 November 2011, he received his Dutch passport.

References

General

• Voetbal International (Dutch)
• Douglas Franco Teixeira on Playerhistory.com

Specific