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==Celebration==
==Celebration==
Nani celebrates with a 'mortal' or, in English, a 'Leap of death', similar to that of [[Obafemi Martins]] and [[Lomana LuaLua]]. He used to practice [[capoeira]] as a boy. This is basically one somersault with bent legs (optional), and then one with straight legs. For a while, it was widely reported that [[Manchester United F.C.|United]] boss [[Sir Alex Ferguson]] banned Nani's celebration, fearing for his safety<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/2007/07/27/fergie-bans-nani-celebration-89520-19528747/|title=Fergie bans Nani's celebration|accessdate = 2008-05-12|date=2007-07-27|publisher=[[The Mirror]]}}</ref> although this was never supported by any direct quotes from Ferguson or Nani. Despite the supposed ban, Nani has celebrated in this manner every time he has scored for United.
Nani celebrates with a 'mortal' or, in English, a 'Leap of death', similar to that of [[Obafemi Martins]] and [[Lomana LuaLua]]. He used to practice [[capoeira]] as a boy. This is basically one somersault with bent legs (optional), and then one with straight legs. For a while, it was widely reported that [[Manchester United F.C.|United]] boss [[Sir Alex Ferguson]] banned Nani's celebration, fearing for his safety<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/2007/07/27/fergie-bans-nani-celebration-89520-19528747/|title=Fergie bans Nani's celebration|accessdate = 2008-05-12|date=2007-07-27|publisher=[[The Mirror]]}}</ref> although this was never supported by any direct quotes from Ferguson or Nani. Despite the supposed ban, Nani has celebrated in this manner every time he has scored for United.

[[Robert Pinsky]] wrote a slightly bizarre poem about Nani: -

Nani is a [[beast]]
When he flips around
He looks like a freak (freast)
He never hits the ground.

Luís Carlos Almeida
da Cunha is a geezer
He likes English Cheddar (Chayder)
He gets it out of the freezer. (Frayder)

He looks like a little lad
Who has stolen a bike
Chad
Or Mike

He reminds me of Hazeem
To look at, he’s a [[dream]]

He has a floppy hair-do

He has a floppy hair-do

He.


==Career statistics==
==Career statistics==

Revision as of 21:07, 29 October 2008

For the technical director at West Ham, see Gianluca Nani.
Nani
Personal information
Full name Luís Carlos Almeida da Cunha
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Position(s) Winger
Team information
Current team
 Manchester United
Number 17
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 12:41, 14 September 2008 (UTC)

Luís Carlos Almeida da Cunha (born 17 November 1986 in Praia, Cape Verde), better known as Nani, is a Portuguese football winger who plays for English Premier League club Manchester United and the Portugal national team.

Biography

Nani emigrated with his family from Praia to Portugal at an early age. He was raised by his aunt in the Amadora district of Lisbon,[1] where he and childhood friend, Valencia C.F. midfielder Manuel Fernandes, would often kick a ball about together.[2]

Career

Early career

He grew up supporting F.C. Porto, and played junior football alongside Ricardo Vaz Té at Massamá youth club Real Sport Clube,[3] before joining the youth squad of Sporting Clube de Portugal.[1]

Sporting

Nani debuted for Sporting in 2005–06, making twenty-nine appearances and scoring four goals. In his second season, he had similar numbers with twenty-nine appearances and five goals. He also played in six UEFA games, scoring once.

Manchester United

Nani was sold to Manchester United for a £17 million fee, five percent (€1.25m) of which was paid to Real de Massamá.[1][4] He passed his medical on 6 June 2007, and signed a five-year contract.[5][6]

Nani scored on his debut in a pre-season friendly against Shenzhen Shangqingyin, in which United ran out 6-0 winners. He also scored in the following game against Guangzhou Pharmaceutical with a chip off the right post from the left side of the penalty area. Nani decided to set the record straight after reports suggested he had been banned by Sir Alex Ferguson from doing his trademark somersault celebration for fear of injuring himself. "That is not true", he said. "Ferguson has never spoken to me about this subject and I am going to continue to celebrate goals in this way. The conversations he has had with me are normal conversations, like he has with all players." [7]

Nani with Gilberto Silva

Nani made his competitive debut for Manchester United on 5 August 2007, coming on as a substitute in the Community Shield against Chelsea. He marked his debut with a trophy after the Red Devils won 3-0 on penalties, following a 1-1 draw in normal time.[8] This was followed up with Nani's third goal for the club three days later when he scored against Glentoran.

Nani's Premier League debut came in United's opening match at home to Reading on 12 August as a substitute for Wayne Rooney, who had suffered a foot injury.[9] On 26 August 2007. Nani scored his first competitive goal for Manchester United, scoring a 30-yard winner in the 69th minute against Tottenham. Nani also set up crucial goals for Louis Saha and Nemanja Vidić allowing United to beat both Sunderland and Everton 1-0, respectively.[10] He returned to his previous club in a Champions League tie in September, though it was teammate and also former Sporting man Cristiano Ronaldo who "stole the limelight" by scoring the winner in a 1-0 win.[11]

On 16 February 2008, Nani put on a Man Of the Match performance against Arsenal., in the FA Cup 4th round which ended with Man United winning their rivals 4-0. He capped of 2 assists with a sweetly taken goal. During the match, he was involved in an alteration with Arsenal captain William Gallas who felt that Nani was "showboating" as he had earlier done some silky skills which had caused Justin Hoyte to slip as he ran after him. After the match, Arsene Wenger was equally displeased and Gilberto Silva said that he had a "big head".

On 23 March 2008, Nani set up the second and scored the final goal in a 3-0 victory over rivals Liverpool, only six and eight minutes respectively, after coming onto the pitch as a substitute.[12]

On 3 May, Nani was sent off for the first time in his Manchester United career for a head-butt on West Ham United's defender Lucas Neill. [13]

On 21 May, Nani was substituted on for Wayne Rooney in the 2008 UEFA Champions League Final as United defeated Chelsea 6-5 on penalties following a 1-1 draw after extra time. Nani took and scored Manchester United's fifth penalty in the shootout. He scored his first goal of the 2008-09 season in the Carling Cup in a 3-1 win against Middlesbrough in the last minute to confirm victory. On 18 October, he scored from a Wayne Rooney assist to complete the 4-0 rout of West Bromwich Albion at Old Trafford.

International career

Nani was the youngest member of Portugal U-21 team at the 2006 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship. He made his first appearance for Portugal on 1 September 2006 and scored on his debut in a 2-4 friendly loss against Denmark.[14]

Nani has played for the Portugal A side, he scored one of the goals against the Belgium team in a 2-1 win. He also helped Ricardo Quaresma with the goal against Italy national football team. His form during the 2007/08 season with Manchester United earned him a call up to Luis Felipe Scolari's Euro 2008 23 man squad, alongside team mate Cristiano Ronaldo. He was only used sparingly during the campaign but did manage to assist team mate Hélder Postiga's goal during a 15 minute cameo in the quarter finals against Germany. Portugal eventually lost 3-2.

Celebration

Nani celebrates with a 'mortal' or, in English, a 'Leap of death', similar to that of Obafemi Martins and Lomana LuaLua. He used to practice capoeira as a boy. This is basically one somersault with bent legs (optional), and then one with straight legs. For a while, it was widely reported that United boss Sir Alex Ferguson banned Nani's celebration, fearing for his safety[15] although this was never supported by any direct quotes from Ferguson or Nani. Despite the supposed ban, Nani has celebrated in this manner every time he has scored for United.

Robert Pinsky wrote a slightly bizarre poem about Nani: -

Nani is a beast When he flips around He looks like a freak (freast) He never hits the ground.

Luís Carlos Almeida da Cunha is a geezer He likes English Cheddar (Chayder) He gets it out of the freezer. (Frayder)

He looks like a little lad Who has stolen a bike Chad Or Mike

He reminds me of Hazeem To look at, he’s a dream

He has a floppy hair-do

He has a floppy hair-do

He.

Career statistics

Club Season League Cup League Cup Europe Other[16] Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Sporting CP 2005–06 29 4 3 1 – 0 0 0 0 32 5
2006–07 29 5 0 0 – 6 1 0 0 35 6
Total 58 9 3 1 – 6 1 0 0 67 11
Manchester United 2007–08 26 3 2 1 1 0 11 0 1 0 41 4
2008–09 3 1 0 0 1 1 3 0 2 0 10 2
Total 29 3 2 1 2 1 13 0 3 0 51 6
Career total 86 12 5 2 2 1 19 1 3 0 115 16

Statistics accurate as of match played 30 September 2008

Honours

Nani playing for United in 2008, their title-winning season in the Premier League and the Champions League.

Club

Sporting CP

Manchester United

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Tom Worden and Simon Mullock (2007-06-17). "Slums Nurtured Nani". Sunday Mirror. Retrieved 2007-06-17. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ Charlie Henderson (2007-05-31). "Who are Anderson & Nani?". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2007-08-04. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ Steve Mills (2007-06-01). "Get to know... Nani". ManUtd.com. Retrieved 2008-04-22. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ^ Ricardo Gouveia (2007-07-19). "Real Massamá ainda não recebeu os cinco por cento de Nani" (in Portuguese). Maisfutebol. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help); Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ Steve Bartram (2007-07-02). "Reds complete triple signing". ManUtd.com. Retrieved 2007-07-02.
  6. ^ Ben Hibbs (2007-06-06). "Nani passes Reds medical". ManUtd.com. Retrieved 2007-06-06.
  7. ^ David McDonnell (2007-08-23). "Nani feels settled at United". ManUtd.com. Retrieved 2007-08-25. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ^ ManUtd.com (2007-08-05). "Report: Reds Lift Community Shield". ManUtd.com. Retrieved 2007-08-26. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  9. ^ ManUtd.com (2007-08-12). "Report: United 0 Reading 0". ManUtd.com. Retrieved 2007-08-26. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  10. ^ "Everton v Man Utd". Sky Sports. 2007-09-15. Retrieved 2008-09-22.
  11. ^ "Report: Sporting 0, United 1". ManUtd.com. 2007-09-19. Retrieved 2007-09-29. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  12. ^ "Report: United 3 Liverpool 0". ManUtd.com. 2008-03-23. Retrieved 2008-03-23.
  13. ^ Phil McNulty (2008-05-03). "Man Utd 4-1 West Ham". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2008-05-03.
  14. ^ Charlie Henderson (2007-05-31). "Who are Anderson & Nani?". BBC Sport. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  15. ^ "Fergie bans Nani's celebration". The Mirror. 2007-07-27. Retrieved 2008-05-12.
  16. ^ Includes other competitive competitions, including the FA Community Shield, UEFA Super Cup, Intercontinental Cup, FIFA Club World Cup
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