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'''Lucas Pezzini Leiva''' (born 9 January 1987) is a Brazilian footballer who currently plays as a midfielder for [[Liverpool F.C.|Liverpool]]. He is often known solely by his first name, '''Lucas'''. A central midfielder, he is the nephew of former Brazilian footballer [[Leivinha]]. Saddley Lucas Was raped and murdered on March 26th 2010.
'''Lucas Pezzini Leiva''' (born 9 January 1987) is a Brazilian footballer who currently plays as a midfielder for [[Liverpool F.C.|Liverpool]]. He is often known solely by his first name, '''Lucas'''. A central midfielder, he is the nephew of former Brazilian footballer [[Leivinha]]. Sadly Lucas was raped and murdered on March 26th 2010.


==Club career==
==Club career==

Revision as of 20:51, 26 March 2010

In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Pezzini and the second or paternal family name is Leiva.
Lucas Leiva
Personal information
Full name Lucas Pezzini Leiva
Height 1.79 m (5 ft 10+1⁄2 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Liverpool
Number 21
Youth career
2004–2005 Grêmio
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2005–2007 Grêmio 38 (4)
2007– Liverpool 69 (1)
International career‡
2006–2007 Brazil U20 9 (4)
2008 Brazil U23 7 (0)
2007– Brazil 4 (0)
Medal record
Representing  Brazil
Men's Football
Bronze medal – third place 2008 Beijing Team Competition
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 7:33, 11 February 2010 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 9 January 2008

Lucas Pezzini Leiva (born 9 January 1987) is a Brazilian footballer who currently plays as a midfielder for Liverpool. He is often known solely by his first name, Lucas. A central midfielder, he is the nephew of former Brazilian footballer Leivinha. Sadly Lucas was raped and murdered on March 26th 2010.

Club career

Grêmio

2006 was a successful year for Lucas at Grêmio, winning the Rio Grande do Sul state championship (the Campeonato Gaúcho) for the first time since 2001, and also coming third in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A. Lucas also became the youngest player to ever to receive Placar magazine's Bola de Ouro (Golden Ball), given to the best player in the Campeonato Brasileiro — an honour previously won by the likes of Zico, Falcão, Careca, Alex, Fowi, Romario, Kaká and Tévez.[1]

His form in 2006 led to reported interest from many major European clubs including offers from top Spanish clubs and Inter.[2] It was Liverpool that proved most attractive to the player, however, and on 13 May 2007 the club confirmed they had signed the player from Grêmio before the start of the 2007–08 season.[3] The transfer fee was in the region of £6 million.[4] Lucas remained with Grêmio until the end of their 2007 Copa Libertadores campaign. They made it to the final where they met Boca Juniors. However, Lucas had a niggling injury, causing him to start the first leg on the bench. With Grêmio 1–0 down, Sandro Goiano was sent off. Lucas was brought on to help shore up the midfield, but to no avail as Grêmio lost 3–0. Lucas was back in the starting line-up for the second leg, but Grêmio were again defeated, this time 2–0.

Liverpool

On 26 July 2007, he was officially unveiled as a Liverpool player and given international clearance to compete in the final of the Barclays Asia Trophy.[5] Manager Rafael Benítez was pleased with his signing, saying: "I am looking forward to seeing him score goals for Liverpool in the future and [we] believe he has the mentality and the character you need to do well in England".[4] The next day, Lucas made his debut against Portsmouth, coming on for Mohamed Sissoko in the second half. He also won a penalty in the match against Everton after Phil Neville handballed on the line from Lucas's shot.

By late November, manager Benítez gave Lucas his chance to start a game in the Liverpool midfield, after easing him in during his first few months at the club. He quickly became popular with the fans after putting in mature displays against Newcastle and Bolton Wanderers. Lucas scored his first goal for Liverpool on 27 January 2008 when he curled a 25-yard shot into the top corner during an FA Cup match against Havant and Waterlooville, becoming the first Brazilian to score for Liverpool.[6] The young Brazilian also started league games against Chelsea and Arsenal, as well as both Champions League games against Inter Milan.

The start of the 2008–09 season signified an important turning point for his career. Many commentators expected him to step up to the next level after completing his first season with the Reds. The Brazilian got off to a good start with a well taken opening goal in a 2–1 friendly win over Swiss side FC Lucerne in July.[7] He impressed in pre-season games but missed the start of Premier League season due to his selection for the Brazilian Olympic Team in the Beijing Olympics.[8][9] He returned with a bronze medal and Benítez had high hopes for the Brazilian's future, stating "this season he will improve because he is a very, very good professional and has experience of the Olympic Games".[10] Lucas noted that Liverpool's squad was much improved from the previous season and relished the opportunity to compete for trophies, despite the increased difficulty of getting a first team place.[11] However, after a number of disappointing performances,[12][13] both critics and fans voiced concerns about Lucas' quality and his confidence was further knocked when Liverpool fans booed him after a lacklustre draw against Fulham. The criticism irked Benítez and he responded with a passionate defence of the player, saying that "people just don't know how good Lucas is"[14] Benitez also underlined Lucas' credentials, stating that he had been captain for both Grêmio and his national youth team, and that competing for place against Mascherano, Steven Gerrard and Xabi Alonso was inherently difficult. Lucas' performances in December 2008 for Liverpool drew him much praise from pundits, the highlight being his performance in the 5-1 thrashing of Newcastle, where he provided an assist for Steven Gerrard.[15][16] Lucas was sent off in a cup tie against Mersey rivals Everton, which Liverpool lost. This compounded his growing unpopularity amongst Liverpool's supporters, after he gave away a late penalty in Liverpool's previous match, a 1–1 draw with Wigan.[17][18]

On 14 March, Lucas played a key role in Liverpool's 4-1 victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford. Lucas started in place of the injured Xabi Alonso. On 14 April, Lucas played against Chelsea in the Champions League, in place of Steven Gerrard. His role was vital and he scored a crucial goal with his long range effort in the 81st minute deflected off Michael Essien and past Cech to make the score 3-3. Dirk Kuyt's header a minute later briefly gave Liverpool the lead, but Frank Lampard's 89th minute strike leveled the score to 4-4, with Chelsea winning 7-5 on aggregate to go through to the semi-finals of the tournament.[19]

On 3 May 2009, Lucas scored his first Premier League goal for Liverpool against Newcastle United in a 3-0 win.[20]

During the 2009-10 pre-season period, Lucas showed good form scoring Liverpool's only goal in a 1-2 loss against Atletico Madrid. This form earned praise from manager Rafael Benitez, and gained him a start against Tottenham Hotspur for the opening game of the 09/10 season on August 16. Liverpool lost 1-2 but Lucas earned praise for a solid performance all round.[21]

Lucas appeared in Liverpool's opening six games of the 2009/10 season, never previously having played six games consecutively for the club. Lucas is playing continuously since departure of Alonso.

The 2009/2010 season has seen a large increase in the form of the young Brazilian. Factual Premiership statistics up to the 25th of January 2010 have shown Lucas to be the most successful passer of the ball in the Premiership this season, clocking up over 1200+ successful passes. He is also the player with the 3rd highest amount of successful tackles. This rich vein of form on his part has effectively reduced £17 million signing Alberto Aquilani to a utility role within the squad.

International career

Lucas is the former captain of the Brazilian Under-20 team. He led the team to victory in the 2007 South American Youth Championship, scoring 4 goals in the process. He was expected to lead the team again in the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup held in Canada in July 2007 and was named in their squad. However an injury in training kept him from playing for 3 weeks, leading to his withdrawal from the squad.[22]

In October 2006, Lucas was included in the senior Brazilian squad for friendlies against Kuwaiti club Al-Kuwait and Ecuador. Lucas was both the youngest member and one of only two non-Europe based players in a strong squad. He made his debut for Brazil on 7 October 2006 coming on as a second half substitute against Al-Kuwait. Brazil won the match 4-0. However, this appearance does not count as his first cap as the match was not considered an official friendly match by FIFA.[23]

Lucas gained his first official Brazil international cap on 22 August 2007, coming on as a substitute in a friendly against Algeria.[24] In June 2008, Lucas was named in the Brazil squad for an Olympics warm-up match later in the month.[25]

On 19 August, Lucas was shown a red card in the Olympic semi-final between Brazil and Argentina after a challenge on Liverpool team- mate Javier Mascherano, as Argentina ran out 3-0 winners. In August 2009, Lucas was recalled to the senior Brazil squad in place of Flamengo's Kleberson, who was dropped due to injury.

Career statistics

Updated 12 September 2009

All-time club performance
Club Season Brazil Brazilian League Copa do Brasil Campeonato Gaúcho Libertadores Total
App Goals App Goals App Goals App Goals App Goals
Grêmio 2005 3 0 0 0 - - - - 3 0
2006 32 4 4 1 16 3 - - 52 8
2007 3 0 - - 9 2 8 1 20 3
Club Total 38 4 4 1 25 5 8 1 75 11
England Premier League FA Cup League Cup Europe Total
Liverpool 2007–08 18 0 4 1 3 0 7 0 32 1
2008–09 25 1 2 0 2 1 10 1 39 3
2009–10 30 0 2 0 0 0 9 0 19 0
Club Total 73 1 8 1 5 1 26 1 112 4
Career totals 101 5 10 2 30 6 33 2 174 15

Career honours

Grêmio

Brazil

Liverpool

Personal Awards

  • Winner

References

  1. ^ "FIFA U-20 World Cup Canada 2007: Lucas ready to lead Brazilian charge". Article by fifa.com. March 28, 2007. Retrieved May 12, 2007.
  2. ^ "Lucas Leiva: I turned down Inter Milan to sign for Liverpool". Liverpool Daily Post. 2008-02-12. Retrieved 2008-12-09. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  3. ^ "LEIVA: IMPOSSIBLE TO SAY NO TO LFC". Article by Mark Platt, liverpoolfc.tv. May 13, 2007. Retrieved May 14, 2007.
  4. ^ a b Eaton, Paul (2007-05-11). "Reds to sign Brazilian midfielder". Liverpool F.C. Retrieved 2008-12-09.
  5. ^ "RAFA HAILS NEW LEIVA-POOL SIGNING". Article on Liverpoolfc.tv. July 26, 2007. Retrieved July 26, 2007.
  6. ^ Barrett, Tony (2008-01-28). "Lucas: Rafa Benitez blast fired us on". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 2008-12-09. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  7. ^ "Classy Voronin inspires 2-1 win". Liverpool F.C. 2008-07-16. Retrieved 2008-12-09.
  8. ^ "Voronin on target in Krakow draw". 2008-07-19. Retrieved 2008-12-09.
  9. ^ "Ronaldinho gets Olympics go-ahead". BBC Sport Unfortunately. 2008-07-16. Retrieved 2008-12-09.
  10. ^ Doyle, Ian (2008-08-30). "Welcome return for Javier Mascherano at Liverpool". Liverpool Daily Post. Retrieved 2008-12-09. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  11. ^ "Lucas Leiva reveals Liverpool's success secret". Liverpool Daily Post. 2008-10-09. Retrieved 2008-12-09. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  12. ^ Adams, Tom (2008-11-26). "Liverpool v Marseille stats&ratings". Setanta Sports. Retrieved 2008-12-09.
  13. ^ Nixon, Alan (2008-11-23). "Rafa tinkering hits Kop bid". The Sunday People. Retrieved 2008-12-09. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  14. ^ "Liverpool midfielder Lucas Leiva receives backing from manager Rafael Benítez". The Telegraph. 2008-12-08. Retrieved 2008-12-09. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  15. ^ "Benitez backs Lucas to come good". BBC Sport. 2008-12-08. Retrieved 2008-12-09.
  16. ^ Doyle, Ian (2008-12-09). "PSV v Liverpool preview: Game could shape Lucas's future". Liverpool Daily Post. Retrieved 2008-12-09. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  17. ^ Kay, Oliver (2009-02-04). Dan Gosling strikes at the last to put Rafael Benítez’s men out of their misery. The Times. Retrieved on 2009-02-05.
  18. ^ "Mido penalty halts Reds". Sky Sports. 2009-01-28. Retrieved 2009-02-23.
  19. ^ http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=265552&cc=5901&league=UEFA.CHAMPIONS
  20. ^ "Liverpool 3-0 Newcastle". BBC Sport. 2009-05-03. Retrieved 2009-08-22.
  21. ^ "Benitez anger at Lucas criticism". ESPN. 2009-08-21. Retrieved 2009-08-22.
  22. ^ "New Signing Injured". by Paul Grech. June 30, 2007. Retrieved June 30, 2007.
  23. ^ "1ST TEAM SQUAD PROFILES". Liverpoolfc.tv. Retrieved 2008-10-16.
  24. ^ "Maicon and Ronaldinho See Off Algeria". Report on Goal.com. August 22, 2007. Retrieved August 23, 2007.
  25. ^ "Lucas named in Brazil Squad". Liverpoolfc.tv article. June 8, 2008. Retrieved June 8, 2008.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lucas_Leiva&oldid=352219914"