Eduardo da Silva

Eduardo da Silva

Personal information
Full name	Eduardo Alves da Silva
Height	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Position(s)	Striker, Winger
Team information
Current team	Arsenal
Number	9
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 19:50, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Alves and the second or paternal family name is da Silva.

Eduardo Alves da Silva (born 25 February 1983 in Rio de Janeiro), commonly known simply as Eduardo, is a Brazilian-born Croatian footballer currently playing for English Premier League club Arsenal F.C. and the Croatia national team. He has recovered after rehabilitation after suffering a compound fracture on his left fibula and a dislocated ankle in Arsenal's match against Birmingham City on 23 February 2008 and made his return for Arsenal Reserves against Portsmouth on 16 December 2008. On 16th of February 2009 he made a comeback to the first team in a FA cup replay against Cardiff in which he scored 2 goals

Club career

Early years

Eduardo grew up in the Rio de Janeiro neighbourhood of Bangu and made his first steps in club football with CBF Nova Kennedy and Bangu Atlético Clube , although he did not play regularly in the youth categories. He was later noticed by Dinamo Zagreb's scouts and joined the club's youth squad in September 1999. Eduardo stayed at Dinamo on trial until December 1999 and returned to the club in February 2000, starting to play regularly for their under-17 squad. Eduardo found his way to the first team in the summer of 2001, despite suffering some injuries early in his career.

After making his first-team debut with Dinamo in the 2001–02 season, Eduardo was loaned for one season to Croatian second division side Inker Zaprešić (now Inter Zaprešić) in 2002–03 to see more first-team action, scoring 10 goals in 15 league appearances for the club.

Dinamo Zagreb

Coming back from loan at Inter Zaprešić for the 2003–04 season, Eduardo quickly established himself as a regular in Dinamo Zagreb's first team. He was subsequently named the best player of the Croatian league in 2004 as well as in 2006 and 2007, when he was one of the key players in Dinamo Zagreb's team that won two consecutive titles in the Croatian league as well as one title in the Croatian Cup. In 2006, he also helped Dinamo winning the Croatian Supercup, scoring two goals in their 4–1 victory over Rijeka.

In the 2006–07 season, he scored five goals in six matches for Dinamo Zagreb in two qualifying rounds for the UEFA Champions League and in the first round of the UEFA Cup. After netting a brace in Dinamo Zagreb's 4–1 away win at Ekranas, he went on to score the first European goal at Arsenal's new Emirates Stadium in London on 23 August 2006 as Dinamo Zagreb suffered a 5–1 aggregate defeat in the third qualifying round for the UEFA Champions League. He also scored both goals in Dinamo's 5–2 aggregate defeat to AJ Auxerre in the first round of the UEFA Cup in September 2006.

Eduardo performed best for Dinamo Zagreb in the Croatian championship, netting 18 goals in 18 matches until the winter break of the 2006–07 season, including three braces and a hat-trick, and adding another seven assists to his tally. In addition to this, he was the only player who appeared in all of the club's 18 matches before the winter break, also being in the starting lineup in each of the 18 matches. In mid-November 2006, he scored two hat-tricks in two consecutive matches he played for Croatia and Dinamo Zagreb in a period of four days.

In Dinamo's 4–0 derby win over NK Zagreb on 12 May 2007, Eduardo scored his 30th and 31st league goals of the 2006–07 season and became the most successful Croatian league goalscorer of all time, breaking a 13-year-old record set by former Dinamo Zagreb striker Goran Vlaović with 29 goals scored for the club in the 1993–94 season. He finished the league season with 34 goals in 32 appearances. In the final league match of the season on 19 May 2007, he became the first player ever to score a hat-trick in a derby between Dinamo Zagreb and Hajduk Split, netting all three goals as Dinamo won the match 3–0.

Arsenal 2007-08

Eduardo training with Arsenal

On 3 July 2007, Arsenal confirmed that terms had been agreed with Dinamo Zagreb for the transfer of Eduardo for an undisclosed fee, believed to be around £7.5 million, subject to receiving a work permit. The initial work permit application was turned down by the Home Office, but the appeal hearing on 2 August reversed the decision. Eduardo made his Arsenal debut on 19 July as a 69th-minute substitute in a pre-season friendly against Gençlerbirliği in Austria and made his first start against Lazio in a 2–1 win at the Amsterdam Tournament 2007. He scored his first Arsenal goal in that game, a header from a Tomáš Rosický corner.

Eduardo made his Premier League debut on 19 August 2007 in Arsenal's 1–1 draw at Blackburn Rovers, being replaced by Denílson in the 65th minute. Ten days later, he netted his first competitive goal for the Gunners in their UEFA Champions League qualifier against Sparta Prague, setting the final score on 3–0 a few minutes from time. He went on to score his first group-stage goal in the Champions League on 19 September 2007, once again setting the final score on 3–0 in the last minute of stoppage time against Sevilla.

While still fighting to find his place as a regular in the Premiership for Arsenal, Eduardo continued to display his goalscoring abilities in the Carling Cup, scoring two braces in two consecutive matches for the club, against Sheffield United and Blackburn Rovers, and helping them to reach the semi-finals of the competition. Eduardo found more playing time in all competitions due to Robin Van Persie's lengthly injury and found himself partnering Arsenal team mate Adebayor more often. In late November 2007, he once again scored against Sevilla in the Champions League, this time netting an early goal in a match that Arsenal eventually lost 3–1.

Eduardo finally managed to find his place in Arsenal's starting line-up in the Premiership over Christmas and New Year period, scoring his first two Premiership goals in a 4–1 win at Everton on 29 December 2007, first levelling the score and then putting Arsenal 2–1 up in the opening 15 minutes of the second half. On New Year's Day 2008, he opened the scoring after only 72 seconds of the match against West Ham United; Arsenal went on to win 2–0. On the first weekend of the new year, he had a successful FA Cup debut as Arsenal faced Championship side Burnley on the road, first scoring the opening goal early on, and then setting up a second for Nicklas Bendtner midway through the second half. In the following three matches in January, he set up three more goals, providing two assists and winning a penalty. He went on to help Arsenal to return to the top of the Premier League in early February, scoring a goal in 3–1 away victory over Manchester City and assisting Philippe Senderos for an early goal in 2–0 win over Blackburn at the Emirates.

Leg injury

On 23 February 2008, Eduardo suffered a broken left fibula and an open dislocation of his left ankle in a match against Birmingham City, following a mistimed tackle by Martin Taylor, for which Taylor was sent off. Eduardo was immediately taken to Selly Oak Hospital, where he underwent surgery. Gilberto Silva was the only person in the vicinity who spoke Portuguese and was able to translate communication between Eduardo and the medical team. Eduardo's injury was so graphic that Sky Sports, which was broadcasting the game live, decided not to show replays of the incident. However, Match of the Day 2 later aired a replay that clearly showed the ankle area of Eduardo's leg at an unnatural position.

Arsène Wenger initially called for a lifetime ban for Taylor, but he retracted his comments later. Although blame was aimed at Taylor for making the tackle, teammates and mentors stated that he would never do such an act deliberately. Taylor claimed to have visited Eduardo in hospital and that an apology was accepted; Eduardo, however, could not remember Taylor's visit or even the tackle.

Return

Experts initially reported Eduardo's recovery time to be around 9-12 months, On 16 December 2008, he made his return to competitive football in an Arsenal Reserves match against Portsmouth. On 11 February Eduardo played in a friendly match between Romania and Croatia. He assisted Niko Kranjčar for the winning goal. On 16 February he started against Cardiff City in the FA Cup, scoring in the 21st minute with a header from a Carlos Vela cross. He then won and converted a penalty in the second half before being substituted by Robin van Persie, receiving a standing ovation from the Arsenal fans.

International career

In 2002, Eduardo took Croatian nationality and was first called up to play for the country's Under-21 team at the finals tournament of the 2004 European Under-21 Championship in Germany. He appeared in all three of Croatia's matches before they were eliminated from the tournament in the group stage. Eduardo also scored one goal in his international debut against Serbia and Montenegro national under-21 side. Eduardo was also called up to the Croatia team for the 2006 European Under-21 Championship qualifiers, in which he made a total of nine appearances and scored seven goals. However, Croatia failed to qualify for the final tournament after losing 5–2 on aggregate to Serbia and Montenegro in the play-offs, where Eduardo scored both of Croatia's goals. He won a total of twelve international caps and scored eight goals.

In the meantime, he was also called up a couple of times to play for the Croatia national football team. He made his international debut at senior level as a second-half substitute in the team's friendly match against the Republic of Ireland on 16 November 2004 at the age of 21. In 2005, he appeared in another two friendly matches for the Croatian team and also played in both of the team's two matches at the 2006 Carlsberg Cup in Hong Kong. He scored his first international goal for Croatia at the tournament, netting the third goal in the team's 4-0 victory over hosts Hong Kong in the third-place play-off on 1 February 2006. He was subsequently also a candidate for joining the national team at the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany, but in the end did not get called up by the team's then-coach, Zlatko Kranjčar, who commented that Eduardo "is a young player", that he "does not diminish his value" by not selecting him, and that he "most seriously counts on him in future matches".

After the 2006 World Cup, Eduardo returned to the national team under new coach Slaven Bilić and was a starting player in Croatia's friendly match against Italy on 16 August 2006, scoring the first goal in Croatia's 2–0 victory. He would later establish himself as one of the key players in Croatia's qualifying campaign for the Euro 2008. He made his competitive debut at senior international level in Croatia's goalless away draw against Russia on 6 September 2006 and went on to score his first competitive international goal for Croatia on 11 October 2006 in their 2–0 home win against England, when he opened the scoring by sending a looping header over the stranded Paul Robinson. In the following qualifier, away to Israel on 15 November 2006, Eduardo netted a hat-trick to help Croatia to drive home a narrow 4–3 victory over the strong Israeli side.

In Croatia's next qualifier, their first competitive game of the year 2007, at home against the sturdy Macedonian outfit on 24 March 2007, Eduardo scored the winner in the 88th minute to hand Croatia a 2–1 victory after trailing 1–0 at halftime. He went on to be Croatia's saviour in both of their qualifiers against Estonia, scoring all three goals in Croatia's 1–0 away and 2–0 home victories, as well as in their final home qualifier against Israel on 13 October 2007, where he netted the only goal in Croatia's 1–0 victory. He also set up Ivica Olić to score Croatia's 2nd goal in their 3–2 victory over England at Wembley—a win which saw England fail to qualify for Euro 2008. He finished the qualifying campaign with 10 goals in 12 matches and was the second-best goalscorer of the competition, after Northern Ireland's David Healy with 13 goals.

At Croatia's opening game of Euro 2008 against Austria, banners were shown in the crowd in respect for the faithful striker. His national team manager Slaven Bilić also dedicated Croatia's performance to him.

International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
01	1 February 2006	Hong Kong Stadium, Hong Kong	Hong Kong	0 – 3	0 – 4	Carlsberg Cup 2006
02	16 August 2006	Stadio Armando Picchi, Livorno, Italy	Italy	0 – 1	0 – 2	Friendly
03	11 October 2006	Maksimir Stadium, Zagreb, Croatia	England	1 – 0	2 – 0	Euro 2008 Qualifying
04	15 November 2006	Ramat Gan Stadium, Ramat Gan, Israel	Israel	1 – 2	3 – 4	Euro 2008 Qualifying
05	15 November 2006	Ramat Gan Stadium, Ramat Gan, Israel	Israel	1 – 3	3 – 4	Euro 2008 Qualifying
06	15 November 2006	Ramat Gan Stadium, Ramat Gan, Israel	Israel	2 – 4	3 – 4	Euro 2008 Qualifying
07	24 March 2007	Maksimir Stadium, Zagreb, Croatia	North Macedonia	2 – 1	2 – 1	Euro 2008 Qualifying
08	2 June 2007	A. Le Coq Arena, Tallinn, Estonia	Estonia	0 – 1	0 – 1	Euro 2008 Qualifying
09	22 August 2007	Koševo, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina	Bosnia and Herzegovina	0 – 1	3 – 5	Friendly
10	8 September 2007	Maksimir Stadium, Zagreb, Croatia	Estonia	1 – 0	2 – 0	Euro 2008 Qualifying
11	8 September 2007	Maksimir Stadium, Zagreb, Croatia	Estonia	2 – 0	2 – 0	Euro 2008 Qualifying
12	12 September 2007	Estadi Comunal, Andorra la Vella, Andorra	Andorra	0 – 5	0 – 6	Euro 2008 Qualifying
13	13 October 2007	Maksimir Stadium, Zagreb, Croatia	Israel	1 – 0	1 – 0	Euro 2008 Qualifying

Career statistics

(correct as of 30 November 2008)

Club	Season	League			Cup			Europe			Total
		Apps	Goals	Assists	Apps	Goals	Assists	Apps	Goals	Assists	Apps	Goals	Assists
Dinamo Zagreb	2001–02	4	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4	0	-
Inter Zaprešić	2002–03	15	10	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	15	10	-
Dinamo Zagreb	2003–04	24	9	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	24	9	-
Dinamo Zagreb	2004–05	21	10	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	21	10	-
Dinamo Zagreb	2005–06	27	20	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	27	20	-
Dinamo Zagreb	2006–07	23	34	-	8	8	-	4	3	-	39	52	-
Arsenal	2007–08	17	4	5	8	5	3	5	3	0	31	12	8
Arsenal	2008–09	0	0	0	1	2	0	0	0	0	1	2	-
Career		135	87	5	9	7	3	5	3	0	151	95	8

Honours

Dinamo Zagreb

• Prva HNL (2006, 2007)
• Croatian Cup (2004, 2007)
• Croatian Supercup (2003, 2004, 2006)

Individual

• Croatian Player of the Year: 2004, 2006
• Croatian First League Player of the Year: 2004
• Croatian First League Top Scorer: 2007

External links

• Profile at Arsenal.com
• Eduardo Alves da Silva at Soccerbase

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