Andrés D'Alessandro

Football player infobox


playername = Andrés D'Alessandro
fullname = Andrés Nicolás D'Alessandro
nickname = El Cabezón, Mandrake, el Pibe
height = Height|m=1.63
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1981|4|15
cityofbirth = Buenos Aires
countryofbirth = Argentina
currentclub = Internacional
clubnumber = 15
position = Winger / Attacking Midfielder
youthyears =
youthclubs = River Plate
years = 1998–2003
2003–2005
2006
2006–2007
2007
2008
2008–
clubs = River Plate
Wolfsburg
→ Portsmouth (loan) → Zaragoza (loan) Zaragoza San Lorenzo
Internacional
caps(goals) = 70 (19)
61 0(8)
13 0(1)
36 0(2)
14 0(3)
08 0(2)
06 0(2)
nationalyears = 2001–
nationalteam = Argentina
nationalcaps(goals) = 26 0(4)
pcupdate = August 24, 2008
ntupdate = June 10, 2006

Andrés Nicolás D'Alessandro (born April 15, 1981 in La Paternal, Buenos Aires, Argentina) is a left-footed Argentine footballer who currently plays for Sport Club Internacional in Brazil. He is best known for his dribbling and his short passing ability.

Career

D'Alessandro started off his working career as a young pizza delivery boy [Page 12 of News of the World sport section; April 9, 2006.] in Argentina before becoming a professional footballer. Known as "El cabezón" ("The Big Headed") for how large his head looks on his small frame (he is only 5'4") rather than any ego connotations, he emerged through the River Plate youth system that has produced much of Argentina's top talent over the years. He followed the likes of Santiago Solari and Pablo Aimar through the ranks, together with Javier Saviola, with whom he shared the limelight in the 2001 Youth World Championship held in Buenos Aires. D'Alessandro started out that tournament as a substitute, but injuries in the team allowed him a place in the team during the later games. Argentina won the title after beating Ghana 3-0.

After his transfer to Wolfsburg for a club record €9m, [ [http://www.uefa.com/competitions/intertotocup/news/kind=1/newsid=80971.html uefa.com - UEFA Intertoto Cup - News & Features - News Specific ] ] D'Alessandro played in the Argentine U-23 team that won the gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics. On September 21 2005, D'Alessandro scored the Bundesliga's 4,000th goal since its creation in 1963, for the fourth goal in a 4-2 victory over Hannover 96.

In January 2006, much to the surprise of most fans, D'Alessandro joined English Premiership club Portsmouth on loan for the remainder of the season. [ [http://www.uefa.com/footballeurope/news/kind=2/newsid=430493.html uefa.com - Football Europe - News & Features - News Specific ] ] His main objective with his new club was to blend in with new teammates and help his club survive relegation. On Easter Monday April 17 2006, he scored his first goal in English football - a contender for goal of the season - in Portsmouth's 2-1 defeat away to Charlton Athletic. Portsmouth survived and manager Harry Redknapp was looking to sign D'Alessandro on a permanent basis for Portsmouth. But D'Alessandro was attracting the attention of many European clubs with strong interest from the likes of Atlético Madrid and Benfica. On 17 June 2006 he ended the speculation regarding his career by completing a season-long loan switch to La Liga outfit Real Zaragoza citing his desire to play in Spain as a major factor in his decision. On June 6 2007 he signed a contract at Zaragoza, keeping him at the club until 2011.

In 2008, he joined his former River Plate manager Ramón Díaz at Argentine club San Lorenzo. However, after Díaz left the club, D'Allesandro opted to move to Brazil to play for Internacional. Playing for the former Copa Libertadores champions, he described as a "step forward" in his career [http://www.goal.com/en/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=799856] .

References

External links

*de icon [http://www.vfl-wolfsburg.de/index.php?id=950 Interview]
*es icon [http://www.futbolxxi.com/Futbolista.aspx?ID=12064&SEOFutbolista=D'Alessandro+Andres+Nicolas Argentine Primera statistics] at Futbol XXI
*en icon [http://soccernet.espn.go.com/players/stats?id=33894&cc=3888 ESPN Stats]
*en icon [http://www.123football.com/players/d/andres-d-alessandro/ Short Bio]
*en icon [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/p/portsmouth/4665826.stm Portsmouth snap up D'Alessandro] from the BBC Sport website
*en icon [http://home.skysports.com/list.asp?hlid=395815&plid=17085&clid=190&cpid=23 D'Alessandro joins Real] from Sky Sports