Alexandre Pato (Brazil)

Alexandre Rodrigues da Silva (born 2 September 1989 in Pato Branco, Paraná), commonly known as Alexandre Pato, is a Brazilian footballer who plays as a striker for Italian Serie Aclub Milan and the Brazilian national team. The nickname "Pato" is in honour of his place of birth, but has led to commentators calling him "The Duck", which is the literal translation of"Pato" from Portuguese.

He started playing indoor football in his hometown at the age of three. Soon, his ability became known all around the south Brazilian state of Paraná for being a skillful and talented goal scorer and, after being praised by many of his managers, the teenager went to Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, to try out for Grêmio. He was turned away by Grêmio, the club whom he had supported since a boy – but local rivals Internacional convinced him to play for them. Despite the two clubs being bitter enemies, Pato’s parents convinced their youngster to switch his allegiance.^[2][3]

Pato said in an interview with the Brazilian television program, Esporte Espetacular that at age 11, he broke his arm and while examining the injuries, doctors found a tumour in the arm and feared the arm needed to be amputated. A successful operation removed the tumour.^[4]

In June 2006, at only 16 years of age, Pato was signed by Sport Club Internacional to compete in the Campeonato Brasileiro Sub-20. Despite the fact that he was competing against players up to four years older than him, Pato became top scorer of the competition as Internacional Sub-20 defeated Grêmio 4–0. Ready to join the Inter first team in November that same year, his debut finally happened at the Estádio Palestra Itália against São Paulo giants Palmeiras for the Campeonato Brasileiro. Alexandre Pato met and surpassed any and all expectations of what was expected of him as he scored his first professional goal within the first minute of the game. The rest of his participation was spent dribbling and confusing defenders as he made two assists (and almost scoring another himself) to help Internacional rout Palmeiras 4–1. He was substituted off in the 77th minute.

Pato was included in the Internacional squad that competed and won the 2006 FIFA Club World Cup. During the event, Pato broke a prodigious record as he became the youngest ever player to score on a FIFA competition, at the age of 17 years and 102 days old, againstAfrican club champions Al-Ahly. The previous record holder, the legendary Pelé, was 17 years and 239 days old when he scored againstWales national football team during the 1958 FIFA World Cup.

Keeping up with his promising figure, Pato debuted at the Campeonato Gaúcho on February 24 against Veranópolis and scored a goal in the 2–1 victory. He also debuted in Copa Libertadores on February 28 against Emelec of Ecuador (also his first game at Beira-Rio) and scored once during the 3–0 thumping. But the biggest highlight of Pato's time with Internacional was during the Recopa Sudamericana as he helped Inter win their first ever title. Against Pachuca of Mexico, he scored one goal in the 2–1 defeat in Mexico. But on the return game in June 7 and with more than fifty-one thousand Colorados present, Pato had a luxurious performance as he scored once and led the 4–0 thrashing to win Internacional's third international title.

Despite a £14 million bid for Pato from Internazionale^[5], incumbent European champions A.C. Milan officially confirmed the signing of Pato on 2 August 2007,^[6] paying €22 million to transfer his contract from Internacional.^[7] Due to FIFA football regulations regarding non-EU minors, Pato was unable to play official matches for Milan until 3 January 2008, when the Italian transfer window and registration reopened.^[8]However, Milan was allowed to include the player in friendlies and training beginning 3 September 2007, one day after his 18th birthday. Pato made his non-competitive debut in a 2–2 draw against Dynamo Kiev on 7 September 2007 and scored a header. On 4 January 2008, Pato's transfer to Milan became official.^[9]

Pato scored his first Milan goal on his Serie A debut against Napoli in a 5–2 home victory on 13 January 2008. He scored his first brace for Milan, in a 2–0 victory over Genoa at the San Siro on 27 January 2008. He finished the 2007–08 season with 9 goals in 20 appearances (18 in the league).

In late 2008, Pato scored two goals in Milan's 5–1 win over Udinese just before the Christmas break, and managed to shine again with a brace against Roma the following matchday at the Stadio Olimpico on 11 January 2009, proving that he is a vital part of Milan's attack. He continued his impressive form for Milan, hitting six goals in four games, including a game winning strike against Fiorentina on 18 January. On 15 February, he scored his 11th goal of the season in a 2–1 defeat against home rivals Internazionale. On 26 February, Pato scored his 12th goal of the season against Werder Bremen in the UEFA Cup, a game Milan drew 2–2; but with this, were knocked out the competition on the away goals rule. Pato continued his good form with two goals against Siena on 15 March. Pato finished the 2008–09 season as Milan's top goalscorer with 18 goals.

On 22 August 2009, in the first Serie A match of the 2009/2010 season, Pato scored a goal in each half during the 2–1 win against Siena.^[10]Around two months later, on 21 October 2009, during matchday 3 of the Champions league group stage, Pato scored 2 second half goals in a 3–2 win against Real Madrid at the Bernabéu. He has since played at the right wing in a 4–3–3 formation. On 18 January 2010, Pato was awarded the 2009 Serie A Young Footballer of the Year award at the Oscar del Calcio ceremony becoming the first Brazilian to be awarded with the title. On his return to the team from injury , Pato scored a goal in each of Milan's next three games against Udinese, Bari, andFiorentina. On February 28, he scored a brace in the first half at the San Siro, helping Milan beat Atalanta 3–1 but coming off halfway through the second half due to a hamstring injury. This injury forced him to miss two crucial trips to Roma and Manchester United. To conclude Pato's season, he injured the same muscle again shortly after returning and was forced to miss the rest of the season, playing only 20 games due to constant injuries.

After gaining prominence at club level, Pato was called up for the youth teams of Brazil. He helped Brazil win the 2007 South American Youth Championship, which qualified the country for the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup, and was selected by Brazil coach Dunga for the 2008 Summer Olympics.^[11] He scored his first goal for the senior Brazilian team on his debut against Sweden at the Emirates Stadium in England on 26 March 2008, beating Pelé's record of scoring a goal within seconds of his full international debut.^[3] He was not called by Dunga to play the2010 World Cup.

Since 2007, Pato had been engaged to Brazilian actress Sthefany Brito, two years his senior. They split up in January 2009 and it was stated that it was a mutual decision as neither of them could keep a long-distance relationship.^[12] However, they got back together and on the evening of 7 July 2009, Pato and Sthefany wed in a ceremony at the Copacabana Palace, in Rio.^[13] However, on 21 April 2010, Pato and Sthefany announced their break-up. Sthefany cited Pato's constant partying as the reason for their split. ^[14]

Senior club appearances and goals correct as of 12 February, 2010. ¹Continental Competitions include the Copa Libertadores, Recopa Sudamericana, UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup/Europa League
²Other Tournaments include the FIFA Club World Cup and Campeonato Gaúcho

 Brazil

 Internacional