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Players: Abel Freddy Adu H. Almeida Bruno Alves Anderson J. Andrade N. Assis Vitor Baia Boa Morte Bosingwa M. Caneira Cardozo R. Carvalho Ze Castro Jorge Costa Rui Costa Conceicao Costinha F. Couto M. da Costa Dady Deco Di Maria Y. Djalo Duda M. Fernandes P. Ferreira Luis Figo Luis Filipe Nuno Gomes L. Gonzalez Helton Izmailov Karagounis Katsouranis Liedson L. Lopez Luisao David Luiz Makukula Maniche Mantorras F. Meira R. Meireles P. Mendes Miguel Miguelito Moreira J. Moutinho Nani Nelson Pauleta C. Peixoto Pepe Petit Pereirinha Joao Pinto H. Postiga Polga Quaresma Quim Ricardo R. Rocha C. Rodriguez Ronaldo Romagnoli P. Sousa Simao Tarik Tiago J. Tomas Tonel Miguel Veloso Hugo Viana Vukcevic Abel Xavier Select player

Player profile: Nani

Full name: Luis Carlos Almeida da Cunha

Position: Forward

Date of Birth: 17 November 1986

Birthplace: Amadora, Portugal

Nani is the latest outstanding talent to be produced by Sporting’s seemingly endless conveyor belt of world-class wingers. The same system that produced Luis Figo, Simao, Cristiano Ronaldo and Ricardo Quaresma appears to have unearthed another sensation capable of attaining the heights of such exalted company.

Nani started his career at his local club Massama on the outskirts of Lisbon before joining Sporting’s famed youth academy.

His speed, strength and trickery have led many to compare him with Cristiano Ronaldo, and like the Manchester United winger Nani has the added bonus of having a keen eye for goal. He is equally at home on either flank.

He broke into the first team at 18 years of age, and made an immediate impression with his dazzling footwork and extreme speed, scoring 6 goals in his debut season.

Trademark celebration

Each goal is exuberantly celebrated, with an acrobatic somersault on the run that wouldn’t shame an Olympic gymnast.

Nani enjoyed a blistering start to the 2006/07 season with two goals in Sporting’s first two matches and another on his international debut where he gave a man-of-the-match display against Denmark.

That was followed up by an outstanding goal in the Champions League against Spartak Moscow, and Europe’s biggest clubs began to take note. Manchester United and Inter Milan are among a host of top European giants reportedly vying for Nani’s signature.

The speculation prompted Sporting president Soares Franco to publicly state that Nani was not for sale, before tying the winger to a contract until 2010 with a reported buy-out clause of 25 million euros.

Nevertheless, with the goals continuing to flow it would not be a huge surprise if Sporting were unable to hold on to him for too long.

2006/07 end-of-season update

The excellent progress made by Nani throughout the season saw him play a key role in an exciting Sporting team that won the Portuguese Cup and agonisingly missed out on the championship by one point.

Fans of the Lisbon club were then left in shock as Manchester United paid 25.5 million euros to take the precociously talented winger to Old Trafford on 30 May 2007.

To complete a memorable week for the 20-year-old, just three days later he scored his first competitive goal for Portugal as big Phil’s team scored a vital 2-1 Euro 2008 qualification win in Belgium.

CLUB APPEARANCES* GOALS Sporting** 38 8       PORTUGAL 4 1

* League only
** Up to October 2006