Player Profile: Airton
 Full Name: Airton Ribeiro Santos
Position: Midfeilder
Date of Birth: 21 February 1990
Place of Birth: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
A stocky built defensive minded player, Airton arrives in the Liga Sagres having just won the Brazilian championship with Flamengo.
Airton has so far played most of his professional football in midfield where he is encouraged to use his strength and tenacity to break up opposition attacks. He is also comfortable to drop back and play as part of a three man defence although his height could be seen as a disadvantage.
Yet to reach twenty years of age, Airton’s progress has been remarkable. Initially joining Flamengo’s youth team in 2008 on loan from provincial minnows Mesquita, Airton quickly progressed through to the first team culminating with his professional debut in April later that year.
Airton appears to be at his most comfortable in the hustle and bustle of a high tempo midfield where his strong tackling, close control and endless running are best suited. Comfortable in distributing the ball across midfield, Airton is also keen to play longer range passes up field to launch counter attacks.
After quickly establishing himself as a regular shortly upon breaking into the Flamengo first team, Airton’s on-field maturity soon caught the attention of scouts worldwide, with Benfica winning the race for his signature.
by Matthew Burgess (29/12/2009)
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