Alex (footballer, born 1977)

Alex

Alex playing for Fenerbahçe in 2011
Personal information
Full name	Alexsandro de Souza
Date of birth	(1977-09-14) 14 September 1977 (age 46)
Place of birth	Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s)	Attacking midfielder
Team information
Current team	Antalyaspor (manager)
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1995–1997	Coritiba	24	(4)
1997–2000	Palmeiras	37	(9)
2000–2002	Parma	8	(0)
2000	→ Flamengo (loan)	12	(1)
2001	→ Palmeiras (loan)	13	(0)
2001	→ Cruzeiro (loan)	29	(2)
2002	→ Palmeiras (loan)	16	(2)
2002–2004	Cruzeiro	55	(27)
2004–2012	Fenerbahçe	245	(136)
2013–2014	Coritiba	55	(18)
Total		499	(221)
International career
1999–2000	Brazil U20	15	(3)
1998–2005	Brazil	48	(12)
Managerial career
2021–2022	São Paulo U20
2023	Avaí
2024–	Antalyaspor
Medal record Representing   Brazil Men's football Copa América Winner 1999 Paraguay Winner 2004 Peru FIFA Confederations Cup Runner-up 1999 Mexico
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Alexsandro de Souza (born 14 September 1977), commonly known as Alex, is a Brazilian football manager, pundit and retired footballer, who played as an attacking midfielder.

Alex is a former captain of the Brazil national team and Turkish club Fenerbahçe; throughout his career, he also played for Coritiba, Palmeiras, Flamengo and Cruzeiro in Brazil, and Parma in the Italian Serie A. Alex is most prominent for his time at Fenerbahçe where he become the highest-scoring foreign player of all time in the Süper Lig.

Internationally, Alex earned 48 caps and scored 12 goals for Brazil from 1998 to 2005. He was part of their squads at three Copa América tournaments, winning in 1999 and 2004, the latter as captain. He additionally went to the 2000 Olympics and two FIFA Confederations Cups, but never was chosen for the FIFA World Cup. ^[1]

Club career

Early years

Born in Curitiba, Alex first played professionally for his hometown club Coritiba, where he stayed from 1995 until 97, when he was sold to Palmeiras, from São Paulo. He conquered for the Parque Antárctica club a Libertadores da América cup title, in 1999, a Rio-São Paulo cup title in 2000 and a Copa do Brasil title and a Mercosul cup title in 1998. He left Palmeiras and signed with Flamengo, of Rio de Janeiro in 2000.

In 2000, he returned to Palmeiras for a few months and then signed with Cruzeiro, where he stayed until 2002, when he returned to Palmeiras. Alex was sold to Parma of Italy. He returned to Cruzeiro, after playing only friendly matches for the Italian team. Made team captain and wearing jersey number 10, he led his team to winning the Brazilian triple crown (that is the State Championship, the Brasileirão and the Brazilian Cup). Cruzeiro won the Brazilian League (Brasileirão) with a record-breaking 100 points, 13 ahead of the second place, Santos, with more than 100 goals scored in 46 games.

Fenerbahçe

Statue of Alex at Kadıköy Yoğurtçu Park

Alex was then sold by Cruzeiro in 2004 for 5 million euro to Fenerbahçe. ^[2] He became Fenerbahçe captain after the team's captain Ümit Özat's transfer to Köln and vice-captains Tuncay's transfer to Middlesbrough and Rüştü Reçber's transfer to rival Beşiktaş. ^[3] Alex scored his 100th goal in the Süper Lig for Fenerbahçe on 13 November 2010 against Gaziantepspor when they lost 2–1. ^[4] At 33 years of age Alex scored a hat-trick against Bucaspor in the first 35 minutes of the game. Fenerbahçe won the match 5–2. ^[5] His first goal in this game was Fenerbahçe's 3000th goal in the Süper Lig, so his kit and shoes used in the Bucaspor match are now shown in the club's museum. ^[6] On 9 February 2011, he signed another two-year contract with Fenerbahçe. ^{[7] [8]}

On 15 May 2011, he scored five goals, including three penalties and a free-kick, in a 6–0 win against Ankaragücü. ^[9]

After Fenerbahçe's league title for the year 2010–11, Alex won the golden boot award with 28 goals for the season, nine more than second place Burak Yılmaz. ^[10] He made his 900th career appearance on 12 September 2011 in the opening match of the Super Lig season, a 1–0 victory against Orduspor. ^[11] In the Turkish Cup final on 16 May 2012 against Bursaspor, Alex netted Fenerbahçe's fourth and final goal of a 4–0 victory and was named the game's "Man of the Match". ^[12]

On 15 September 2012, while Alex was still under contract with Fenerbahçe, a fan-funded statue of the player was unveiled in Kadıköy Yoğurtçu park. ^[13] Alex's last goal for Fenerbahçe came on 20 September in the Europa League, scoring Fenerbahçe's second goal in a 2–2 draw with Marseille. ^[14] Alex's last appearance for the club came on 29 September, playing the first half of a 2–0 defeat to Kasımpaşa in the Süper Lig. ^[15] After a rift with coach Aykut Kocaman over the team's system, his contract with Fenerbahçe was terminated on 1 October. ^{[16] [17]} With Fenerbahçe he has concluded his impressive career in Turkey with 136 assists and 171 goals in 341 games. He left just five goals shy of matching the club record for league goals with 136 goals, held by former striker Aykut Kocaman. ^[18]

Coritiba

After he rarely featured for Fenerbahçe throughout the early part of the 2012–13 campaign, managing just five league appearances through October, Alex joined Brazilian side Coritiba on 18 October 2012 for an undisclosed fee. ^[19] He made his debut for his boyhood club on 31 January 2013, playing the full ninety in a 1–0 defeat of J. Malucelli in Campeonato Paranaense play. ^[20] His first goal for his new club came on 9 February in a 1–1 draw with Arapongas, scoring the equalizing goal three minutes after Wellington Indio's opener in the 47th minute. ^[21] Alex scored the solitary goal of the game against Londrina on 3 March, ^[22] starting a run of nine straight matches where the player scored, netting 12 goals. ^[23] Included in this goal-scoring run was a brace in a 6–0 defeat of Rio Branco on 13 April. ^[24] Alex finished the Campeonato Paranaense campaign by scoring a brace in Coritiba's 3–1 defeat of Atlético Paranaense on 12 May, securing a 5–3 aggregate win in the final as Coritiba claimed a record 37th state title. ^[25] In October 2014, Alex announced his retirement from football. ^[26] His last game was a 3–2 win against Bahia, on 7 December 2014.

International career

Alex made his senior international debut for Brazil on 23 September 1998 in a 1–1 friendly draw with FR Yugoslavia in São Luís, Maranhão, as an 82nd-minute substitute for Denílson in Brazil's first match since defeat in the 1998 FIFA World Cup. ^[27] He scored his first goal in his third appearance, opening a 3–0 win over Latvia in his hometown the following 26 June. ^[28]

At the 1999 Copa América in Paraguay, Alex scored the decisive goal in a 2–1 group win over Mexico with a 25-yard strike. ^[29] Brazil won the tournament under manager Vanderlei Luxemburgo, with Alex and Ronaldinho being young replacements for Edílson and Leonardo who were dropped for disciplinary reasons. ^[30] Days later at the 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup in Mexico, he scored twice in a 4–0 opening win over Germany and twice again in an 8–2 semi-final rout of Saudi Arabia, ^{[31] [32]} though his team lost the final to the hosts. ^[33]

Alex also went with the Brazilian Olympic team to the 2000 tournament in Australia, concluding a 3–1 opening win over Slovakia and scoring the only goal of a group win against Japan; quarter-final defeat to Cameroon led to Luxemburgo's resignation. ^{[34] [35]} At the 2001 Copa América in Colombia, Alex equalised in a 3–1 group win over Paraguay ^[36] as the team were again eliminated in a quarter-final shock, this time to Honduras. ^[37] In qualification for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, he scored once to open a 3–1 home win over rivals Argentina. ^[38] He was not chosen for the final tournament, which Brazil won under manager Luiz Felipe Scolari, and confessed in his autobiography that he drank heavily to distract himself from the event, while his wife miscarried upon hearing that Ricardinho had been called up as a replacement for the injured Emerson and not her husband. ^[39]

Alex scored an added-time equaliser at the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup in France as Brazil drew 2–2 with Turkey in their final group game in Saint-Étienne, but were eliminated nonetheless. ^[40] Brazil won the 2004 Copa América in Peru, in which captain Alex scored in a 4–0 quarter-final win against Mexico; he was then overlooked for the 2006 FIFA World Cup as well. ^[1]

Style of play

A talented and creative playmaker, with an eye for goal, Alex usually played in a free role as an attacking midfielder. Although he lacked significant pace and physical power, and was not particularly hard-working defensively, he was known for his passing, technical skills, control, low centre of gravity, vision, reading of the game, and ability to provide many assists for his teammates, in addition to being capable of scoring himself, in particular from set pieces. In addition to his usual role as a number ten, he was also deployed as a second striker on occasion throughout his career, or even on the left flank. ^{[41] [42] [43] [44]}

Managerial career

On 5 April 2021, Alex joined São Paulo after being appointed the head coach of the under-20 team. ^[45] On 28 October 2022, he left the club. ^[46]

On 16 November 2022, Alex was appointed head coach of Avaí, freshly relegated from the top tier. ^[47] He was dismissed the following 3 May. ^[48]

On 18 May 2024, Alex was appointed Head coach of Antalyaspor, years after, coming back to Türkiye.

Personal life

Alex married Daianne in 2000. ^[49] The couple have two daughters and one son: Maria Eduarda, born in 2004, Antonia, born in 2006 and Felipe born in 2010. ^[50] He features prominently in Puma advertising and also has a modeling contract with Armani. ^[51] Alex's father-in-law is the former president of Coritiba. ^[52] After his retirement, Alex started to work on ESPN Brasil as a pundit and presenter for interview show Papo Cabeça. ^{[53] [54]}

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition ^{[55] [56] [57]}

Club	Season	League			Cup [nb 1]			Continental [nb 2]			Total
		Apps	Goals	Assts	Apps	Goals	Assts	Apps	Goals	Assts	Apps	Goals	Assts
Cruzeiro	2002	13	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	13	2	0
	2003	38	23	0	14	6	0	0	0	0	38	23	0
	2004	5	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	2	0
	Total	55	27	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	55	27	0
Fenerbahçe	2004–05	31	24	16	5	4	2	8	1	2	44	29	20
	2005–06	31	15	24	8	2	1	4	3	2	43	20	27
	2006–07	32	19	12	3	0	2	12	1	7	47	20	21
	2007–08	28	14	12	3	0	1	12	4	6	43	18	19
	2008–09	26	11	12	5	4	0	9	2	0	40	17	12
	2009–10	26	11	11	9	7	1	8	3	2	43	21	14
	2010–11	33	28	13	1	0	0	4	0	0	38	28	13
	2011–12	33	14	7	3	3	4	0	0	0	36	17	11
	2012–13	5	0	0	1	1	0	4	1	2	10	2	2
	Total	245	136	107	38	21	11	61	15	21	344	172	139
Coritiba	2013	29	12	4	17	15	0	1	0	0	47	27	4
	2014	26	6	7	12	5	0	0	0	0	38	11	7
	Total	55	18	11	29	20	0	1	0	0	85	38	11

1. Includes Turkish Cup, Turkish Super Cup
2. Includes UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, Copa Libertadores, Copa Sudamericana, Recopa Sudamericana

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year ^[57]

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Brazil	1998	2	0
	1999	11	6
	2000	7	1
	2001	5	2
	2002	1	0
	2003	6	1
	2004	13	1
	2005	3	1
	Total	48	12

Manager

As of 31 January 2024

Managerial record by team and tenure

Team	Nat.	From	To	Record								Ref.
				G	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %
Avaí		16 November 2022	3 May 2023	18	6	4	8	22	25	−3	033.33	[48]
Total				18	6	4	8	22	25	−3	033.33	—

Honours

Palmeiras

• Copa do Brasil: 1998
• Copa Mercosur: 1998
• Copa Libertadores: 1999; ^[58] runner-up: 2000
• Torneio Rio-São Paulo: 2000
• Copa dos Campeões: 2000
• Intercontinental Cup runner-up: 1999

Flamengo ^{[59] [60]}

• Campeonato Carioca: 2000
• Taça Rio: 2000

Cruzeiro

• Campeonato Brasileiro Série A: 2003 ^[58]
• Copa do Brasil: 2003
• Campeonato Mineiro: 2003, 2004
• Copa Sul-Minas: 2001, ^[61] 2002 ^[62]

Fenerbahçe

• Süper Lig: 2004–05, ^[58] 2006–07, ^[58] 2010–11 ^[58]
• Turkish Cup: 2011–12 ^[63]
• Turkish Super Cup: 2007, 2009

Coritiba

• Campeonato Paranaense: 2013

Brazil U20

• South American Youth Championship: 1992, 1995

Brazil U23

• CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament: 2000

Brazil ^[58]

• Copa América: 1999, 2004

Individual

• Campeonato Paranaense Revelation: 1995
• Campeonato Paranaense Best Player: 1996
• Campeonato Paranaense Best Midfielder: 1997
• Copa Mercosur Best Player: 1998
• IFFHS World's Top Goal Scorer: 1999 (3rd place)
• South American Team of The Year: 1999, 2003 ^[64]
• Troféu Telê Santana Best Midfielder: 2002
• Troféu Telê Santana Star of the Year: 2003
• Bola de Ouro: 2003 ^[65]
• Bola de Prata: 2003
• Copa América Team of the Tournament: 2004
• Turkish Cup top scorer: 2004–05
• Footballer of the year in Turkey: 2005, ^[66] 2010 ^[67]
• Süper Lig Gol Kralı: 2006–07 (19 goals), 2010–11 (28 goals) ^{[68] [69]}
• UEFA Champions League top assist provider: 2007–08 (6 assists)
• Turkish Cup Best Player: 2011–12 ^[63]

References

1. Strini, Antônio (8 December 2014). "Ídolo em 3 clubes e 'Deus' na Turquia mesmo sem ir a uma Copa: o que o futebol perde sem Alex" [Idol in 3 clubs and 'God' in Turkey even without going to a World Cup: what football loses without Alex] (in Portuguese). ESPN. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
2. Alex De Souza profile Fenerbahçe Official Web Site Retrieved 20 January 2010.
3. "Captains decleaned". Archived from the original on 26 June 2007.
4. Alex scored the 1000th goal for Fenerbahçe against Bucaspor by also scoring a hat-trick.
5. Derinev.com. "Alex scored 3000'th goal in club history". Fenerbahçe.org. Retrieved 28 July 2012.
6. Derinev.com. "Alex's equipments in the Museum". Fenerbahçe.org. Retrieved 28 July 2012.
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9. Fenerbahce 6 – 0 Ankaragucu Archived 16 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine Fenerbahçe Official Web Site Retrieved 15 May 2011.
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27. Arruda, Gustavo (21 March 2015). "Relembre os jogos da Seleção Brasileira em São Luís" [Remember the Brazil national team's matches in São Luís] (in Portuguese). Imirante. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
28. "Brasil joga bem e vence Letônia por 3 a 0" [Brazil play well and beat Latvia 3-0]. Folha de Londrina (in Portuguese). 25 June 1999. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
29. "Brazil Reaches Quarterfinals With 2-1 Victory Over Mexico". The Washington Post. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
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31. Victor, Fábio (25 July 1999). "Brasil vence Alemanha com goleada histórica" [Brazil defeat Germany with historic thrashing]. Folha de S. Paulo (in Portuguese). Retrieved 4 October 2023.
32. "Taça das Confederações : Brasil e México na final" [Confederations Cup: Brazil and Mexico in the final]. Record (in Portuguese). 2 August 1999. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
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39. "Alex: "Vi borracho el Mundial de Corea y Japón de 2002"" [Alex: "I watched the Korea and Japan 2002 World Cup while drunk"]. Diario AS (in Spanish). 10 November 2015. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
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48. "Fim da linha! Avaí anuncia saída do técnico Alex após 18 jogos" [End of the line! Avaí announce the departure of head coach Alex after 18 matches] (in Brazilian Portuguese). ge. 3 May 2023. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
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50. "Alex's second daughter born". Milliyet.com.tr. Retrieved 28 July 2012.
51. "Alex signed sponsorship". Tumgazeteler.com. Archived from the original on 17 July 2011. Retrieved 28 July 2012.
52. ERCANLAR, Ahmet (9 May 2017). "Türkiye'nin konuştuğu kadın". www.hurriyet.com.tr.
53. "Ex-jogador Alex é o novo comentarista da ESPN Brasil". Archived from the original on 11 January 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
54. "UOL Esporte - Perto de estrear programa na ESPN, Alex pede responsabilidade à imprensa". uolesportevetv.blogosfera.uol.com.br.
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56. "Mackolik". Mackolik. Retrieved 28 July 2012.
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58. "The Golden Boy's final act: Alex gets emotional send-off as he brings career to a close in Brazil". Daily Mirror. 11 December 2014. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
59. "RSSSF – Championship of Rio de Janeiro 2000" . Retrieved 29 April 2019.
60. "Futebolnacional.com.br – Championship of Rio de Janeiro 2000". Archived from the original on 27 July 2018. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
61. Ricardo Pontes (18 March 2002). "Copa Sul-Minas 2001". RSSSF . Retrieved 7 March 2018.
62. Ricardo Pontes (18 May 2002). "Liga Sul-Minas 2002". RSSSF . Retrieved 7 March 2018.
63. Fenerbahçe win Ziraat Turkish Cup Turkish Football Federation, accessed 6 June 2012 (2012-06-06)
64. "South American Team of the Year". 16 January 2009. Archived from the original on 21 January 2015. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
65. "Conheça os ganhadores de de 2003" (in Portuguese). ESPN. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
66. "2005'in unutulmazları".
67. Milliyet Yılın Sporcusu ödülleri sahiplerini buldu ^{[ permanent dead link ]}
68. "Turkey – List of Topscorers". RSSSF . Retrieved 23 February 2019.
69. "Ligin Gol Kralları". tff.org (in Turkish). Turkish Football Federation . Retrieved 23 February 2019.

External links

Media related to Alexsandro de Souza at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website (in Portuguese)
• Alex at Soccerway