Alex De Souza

Alexsandro de Souza (born 14 September 1977 in Curitiba), better known as Alex, is a Brazilian footballer and the captain of Turkish club Fenerbahçe. A statue of him has been erected in Istanbul by Fenerbahce fans in his 9th season for the club. He is a former captain of the Brazilian national team, he has also played for Coritiba, Palmeiras, Flamengo and Cruzeiro in Brazil and Parma in Serie A. Alex first played professionally for Coritiba, a Brazilian football club from the state of Paraná, where he stayed from 1995-97, when he was sold to Palmeiras, from São Paulo. When he was playing for Palmeiras where he became a national star, in Brazil. 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. His performance for the Gávea team, however, was disappointing. He scored three times in twelve games and had his contract terminated. 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. After another great season, Alex was sold to Parma, of Italy. There he had a hard time with coach Cesare Prandelli, and eventually returned to Cruzeiro, after playing only five times for the Italian team. At Cruzeiro Alex had the best performance in his career. 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.