Luisão

Luisão before a match with Brazil
Personal information
Full name	Ânderson Luís da Silva
Date of birth	(1981-02-13) February 13, 1981 (age 31)
Place of birth	Amparo, Brazil
Height	1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)
Playing position	Centre back
Club information
Current club	Benfica
Number	4
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1999	Juventus-SP	18	(1)
2000–2003	Cruzeiro	62	(7)
2003–	Benfica	205	(20)
National team‡
2001–	Brazil	43	(3)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 14 May 2011. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 7 June 2010

Ânderson Luís da Silva (born 13 February 1981), aka Luisão (literally "Big Luís"), is a Brazilian footballer who plays for S.L. Benfica in Portugal, as a central defender and he is also club Captain.

Most of his professional career was spent with Benfica, for which he appeared in more than 300 official games, winning seven major titles.

A Brazilian international on more than 40 occasions, Luisão appeared for the country in two World Cups and three Copa América tournaments.

Club career[link]

Brazil[link]

Born in Amparo, São Paulo, Luisão represented Clube Atlético Juventus and Cruzeiro Esporte Clube in his country, scoring a career-best six goals in 24 matches in his third season with the latter.

Benfica[link]

In the 2003 summer, Luisão's moved to Europe, signing with S.L. Benfica of Portugal for £890,000.^[1] He faced a tough period of adaptation, during which he performed somewhat below his capabilities and even considered traveling back to his home country. He did manage, however, to score in his league debut, a thrilling 3–3 home draw against C.F. Os Belenenses on 14 September. He ended his first season with the Portuguese Cup conquest, helping defeat F.C. Porto 2–1.

In 2004–05, Luisão featured regularly in Benfica's central defense, alongside Ricardo Rocha, appearing 29 times and contributing heavily for the Reds' first league title in 11 years: on 24 April 2005, in a 2–1 away victory over G.D. Estoril-Praia, he scored his first goal of the season, the game's equaliser. On 14 May, he found the net with his head against city rivals Sporting Clube de Portugal, scoring the game's only goal and ousting the opponents from the title race.

Luisão and Tarik Sektioui in a Benfica vs Porto match in 2007.

The 2005–06 season finished without silverware for Benfica, with Luisão again as an automatic first-choice. The team, however, reached the season's UEFA Champions League quarterfinals, with the defender playing all the matches and minutes in the competition: on 21 February 2006, he scored in Benfica's 1–0 home win against holders Liverpool, which had lost just one of 13 European games the previous year, and five of 41 away from home.^[2] He also started in the second leg, a 2–0 win at Anfield.^[3]

In 2006–07, Luisão was named club captain in some matches, due to injuries to Nuno Gomes and Petit, but the club again failed to secure any major honours. At the end of the season, his agent said, "Luisão wants to leave", but he eventually stayed.^[4]

During the following season, in January 2008, Luisão was involved in an on-field argument with Greek teammate Kostas Katsouranis, during a league match against Vitória de Setúbal. The argument arose after Katsouranis' misplaced pass, which forced the Brazilian to commit a foul in order to stop play, after receiving a yellow card, Luisão critizised Katsouranis, who responded in a similar manner. The two players were on the point of breaking into violence before teammates separated them. Both players were then quickly substituted and given suspensions by the club, and later apologised to each other.^[5][6] Again, he dealt with some injuries and inconsistent play, also addressing rumours of another possible move.^[7]

Luisão's start to the 2008–09 season got off in scoring fashion, grabbing a goal in the 59th minute of the UEFA Cup first round match at S.S.C. Napoli, in a 2–3 loss. It was his first game of the season in European competitions, and his first goal of the season in all competitions. In the following season, he would enjoy his best season as a professional, appearing in a total of 45 official matches (4050 minutes, with six goals), as Benfica won the league and renewed its Portuguese League Cup supremacy, also reaching the last eight in the Europa League.

On 28 August 2010, Luisão scored - through a header - against Setúbal at home, as 10-men Benfica eventually won it 3–0.^[8] On 14 September, he entered the Champions League's history books, after opening the scoresheet against Israeli side Hapoel Tel Aviv F.C. in the competition's group stage.^[9]

International career[link]

Luisão in a game against Switzerland in 2006.

Luisão made his debut for Brazil in July 2001.^[10] He represented the nation in its 2004 Copa América win, playing in all six matches, including a 1–2 loss against Paraguay where he was team captain, and the final against Argentina where the scored his first international goal.

In the next year, Luisão was named in the Brazilian squad for the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup, but did not play a single second, meeting the same fate in the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

After the World Cup, when Brazil hired Dunga as the new coach, Luisão began to play more often. He was summoned for the 2009 Confederations Cup, playing in four of Brazil's five matches, including the 1–0 victory over South Africa in the semifinals, and the 3–2 win against the United States in the final, partnering with FC Bayern Munich's Lúcio.

Again as a reserve player, Luisão was selected for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, after a solid club season, being an unused squad member as Brazil exited in the quarterfinals.

Honours[link]

Club[link]

• Cruzeiro:
  • Brazilian Cup: 2003
  • Minas Gerais State League: 2003
  • Sul-Minas Cup: 2002

• Benfica:
  • Portuguese League: 2004–05, 2009–10
  • Portuguese Cup: 2003–04; Runner-up 2004–05
  • Portuguese League Cup: 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12
  • Portuguese Supercup: 2005

Country[link]

• Copa América: 2004
• FIFA Confederations Cup: 2005, 2009

Individual[link]

• Benfica Awards: Footballer of the Year 2008

Statistics[link]

Club[link]

International[link]

Personal[link]

Luisão's younger siblings, Alex Silva^[12] and Andrei Silva,^[13] are also footballers, and defenders.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Stats and profile at Zerozero
• Stats at ForaDeJogo (Portuguese)
• PortuGOAL profile
• Luisão at National-Football-Teams.com
• Luisão career stats at Soccerbase

Brazil squads v t e Brazil squad – 2001 Copa América 1 Marcos 2 Belletti 3 Cris 4 Roque Júnior 5 Eduardo Costa 6 Roger 7 Geovanni 8 Emerson (c) 9 Guilherme 10 Juninho Paulista 11 Denílson 12 Dida 13 Alessandro 14 Luisão 15 Juan 16 Júnior 17 Juninho Pernambucano 18 Rochemback 19 Fernando 20 Alex 21 Ewerthon 22 Jardel Coach: Scolari v t e Brazil squad – 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup Runners-up 1 Gomes 2 Maicon 3 Luisão 4 Alex 5 Adriano 6 Paulo Almeida 7 Júlio Baptista 8 Kaká (c) 9 Ewerthon 10 Diego 11 Robinho 12 Alexandre Negri 13 Coelho 14 André Bahia 15 Nilmar 16 Nádson 17 Carlos Alberto 18 Thiago Motta Coach: Ricardo Gomes v t e Brazil squad – 2004 Copa América Winners (7th Title) 1 Júlio César 2 Mancini 3 Luisão 4 Juan 5 Renato 6 Gustavo Nery 7 Adriano 8 Kléberson 9 Luís Fabiano 10 Alex (c) 11 Edu 12 Fábio 13 Maicon 14 Bordon 15 Cris 16 Dudu Cearense 17 Adriano Correia 18 Júlio Baptista 19 Diego 20 Felipe 21 Oliveira 22 Vágner Love Coach: Parreira v t e Brazil squad – 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup Winners (2nd Title) 1 Dida 2 Maicon 3 Lúcio 4 Roque Júnior 5 Emerson 6 Gilberto 7 Robinho 8 Kaká 9 Adriano 10 Ronaldinho (c) 11 Zé Roberto 12 Marcos 13 Cicinho 14 Juan 15 Luisão 16 Léo 17 Gilberto Silva 18 Juninho 19 Renato 20 Júlio Baptista 21 Oliveira 22 Edu 23 Gomes Coach: Parreira v t e Brazil squad – 2006 FIFA World Cup 1 Dida 2 Cafu (c) 3 Lúcio 4 Juan 5 Emerson 6 Roberto Carlos 7 Adriano 8 Kaká 9 Ronaldo 10 Ronaldinho 11 Zé Roberto 12 Rogério Ceni 13 Cicinho 14 Luisão 15 Cris 16 Gilberto 17 Gilberto Silva 18 Mineiro 19 Juninho 20 Ricardinho 21 Fred 22 Júlio César 23 Robinho Coach: Parreira v t e Brazil squad – 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup Winners (3rd Title) 1 Júlio César 2 Maicon 3 Lúcio (c) 4 Juan 5 Felipe Melo 6 Kléber 7 Elano 8 Gilberto Silva 9 Luís Fabiano 10 Kaká 11 Robinho 12 Victor 13 Daniel Alves 14 Luisão 15 Miranda 16 André Santos 17 Josué 18 Ramires 19 Júlio Baptista 20 Kléberson 21 Pato 22 Nilmar 23 Gomes Coach: Dunga v t e Brazil squad – 2010 FIFA World Cup 1 Júlio César 2 Maicon 3 Lúcio (c) 4 Juan 5 Felipe Melo 6 Michel Bastos 7 Elano 8 Gilberto Silva 9 Luís Fabiano 10 Kaká 11 Robinho 12 Gomes 13 Daniel Alves 14 Luisão 15 Thiago Silva 16 Gilberto 17 Josué 18 Ramires 19 Júlio Baptista 20 Kléberson 21 Nilmar 22 Doni 23 Grafite Coach: Dunga v t e Brazil squad – 2011 Copa América 1 Júlio César 2 Daniel Alves 3 Lúcio (c) 4 Thiago Silva 5 Lucas Leiva 6 André Santos 7 Robinho 8 Ramires 9 Pato 10 Ganso 11 Neymar 12 Victor 13 Maicon 14 Luisão 15 Sandro 16 Elano 17 Elias 18 Lucas 19 Fred 20 Jádson 21 Adriano 22 Jefferson 23 David Luiz Coach: Mano Menezes