Alexis (Ancient Greek: Ἄλεξις, c.394 BC – c.288 BC) was a Greek comic poet of the Middle Comedy period. He was born at Thurii (in present day Calabria, Italy) in Magna Graecia and taken early to Athens,^[1] where he became a citizen, being enrolled in the deme Oion (Οἶον) and the tribe Leontides.^[2][3] It is thought he lived to the age of 106 and died on the stage while being crowned. According to the Suda, a 10th century encyclopedia, Alexis was the paternal uncle of the dramatist Menander and wrote 245 comedies, of which only fragments now survive, including some 130 preserved titles.

Life[link]

It was said he had a son, called Stephanus, who also wrote comedies.^[4] He appears to have been rather addicted to the pleasures of the table, according to Athenaeus.^[3][5]

He won his first Lenaean victory in the 350s BC, most likely, where he was sixth after Eubulus, and fourth after Antiphanes. While being a Middle Comic poet, Alexis was contemporary with several leading figures of New Comedy, such as Philippides, Philemon, Diphilus, and even Menander. There is also some evidence that, during his old age, he wrote plays in the style of New Comedy.

Plutarch says that he lived to the age of 106 and 5 months, and that he died on the stage while being crowned victor.^[6] He was certainly alive after 345 BC, for Aeschines mentions him as alive in that year. He was also living at least as late as 288 BC,^[3] from which his birth date is calculated. According to the Suda he wrote 245 comedies, of which only fragments including some 130 titles survive. His plays include Meropis, Ankylion, Olympiodoros, Parasitos (exhibited in 360 BC, in which he ridiculed Plato), Agonis (in which he ridiculed Misgolas), and the Adelphoi and the Stratiotes, in which he satirized Demosthenes, and acted shortly after 343 BC. Also Hippeis (316 BC)^{[citation needed]} (in which he referred to the decree of Sophocles against the philosophers), Pyraunos (312 BC), Pharmakopole (306 BC)^{[citation needed]}, Hypobolimaios (306 BC), and Ankylion.^[3]

Because he wrote a lot of plays, the same passages often appear in more than 3 plays. It was said that he also borrowed from Eubulus and many other playwrights in some of his plays.^[7] According to Carytius of Pergamum, Alexis was the first to use the part of the parasite.^[8] Alexis was known in Roman times; Aulus Gellius noted that Alexis' poetry was used by Roman comedians, including Turpilius and possibly Plautus.

Surviving titles and fragments[link]

Only fragments of any of the plays have survived - about 340 in all, totaling about 1,000 lines. They attest to the wit and refinement of the author, which Athenaeus praises.^[9] The surviving fragments also show that Alexis invented a great deal of words, mostly compound words, that he used normal words in an unusual way, and made strange and unusual forms of common words. The main sources of the fragments of Alexis are Stobaeus and Athenaeus.

The following 139 titles of Alexis's plays have been preserved:

References[link]

Editions of Fragments[link]

• Augustus Meineke. Poetarum Graecorum comicorum fragmenta, (1855).
• Theodor Kock. Comicorum Atticorum fragmenta, i. (1880).
• Colin Austin and Rudolf Kassel. Poetae Comici Graeci. vol. 1.

References[link]

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Alexis.

• Arnott, W. Geoffrey. Alexis: The Fragments. A Commentary. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996.
•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

Alexis Sánchez

Personal information
Full name	Alexis Alejandro Sánchez Sánchez
Date of birth	(1988-12-19) 19 December 1988 (age 23)[1]
Place of birth	Tocopilla, Chile
Height	1.69 m (5 ft 6 1⁄2 in)[2]
Playing position	Forward
Club information
Current club	Barcelona
Number	9
Youth career
2004–2005	Cobreloa
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2005–2006	Cobreloa	47	(12)
2006–2007	Colo-Colo	32	(5)
2007–2008	River Plate	23	(4)
2008–2011	Udinese	95	(20)
2011–	Barcelona	25	(12)
National team‡
2006–	Chile	45	(14)
2007	Chile U20	12	(2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22 May 2012. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 1 March 2012

Alexis Alejandro Sánchez Sánchez (Spanish pronunciation: [aˈleksis ˈsantʃes]; born 19 December 1988), is a Chilean footballer who plays as a forward for FC Barcelona and for the Chilean national team. He is well known for his excellent dribbling ability, great speed, and his unusual strength for a fast winger.

Sánchez began his career as a youth player for Cobreloa in 2003, aged 15, for then be promoted to the first adult team, two years later. His precocious talent caught the attention of Udinese, team of the Italian Serie A, and signed the 17-year-old for US$3million in May 2006, but was immediately loaned out to Colo-Colo, and then River Plate where he was able to mature in less physically demanding confines than the Italian first division.

He joined Udinese after becoming champion of the Argentine and Chilean leagues in June 2008. Sánchez made a steady progress in his first two seasons at Udinese, and in the 2010–11 season he established himself as one of the key player's that allowed Udinese to finish fourth in Serie A. On 27 February 2011, Sánchez scored four of seven goals as his team defeated Palermo 7-0, playing only the first 52 minutes of the game. This event meant he broke the record of goals scored by a Chilean player (in a single match) in the Italian Serie A, thus beating the records set by his historic countrymen Marcelo Salas and Iván Zamorano.

Sánchez made his international debut for his national team against New Zealand in April 2006, becoming the youngest player ever playing for the national team with only 17 years and 4 months, and scored his first goal against Switzerland in a 2–1 loss, being also the first goal of the Marcelo Bielsa era. During the Bielsa period, he was Chile's top scorer with 12 goals, surpassing Humberto Suazo's previous record of 11 goals.

Early life[link]

Sánchez was born in Tocopilla to a family of fishermen. His biological father abandoned Sánchez and his family to go work in a mine, leaving Sánchez to help his family out financially from an early age.

According to his relatives and his closest friends, Sánchez was an extroverted boy at school. Sánchez washed cars in a graveyard to earn some money. His fanaticism for football was shared with all his family, especially with José Delaigue, his uncle-in law and adoptive father. Being a former amateur football player, Delaigue saw great potential in the young Sánchez.^[3]

At the age of 15 while playing football with his friends in the neighborhood, he impressed the mayor of Tocopilla, who awarded him his first football boots. The mayor's decision was a worthwhile one, while playing for Tocopilla in a regional tournament, Sánchez dominated, in one particular match he scored 8 goals.

Club career[link]

Udinese[link]

Loan spells[link]

In July 2006, he was loaned to one of Chile's biggest teams, Colo-Colo on a season-long deal. His loan was due to a maturation project^{[citation needed]} that Udinese implemented with youth players. After a notable season in the Cacique, and winning two league titles, it was assumed that Sánchez would return to Italy. He was loaned out again, however, this time to Argentina's River Plate.

Return to Udinese[link]

After a successful season in Argentina, in July 2008, Sánchez left South America to officially join Udinese, where he would suit up with Chilean compatriot Mauricio Isla. Sánchez made his non-competitive debut in a 3–0 win over Bassano and was named the man of match.^[4] On 14 September, he played his first game in Serie A in a 1–0 loss with Juventus and four days later, he made his European debut against Borussia Dortmund. On 19 October 2008, Sánchez scored his first league goal against Lecce. After this first goal, Sánchez got into a minor slump, in which he took much criticism. The criticism ended after scoring the winning goal in the 90th minute against Bologna in a 1–0 win, being named the man of match.^{[citation needed]}

In the following season, Sánchez played an important role for Udinese at Coppa Italia 2009–10, being a key player in the team that eliminated Milan, assisting Gökhan Inler for the winning goal.^[5] In the semi-final second leg, Sánchez was the man of match after playing a successful game against Roma, including scoring his first Coppa Italia goal in the 81st minute. It was not enough, however, as the aggregate score was 2–1 in favor of Roma.^[6] By the end of this year, Sánchez scored a total of five goals (four at the end of tournament) in 32 appearances.

Along with his compatriot Mauricio Isla, playing for Udinese Calcio

On 27 February 2011, Sánchez scored four of seven goals as his team defeated Palermo 7–0, playing only the first 52 minutes of the game. This event meant he broke the record of goals scored by a Chilean player (in a single match) in the Italian Serie A,^[7] thus beating the records set by his historic countrymen Marcelo Salas and Iván Zamorano.

During his successful season at Udinese Calcio, Sánchez and Italian striker Antonio Di Natale became one of the best scoring duos in Serie A tallying 39 goals between then, two goals short of the Del Piero–Trezeguet duo that completed 41 goals in the 2007–08 season. In recognition of his achievements he was named the world's most promising youngster of the 2011 season, by the users of FIFA.com, where users had to choose between Sánchez, Gareth Bale, Javier Pastore, Ganso and Neymar in a poll.^[8] Sánchez ranked 56th in the May 2011 edition of Castrol Performance Index and 24th among the forwards.

Barcelona[link]

On 20 July 2011, FC Barcelona confirmed they had agreed a €26 million fee (plus €11m in certain bonuses) with Udinese for the transfer of Sánchez, thus becoming the first Chilean to ever play for the club.^[9][10][11] "Sánchez is very young," said manager Josep Guardiola. "He can play in all three attacking positions, he shows intense defensive skills, he's direct and from what I've been told, he's a very nice kid."^[10] The transfer was finalised five days later when he passed a medical and signed a five-year contract.^[12][13] "I want to learn from players like Lionel Messi and Xavi Hernández—and I want to help the club win more titles," said Sánchez.^[12]

Alexis Sanchez celebrate 2011 FIFA Club World Cup win.

The Chilean star's debut season for the blaugrana was heavily plagued with short-term injuries. Sanchez made his debut on 14 August 2011 against arch rivals Real Madrid in the 2012 Supercopa de España first leg away match, and picked up a thigh injury after a tough challenge by Marcelo.^[14] Barcelona won the tie 5-4 on aggregate. He made his return two weeks later as a substitute in the 2012 UEFA Super Cup, won by Barca 2-0. Alexis then started the opening match of La Liga, at home against Villarreal CF, and scored his first goal in a 5-0 win. A week later, on 10 September 2011, he was stretchered off after 30 minutes following a challenge from Dani Estrada in a La Liga match against Real Sociedad.^[15] Sánchez returned on 1 November 2011 in an away match against Viktoria Plzeň.^[16] He also scored against Real Madrid on 10 December 2011 to equalize the game which they went on to win 1-3.

On 14 February 2012, Sánchez scored the first and second UEFA Champions League goals of his career in Barcelona's 3-1 victory against Bayer 04 Leverkusen.

International career[link]

Sánchez made his international debut for his national team against New Zealand on 27 April 2006. He was called up by the coach José Sulantay to play with his country in the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup celebrated in Canada, achieving an historic performance, finishing in third place of the tournament.

After his participation in the youth championship, he scored his first goal in the Marcelo Bielsa era in a 2–1 loss against Switzerland on 7 September 2007. Due to the three-months injury that he suffered playing for River Plate, Sánchez missed the first four games of the FIFA World Cup qualification. Fully recovered now, he led to Chile to the 2010 FIFA World Cup, becoming the team's star player. His best game during the qualifiers was in a 4–0 win over Bolivia, scoring two goals of the victory.

Prior to the 2011 Copa América, Sánchez had scored 2 goals in 4 games, against Uruguay and Estonia. On 29 June 2011, he was selected in the 23-man squad for Copa América.

International goals[link]

Sánchez – goals for Chile[17]
#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	7 September 2007	Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna, Austria	Switzerland	1–1	2–1	Friendly match
2.	4 June 2008	Estadio El Teniente, Rancagua, Chile	Guatemala	1–0	2–0	Friendly match
3.	4 June 2008	Estadio El Teniente, Rancagua, Chile	Guatemala	2–0	2–0	Friendly match
4.	11 February 2009	Peter Mokaba Stadium, Polokwane, South Africa	South Africa	0–2	0–2	Friendly match
5.	28 March 2009	Estadio Monumental "U", Lima, Peru	Peru	0–1	1–3	2010 FIFA World Cup Qualification
6.	10 June 2009	Estadio Nacional de Chile, Santiago, Chile	Bolivia	3–0	4–0	2010 FIFA World Cup Qualification
7.	10 June 2009	Estadio Nacional de Chile, Santiago, Chile	Bolivia	4–0	4–0	2010 FIFA World Cup Qualification
8.	12 August 2009	Brøndby Stadium, Brøndby, Denmark	Denmark	1–2	1–2	Friendly match
9.	26 May 2010	Estadio Municipal de Calama, Calama, Chile	Zambia	1–0	3–0	Friendly match
10.	26 May 2010	Estadio Municipal de Calama, Calama, Chile	Zambia	2–0	3–0	Friendly match
11.	30 May 2010	Estadio Municipal de Concepción, Concepción, Chile	Israel	2–0	3–0	Friendly match
12.	17 November 2010	Estadio Monumental David Arellano, Santiago, Chile	Uruguay	1–0	2–0	Friendly match
13.	19 June 2011	Estadio Monumental, Santiago, Chile	Estonia	4–0	4–0	Friendly match
14.	8 July 2011	Estadio Malvinas Argentinas, Mendoza, Argentina	Uruguay	1–1	1–1	2011 Copa América

Career statistics[link]

Club[link]

¹Includes continental competitive competitions, including the Copa Libertadores, Copa Sudamericana and UEFA Champions League.

²Includes other competitive competitions, including the FIFA Club World Cup, Supercopa de España and UEFA Super Cup.

Statistics accurate as of match played 29 April 2012^{[18][19][20][21]}

National team[link]

^[17]

Honours[link]

Club[link]

Colo-Colo

• Chilean Primera División (2): 2006 Clausura, 2007 Apertura
• Copa Sudamericana (1): Runner-up 2006

River Plate

• Primera División de Argentina (1): 2008 Clausura

Barcelona

• Copa del Rey (1): 2011–12
• Supercopa de España (1): 2011
• UEFA Super Cup (1): 2011
• FIFA Club World Cup (1) : 2011

International[link]

• FIFA U-20 World Cup (1): Third place 2007

Individual[link]

• Serie A Player of the Month (1): February 2011

Personal life[link]

Sánchez's adoptive father, José Delaigue, died of a heart attack in June 2011 at age 75. On 19 June, in Chile's 4–0 win over Estonia, on his team's last goal that Sánchez scored he removed his jersey during his celebration to reveal a photo of Delaigue on his undershirt.

References[link]

External links[link]

• FC Barcelona profile
• La Liga profile
• Transfermarkt profile
• 2010 FIFA World Cup profile
• Alexis Sánchez at National-Football-Teams.com
• Alexis Sánchez – FIFA competition record
• Alexis Sánchez – UEFA competition record