- This article is about the football player. You may be looking for Art Deco.
Anderson Luiz de Sousa, born 27 August 1977 in São Bernardo do Campo, Brazil is a professional footballer widely known as Deco.
The European arrival
Deco arrived to Portugal in 1997 at the age of 19 from Brazilian club Corinthians Alagoano to play for Lisbon side SL Benfica, but despite good showings in training and some internal opposition, Benfica's poor financial condition did not allow the side to keep the player, and he was released to second division side Alverca . He played there for a season before being traded to Oporto side Salgueiros in the 98-99 season, playing 12 games and scoring two goals by December. His performances caught the eye of FC Porto's staff, and during the winter transfer window he was sold to Porto, where he played six more games that season.
Porto years
His early years at Porto revealed him as a very talented, yet truculent "numéro dix" (number ten), registering as many cards as assists and goals. His unreliable behaviour proved costly to Porto in games where he was either sent off or wasn't "tuned in" with the game. Nevertheless, he was Porto's key figure during the three-year drought in the early 2000s, and was linked with a move to Spanish giant FC Barcelona.
Glory
Under the guidance of José Mourinho, Deco was given the role of leading an ambitious Porto team. A key figure in the 2002-03 season, he scored 10 goals in 30 games (but nevertheless got 17 yellow cards and one red), and was one of the key players in the 2003 UEFA Cup win. The following year Deco helped Porto recapture the title, and led the Champions League in assists and fouls suffered in a run that ended with a 3-0 victory over AS Monaco in the Champions League final, where he scored the second goal. His final season at Porto earned him UEFA's MVP award, as well as the best midfielder award.
National Team
Never called to the 'Escrete' (Brazilian national team), Deco was mentioned several times as an option for the Portuguese national team. In 2002, having completed six years of Portuguese residence, he received his Portuguese citizenship. After many months of public discussion which split Portuguese public opinion, and despite the opposition of a large number of FC Porto rivals' supporters, he was called up for the Portugal - Brazil friendly played at the Estádio das Antas on 29 March 2003. He played only eight minutes, but that was enough time to score the free kick that stunned Brazil 2-1, marking Portugal's first win over Brazil since the 1966 World Cup. Since then, he has been a regular in the national team, despite criticism by players such as Luis Figo.
FC Barcelona
On 17 June 2004, Deco told a Portuguese radio station that he would almost certainly join English side Chelsea (then coached by Mourinho) following Euro 2004. He said that a transfer deal between FC Porto and Chelsea had been all but finalized, and that the only remaining steps were passing a physical and signing a contract with Chelsea.
However, on 26 June 2004 he told the Portuguese sports daily O Jogo that he would rather move to FC Barcelona than follow Mourinho to Chelsea. While FC Bayern München gave up on Deco after the Chelsea deal seemed concluded, it was uncertain whether the German side would make a new bid. The best offer at that time was €21M from Barça, but this figure was still 4M short of the request by Porto's board. Portuguese newspapers then reported that Barça would try to offer Portuguese winger Ricardo Quaresma in order to ease the deal.
Finally, a deal was achieved between FC Porto and Barcelona the day after the Euro 2004 final. Barça agreed on a €15M fee, plus the complete rights of Ricardo Quaresma. Deco signed a 4 year deal with the Catalan side on 6 July 2004.
In Barcelona some suggested Deco would be completely eclipsed by Brazilian star Ronaldinho (a duo that according to Luiz Felipe Scolari "can make rain fall"), and although he played more on the midfield than on attacking roles (taking advantage of his above-average capacity to recover balls for a attacking midfielder), he continued to perform exemplarily. In December 2004, he ended up second in France Football's Ballon D'Or 2004 award, losing to Andriy Shevchenko and beating Ronaldinho by six votes.
