Afonso Alves

Early career

Heerenveen

In Summer 2006, he moved to the Dutch club SC Heerenveen of the Eredivisie for €4.5 million, which remains their highest-ever transfer fee paid. In his first season, he finished as top goalscorer of the Eredivisie with 34 goals (in 31 games), which is a club record. Alves is the third Brazilian to become topscorer in the Dutch first division, joining former PSV strikers Romário and Ronaldo, and the second Brazilian who scored over 30 goals in the same competition, with Ronaldo netting 30 in the 1994–95 season. Other than finishing first in the scorers table, he was runner-up in the race for the European Golden Boot, a single point behind Roma forward Francesco Totti. On 7 October 2007, in only his second appearance of the season, Alves scored seven goals in his side's 9–0 victory over Heracles Almelo, setting a new Eredivisie record for most goals scored in a single match. Heerenveen's manager (Gertjan Verbeek) had already made three substitutions yet chose to take Alves off the pitch in the 89th minute to pay tribute to his fantastic performance.

Middlesbrough

In the January transfer window of the 2007–08 season he moved to Premier League side Middlesbrough on 31 January 2008. Alves' transfer fee was said to have been €12 million, on a four-and-a-half-year contract. He made his debut on 9 February, against Fulham as a second-half substitute for Lee Dong-Gook. His first Middlesbrough start came on 27 February in an FA Cup…

On 17 May 2007, Alves received his first call-up for the Brazil national team for friendlies against England and Turkey. On 1 June, in the game against England, Alves was brought on to replace Kaká after 71 minutes of play and very nearly scored after a Wes Brown slip. He was also part of the Brazilian squad which won the 2007 Copa América in Venezuela. Alves scored his first international goal on 12 September 2007 against Mexico in a 3–1 win.

Club

International

Scores and results list Brazil's goal tally first, score column indicates score after Alves goal.

Malmö FF

Allsvenskan: 2004 Al-Rayyan

Emir of Qatar Cup: 2010 Qatar Crown Prince Cup: 2012 Brazil Copa América: 2007 Individual

Eredivisie top scorer: 2006–07 Dutch Footballer of the Year: 2007 AFC Cup top scorer: 2010