Nani

Nani was born in Praia , the capital of Cape Verde , in the family of Maria do Seu Almeida and Domingos da Cunha. At an early age he emigrated with his family to Portugal . Nani grew up under the supervision of his aunt Anthony Almeida in Amador , a suburb of Lisbon , where he had been chasing the ball since childhood with his friend Manuel Fernandes (now Lokomotiv midfielder). In addition to football, Nani was fond of capoeira (hence his habit of celebrating every goal scored with a spectacular acrobatic jump through himself). Nani began his football career at the Real di Massama youth club, then transferred to the youth team of Sporting .

Sporting (Lisbon)

The debut of Nani in the main part of “ Sporting ” came in the 2005/06 season, when he played a total of 35 matches and scored 5 goals. The next season, Nani has already played in 40 matches, including 6 matches of the Champions League (scored 1 goal) and 5 matches of the Portuguese Cup . Sporting managed to win the last trophy.

Manchester United

At the end of the 2006/07 season, Sporting and Manchester United entered into an agreement to transfer Nani to an English club. It is assumed that Manchester paid about 17 million pounds for the young Portuguese ^[2] ( Real di Massama ^[3] received 5% of this amount - approximately 1.25 million euros ). July 7, 2007 Nani became a full-fledged player at Manchester United , signing a five-year contract with the club.

On July 9, Nani (like another club rookie - Owen Hargreaves ) was introduced to the press. He received a t-shirt with the number "17" , which Henrik Larsson wore in the previous season.

Nani scored a goal in his debut match for Manchester - this happened July 23, 2007 in a friendly game with the Chinese club Shenzhen, which the Red Devils won with a score of 6: 0 ^[4] .

Nani's debut in regular competitions took place on August 5, 2007 , when he was replaced in the match for the possession of the English Super Cup against Chelsea . Despite the fact that the main and extra time of the match ended with the score 1: 1, Manchester United managed to snatch the victory in the penalty shootout thanks to the fantastic game of Edwin van der Sar , who repelled three hits of the Chelsea players in a row ^[5] .

As part of the Premier League, Nani entered the field on August 12, 2007 in a home game against Reading . He replaced injured Wayne Rooney. ^[6] On August 26, he scored the first (proved victorious) goal for Manchester United in official matches, sending the ball from 28 meters into the goal of Tottenham Hotspur . In the next two matches, Nani helped his team defeat Sunderland and Everton with a minimum score, giving assists to Louis Saha and Nemanje Vidic ^[7] .

Nani scored his second Premier League goal on October 27, 2007 in a home game against Middlesbrough . Having received the ball in his half of the field, he defeated three defenders at once and delivered an incredible blow from 30 meters exactly under the crossbar. The match eventually ended with a score of 4: 1 in favor of Manchester United . On February 16, 2008, Nani probably played his best match of the season as part of the 5th round of the FA Cup against Arsenal . In the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez Nani played in the position of a pure striker. After Wayne Rooney scored 1-0 in favor of the “ Red Devils ”, the Portuguese went on the left flank, removed the defender on the backswing and made an accurate pass on Darren Fletcher , who sent the ball into the goal with his head. Then Nani himself scored a goal, using the long pass of Michael Carrick and the failure of the defense “ gunners ”. Running away from the defender, he got the ball in the box and confidently shot past the goalkeeper. Finally, he scored another goal assist, beating the defender within the penalty area and giving an accurate pass to Fletcher, who set the final score in the match - 4: 0 ^[8] . Already at the end of the meeting on the field, an incident occurred when William Gallas first knocked Nani off his feet, and then, when the Portuguese began to rise, hit him with his knee. Two players had to be separated. Probably, the French “ Gunners ” defender did not like the previous episode, when Nani juggled the ball with his own penalty for several seconds, preventing Gallas from taking it away. Arsenal head coach Arsene Wenger later commented on this episode, saying that “Nani played very well today, but he did not need to juggle the ball. ... Maybe he will learn from this lesson ” ^[9] . The Portuguese in response said the following: “In Portugal I often did such things, but only because it looks impressive, and not because I wanted to offend someone” ^[10] .

March 23, 2008 Nani took part in the home defeat of Liverpool . Having received a pass from Rooney at the Merseyside penalty, he ran between the two defenders, creating a free zone, and powerfully shot from the penalty into the corner of Pepe Reina's goal. Liverpool lost 3-0 and dropped out of the fight for the championship title ^[11] .

On May 3, 2008, Nani was removed from the field and disqualified for three matches for a header from Lucas Neal in the match against West Ham . Disqualification, however, did not prevent him from becoming the first champion of England on May 11 , when Manchester United defeated the Wigan Athletic 2-0 away.

Nani also took part in the Moscow Champions League final against Chelsea on May 21, 2008. The Red Devils defeated the Londoners in the penalty shootout , and Nani won his first European trophy as part of the club.

On March 26, 2010, Nani signed a contract with Manchester United, which was valid until June 2014 ^[12] . On September 5, 2013, the contract was extended until June 2018 ^[13] .

Fenerbahce

On July 6, 2015, Fenerbahçe acquired Nani for 4.25 million pounds.

Valencia

Almost exactly one year later, on July 5, 2016, the Portuguese became the footballer of Valencia for 8 and a half million euros.

Luis Nani scored his first goal for Valencia in the match against Leganes ^[14] .

Lazio

On August 31, 2017, Nani transferred on loan to the Italian club Lazio .

Return to Sporting

On July 11, 2018, Nani returned to Sporting ^[15] .

Orlando City

On February 18, 2019, Nani went on a free transfer to the Orlando City MLS club, signing a three-year contract according to the rules of the appointed player ^[16] .

Nani made his debut for the Portuguese national team on September 1, 2006 in a friendly match with Denmark . In that game, he scored one goal (according to RSSSF ^[17] ; another source ^[18] , however, defines this goal as an own goal of Thomas Sørensen ).

Nani also took part in the 2008 European Championship qualifiers, scoring a goal in a game against Belgium . Portugal won the match 2-1.

In October 2010, he scored a double against the Danish national team in the qualifying match of the 2012 European Championship. A year later, in the same qualifying tournament, he scored two goals for Icelanders.

At the 2016 European Championships in France, he held his 100th match for the national team, becoming only the 4th footballer in the history of the Portuguese national team, to whom this line was subdued. At the tournament, Nani scored a goal against Iceland (1: 1), Hungary (3: 3), Wales (2: 0).

Portugal Matches

Total: 86 matches / 15 goals; 50 wins, 18 draws, 18 losses.

(adjusted as of June 16, 2015)

Team Achievements

  Sporting

• Portuguese Cup Winner ( 2 ): 2007, 2015
• Portuguese League Cup Winner: 2019
• Total: 3 trophies

  Manchester United

• Premier League Champion ( 4 ): 2007/08 , 2008/09 , 2010/11 , 2012/13
• Football League Cup Winner ( 2 ): 2009 , 2010
• UEFA Champions League Winner: 2008
• Super Bowl of England ( 4 ): 2007 , 2008 , 2010 , 2011
• Club World Cup Winner: 2008
• Total: 12 trophies

  Portugal national team

• European Champion : 2016
• European Championship bronze medalist: 2012
• Confederations Cup bronze medalist: 2017
• Total: 1 trophy

Personal achievements

• PFA Team Member of the Year : 2010/11
• Best Premier League Assistant: 2010/11

Club career

(corrected as of May 28, 2016)

Team appearances

(corrected as of November 18, 2014)

• Nani on Twitter
• Soccer Player Profile at ManUtd.com
• Manchester United Performance Statistics at StretfordEnd.co.uk
• Profile and statistics on the Sporting website (port.)
• Profile on the MLS website