Denílson de Oliveira Araújo

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See Denilson for another Brazilian player named him.

Denílson
Personal information
Full name	Denílson de Oliveira Araújo
Date of birth	August 24, 1977 (age 29)
Place of birth	Diadema, Brazil
Height	178 cm
Position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Al-Nasr
Professional clubs*
Years	Club	Apps (goals)
1995-1998 1998-2005 2000-2001 2005-2006 2006-	São Paulo Real Betis → Flamengo (loan) Bordeaux Al-Nasr
National team
1996-2003	Brazil
* Professional club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

Denílson, full name Denílson de Oliveira Araújo, (born August 24, 1977 in Diadema, Brazil) is a football winger, who in 1998 became the most expensive footballer in the world. He is currently playing with Saudi premiership side Al-Nasr.

Denílson broke the record when Real Betis paid São Paulo €32 million (UK£21.9 million or US$40.5 million) for his services. Denílson had been with São Paulo since 1995. In 1999/2000 he went on a brief loan to Flamengo. After becoming a World Cup winner in 2002, Real Betis sold the Brazilian in 2005 to French club Bordeaux for an undisclosed amount.

A player of outstanding close control and dexterity, Denílson suffers from what is often perceived as common flaw in Brazilian attackers: inconsistency, sometimes called 'The Swan Disease'. He is renowned for his 'stand still' stepovers, with many referring to the skill as the "Denílson".

In interviews, Denílson is known for talking plainly. In a 2003 interview with Wanderley Nogueira, Denílson offered some advice to Brazil’s younger prospects, like Gil, Robinho and Kaka, suggesting that they should avoid thinking about money, and focus instead on the joy of playing football in a great footballing centre.

Since his debut in November 1996 against Cameroon and as of 2005, Denílson has been capped 61 times for Brazil, scoring nine goals. After helping his country to a second place finish at the 1998 World Cup, he made five substitute appearances to become a World Cup winner after Brazil won the tournament in Japan and South Korea in 2002. However, he fell out of favour when Carlos Alberto Parreira became the Brazil coach in 2003 and was not included in the 2006 squad.

Denílson overcame a slow start to his career with Bordeaux to become an important member of Les Girondins' squad. However his contract expired in 2006, and he had been linked with free transfers to Tottenham Hotspur, Gaziantepspor and Celtic. Even with UEFA Champions League football next season, Bordeaux struggled to match the winger's wage demands, and he left to sign for Saudi Arabia's Al-Nasr quashing rumours of him signing for Middlesbrough or Portsmouth.

Contents 1 Career 1.1 Club 1.2 National 2 Honours and awards 3 Quotations

[edit] Career

[edit] Club

• 1995-1998: São Paulo FC 64 goals in 112 apps
• 1998-2000: Real Betis 10 goals in 32 apps
• 2000-2001: Flamengo (on loan from Betis) 22 goals in 34 apps
• 2001-2005: Real Betis 62 goals in 145 apps
• 2005-2006: Bordeaux26 goals in 35 apps
• 2006: Al-Nasr at present 9 goals in 15 apps

[edit] National

• 1996-2003: Brazil

[edit] Honours and awards

• FIFA World Cup winner: 2002
• Copa del Rey winner: 2005

[edit] Quotations

• "I'm twice as good as the number 10" - on why he chose the number 20 for Brazil.
• On David Beckham: "He’s pretty. So he’s very lucky: he’s both a footballer AND pretty. I’m this ugly and still the women are all over me."
• On playing overseas: "Everybody will miss home and feel saddened; the important thing is to be with trusted people in the beginning, when you still haven’t adapted".

	Brazil squad - 1998 FIFA World Cup Runners-up
1 Taffarel | 2 Cafu | 3 Aldair | 4 Júnior Baiano | 5 César Sampaio | 6 Roberto Carlos | 7 Giovanni | 8 Dunga | 9 Ronaldo | 10 Rivaldo | 11 Emerson | 12 Carlos Germano | 13 Zé Carlos | 14 Gonçalves | 15 André Cruz | 16 Zé Roberto | 17 Doriva | 18 Leonardo | 19 Denílson | 20 Bebeto | 21 Edmundo | 22 Dida | Coach: Zagallo

	Brazil squad - 2002 FIFA World Cup Champions (5th Title)
1 Marcos | 2 Cafu | 3 Lúcio | 4 Roque Júnior | 5 Edmílson | 6 Roberto Carlos | 7 Ricardinho | 8 Gilberto Silva | 9 Ronaldo | 10 Rivaldo | 11 Ronaldinho | 12 Dida | 13 Belletti | 14 Anderson Polga | 15 Kléberson | 16 Júnior | 17 Denílson | 18 Vampeta | 19 Juninho | 20 Edílson | 21 Luizão | 22 Rogério Ceni | 23 Kaká | Coach: Scolari