Juan Silveira dos Santos

Football player infobox
playername = Juan


fullname = Juan Silveira dos Santos
height = height|m=1.82
nickname = Juan
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1979|2|1
cityofbirth = Rio de Janeiro
countryofbirth = Brazil
currentclub = Roma
clubnumber = 4
position = Defender
youthyears =
youthclubs = Flamengo
years = 1996–2002
2002–2007
2007–
clubs = Flamengo
Bayer Leverkusen
Roma
caps(goals) = 245 (29)
139 (10)
20 (2)
nationalyears = 2002–present
nationalteam = Brazil
nationalcaps(goals) = 64 (4)
pcupdate = May 28, 2007
ntupdate = September 14, 2008

Juan Silveira dos Santos (pronounced|xwɐ̃ siwˈvɛiɾɐ duˈsɐ̃tuz, usually called Juan) (February 1 1979 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) is football player at the position of central defender that currently plays for A.S. Roma.

On June 21 2007, he was bought by A.S. Roma for €6.3m [it icon [http://www.asroma.it/UserFiles/692.pdf|AS Roma buy Juan from Leverkusen] ] . Prior to signing for Roma, he previously played five years for German club Bayer Leverkusen and for Flamengo in Brazil.

Juan's first season at A.S. Roma immediately began with a challenge. He was signed to replace Christian Chivu who had left that very same summer for Inter Milan. Roma supporters doubted he would be able to perform as well as the Romanian captain had done for so many years. However, Juan immediately began surprising his new supporters with a string of impeccable performances. Soon, Roma supporters realized that the brazilian international was no less reliable than former Roma number 13. Juan became a true leader of Roma's defense after just the first few matches of the new 2007/2008 campaign.

Juan's start with A.S. Roma was stunning. Impeccable performances, and even a spectacular goal on the third fixture, just to reassure even the most skeptical that he was a top player. The third fixture of the 2007/2008 campaign saw A.S. Roma face Reggina in a tuff away match. Juan broke the deadlock with an amazing backheel volley after Francesco Totti's cross. A typical brazilian goal, where a great deal of technique is required. Most attackers, let alone defenders, would not even think of attempting such a risky shot (as the possiblilty for embarrassment is quite high). Yet he dared to attempt that shot, and succeeded. Roma went on to secure the match with a safe 2-0 victory.

Juan's first Roma season was therefore very successful, from both a personal and collective point of view. His capabilities were no longer in question, and Roma fought for the title till the very last match. In fact, for a little over an hour during the final match of the season, they were champions of Italy. However, the ending resulted in a bitter loss of the championship. To compensate for this loss, Roma managed to win the Coppa Italia. The season was all together successful. The only flaw for Juan under a personal point of view was a series of physical injuries that rendered his campaign quite stressful. He was forced to miss a number of matches for these physical problems of his. He has reportedly said to have been in pain all year long. This is why much more can be expected of him in the next campaign where he will hopefully be fully fit in order to play to the best of his capabilities. The best is probably yet to come for the brazilian international's career with A.S. Roma.

He is part of the Brazil national football team which he captained in the 2004 Copa América and the 2007 Copa América final, both of which Brazil won. He is widely considered to be one of the most consistent players on the Brazil national football team, with generally solid performances.

Honours

Clubs

*Copa Mercosur 1999
*Rio State Championship 1999, 2000, 2001
*Brazilian Champions' Cup 2001
*Coppa Italia: 2008

International

*2004 Copa América - Winner
*2005 Confederations Cup - Winner
*2007 Copa América - Winner

References

External links

* [http://www.bayer04.de/Spieler/rwe/spielerProfile.asp Bayer 04 Leverkusen player profile]
* [http://www.leverkusen.com/whoiswho/whoiswho.php4?view=Juan&lang=en Leverkusen who's who]