Elano

Football player infobox
playername = Elano


fullname = Elano Blumer
height = height|m=1.74
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1981|6|14
cityofbirth = Iracemápolis
countryofbirth = Brazil
currentclub = Manchester City
clubnumber = 11
position = Attacking Midfielder
youthyears = 1998–2000
2000–2001
youthclubs = Guarani
Inter de Limeira
years = 2001–2005
2005–2007
2007–
clubs = Santos
Shakhtar Donetsk
Manchester City
caps(goals) = 131 (33)
048 (14)
040 (11)
nationalyears = 2004–
nationalteam = Brazil
nationalcaps(goals) = 032 0(4)
pcupdate = 12:36, 23 September 2008 (UTC)
ntupdate = 11:24, 21 September 2008 (UTC)

Elano Blumer (born June 14, 1981 in Iracemápolis, São Paulo) is a Brazilian football player who currently plays for the English club Manchester City.

He is a playmaker who has the ability to play anywhere down the right flank or the centre of the field. He also has the ability to score from distance, especially with free kicks, and has been noted for his dribbling skills and vision.

Club career

Early career

Elano began his career with Guarani of Campinas in São Paulo state. After a short spell with Limeira's Internacional he joined Santos, the former club of Pelé, where he played alongside Robinho, Diego and Alex. Elano soon gained a reputation as a talented goal scoring midfielder,weal|date=January 2008 forming part of the Santos side which won the Campeonato Brasileiro in 2004. 3 years at Santos produced 32 goals and earned the player a transfer to the Ukrainian side FC Shakhtar Donetsk. Although he was not a regular in his first season in Ukraine, Elano went on to establish his credentials as a key player and exceptional form saw him became the first player from the Ukrainian Premier League to represent the Brazilian national team, when he was called up for the Brazil vs. Norway game on August 16, 2006.

Manchester City

On August 2, 2007 Manchester City paid £8m for Elano, who signed a 4 year contract.cite news
title = Elano heads Man City triple swoop
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/m/man_city/6927556.stm
publisher = BBC Sport
date = 2007-08-02
accessdate = 2007-08-02] He made his debut on the opening day of the season against West Ham, providing the cross for the opening goal. [cite news
title = West Ham 0 Manchester City 2| url = http://www.sportinglife.com/football/premteams/westham/news/story_get.dor?STORY_NAME=soccer/07/08/11/SOCCER_West_Ham.html&TEAMHD=westham
publisher = Sporting Life| accessdate = 2007-10-14] He played in his first Manchester derby on the 19th August 2007. Elano has also revealed how he is enjoying his new life in Manchester, describing the city as beautiful [ [http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,,2151261,00.html Elano out of the cold and warming up City | News | Guardian Unlimited Football ] ] and how the weather suits him better than what he experienced in Ukraine. [ [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/manchester_city/article3048635.ece Elano Blumer warms to Manchester weather | Manchester City - Times Online ] ] He has also admitted surprise at the tempo of football in the Premier League. [ [http://www.premierleague.com/page/Statistics/0,,12306,00.html 2007/2008 | Official Site of the Premier League - Barclays Premier League News, Fixtures and Results | Statistics ] ]

On 29 September, 2007 Elano scored his first goal for City in a 3-1 win over Newcastle United. He added two more goals on 7 October, 2007 in City's 3-1 win over Middlesbrough, one from open play about 25 yards out, and the other a curling free-kick from just outside the penalty area.Fact|date=January 2008 He continued his brilliant form by scoring the only goal in a match against Birmingham City and converting a late penalty in the Carling Cup victory at Bolton Wanderers. On 2 January, 2008, he scored the first goal of 2008 at St James' Park in Manchester City's 2-0 victory over Newcastle United. On 16 January, 2008, in the FA Cup 3rd round, Elano scored the winning goal as Manchester City knocked West Ham out of the competition and progressed to the 4th round. On the February 2, 2008 Elano got his 5th yellow card of the season when they played against Arsenal a week earlier which meant he could not play in the 2-1 victory over rivals Manchester United. In the end month of March and beginning off April 2008. Elano has scored 3 penalties against Birmingham City in the 3-1 defeat and in the 2-1 win over Sunderland, but also against Bolton in the 2nd round of the Carling Cup.

His performances at the end of the 2007/2008 season pleased the then manager Sven Goran Eriksson who claimed that the 'Real Elano is Back'. Elano has proved himself to be extremely versatile, playing in many positions for Manchester City throughout the 2007/08 season, including full-back in the 3-1 home win against Portsmouth. Elano finished the season with a goal in the 8-1 drubbing of city at Middlesbrough on the last day of the Premiership. His first season saw him score 10 goals and as many assists in all competitions, and proved himself as a dangerous attacking midfielder.

Elano has had a fairly quiet pre-season, returning a bit later due to international duty. He made a dazzling performance in the 1-0 friendly win over AC Milan on 9th August 2008, creating many chances with his dominant free role in Midfield. He continued his good form with a cool finish from the Penalty spot in the 4-2 loss at Aston Villa. He followed up with two goals in the 3-0 home win against West Ham, making him joint top scorer with Gabriel Agbonlahor at the end of Week 2 in the Premier league. However, with the high-profile return of Shaun Wright-Phillips to the club and the sensational transfer of his fellow Brazilian Robinho to the club in the early part of the 2008/2009 season, there is doubt as to whether he will maintain his dominant midfield position at the club. During Robinho's first match for the club, a 3-1 defeat against Chelsea, Elano was on the bench and was not called on to the pitch.

Personal life

Elano is very quiet and does not say much about his personal life, but it has recently come to light that he is a long-term member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He stated in an interview that religion is more important than football and that he hopes to be able to use football to bring in money and use this in future to help maintain and promote The Church.

tatistics

International

References

External links

*soccerbase|id=40448|name=Elano
* [http://shakhtar.com/cgi-bin/fc-sh/player.pl?lang=en&id=94 Profile on the official Shakhtar Donetsk site]
* [http://shakhtar.com/mpl/allnews.pl?lang=en&id=5094 Elano say goodbye to Shakhtar]
* [http://www.uefa.com/competitions/ucl/players/player=98607/index.html Profile at uefa.com]
* [http://www.mcfc.co.uk/default.sps?syndicatorguid=&rmasiteinstanceguid=&pagegid={439A001B-9F18-408E-BD8E-8466AB3C97FD}&bioid=92817&siteid=502 Profile on the official Manchester City F.C. site]