Lucas Pezzini Leiva

Football player infobox
playername= Lucas|

fullname = Lucas Pezzini Leiva
nickname = Lucas Leiva
dateofbirth = 9 January 1987 (age 21)
cityofbirth = Dourados
countryofbirth = Brazil
height = 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
weight = 74 kg
currentclub = Liverpool
clubnumber = 21
position = centre midfielder
youthyears = 2004–2005
youthclubs = Grêmio
years = 2005–2007 2007–
clubs = Grêmio
Liverpool
caps(goals) = 38 (4)
20 (0)
nationalyears = 2006–2007 2008 2007–
nationalteam = Brazil U-20 Brazil U-23 Brazil
nationalcaps(goals) = 09 (4) 07 (0) 03 (0)
pcupdate = 22:21, 9 October 2008 (UTC)
ntupdate = September 19, 2008

Lucas Pezzini Leiva (born 9 January 1987 in Dourados, Mato Grosso do Sul) is a Brazilian Central Midfielder, who currently plays for Liverpool FC. He is often known solely by his first name, Lucas. The box-to-box midfielder is the nephew of former Brazilian football player Leivinha and holds an Italian passport.

Club career

Grêmio

Lucas started his career with Grêmio, making his first team debut on October 22, 2005 in a 1-0 win over Náutico in Serie B. [ [http://www.footballdatabase.com/index.php?page=player&Id=7732&pn=Lucas_Pezzini_Leiva Lucas stats at footballdatabase.com] ] Grêmio went on to win the league that season, with only seven players on the field, returning to the top tier of Brazilian football.

2006 was a successful year for Lucas and Grêmio, winning the Rio Grande do Sul state championship (the Campeonato Gaúcho) for the first time since 2001, and also coming third in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A. Lucas also became the youngest player to ever to receive "Placar" magazine's "Bola de Ouro" (Golden Ball), given to the best player in the Campeonato Brasileiro — an honour previously won by the likes of Zico, Falcao, Careca, Alex, Romario, Kaká and Tevez. [cite web|url=http://fifa.com/en/comp/index/0,2442,134504,00.html?articleid=134504 |title=FIFA U-20 World Cup Canada 2007: Lucas ready to lead Brazilian charge |work=Article by fifa.com|date=March 28, 2007|accessdate=May 12|accessyear=2007]

His form in 2006 led to reported interest from many major European clubs including Milan, Palermo, Manchester United, Inter, Juventus, Atlético Madrid and Barcelona. [cite web|url=http://www.goal.com/it/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=157277 |title=Inter has Lucas in their sights |work=Article by Corriere dello Sport it icon|date=October 30, 2006|accessdate=May 12|accessyear=2007]

Liverpool

On May 13, 2007 Liverpool confirmed the acquisition of Lucas and he joined the club from Grêmio before the start of the 2007-08 season. [cite web|url=http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drilldown/N155909070513-1228.htm|title=LEIVA: IMPOSSIBLE TO SAY NO TO LFC|work=Article by Mark Platt, liverpoolfc.tv|date=May 13, 2007|accessdate=May 14|accessyear=2007] The transfer fee is rumoured to be worth in the region of €9 million. [cite web|url=http://www.gazetaesportiva.net/ge_noticias/bin/noticia.php?chid=116&nwid=5368 |title=Lucas signs with Liverpool for 5 years |work=Article by gazetaesportiva.net pt icon|date=May 11, 2007|accessdate=May 12|accessyear=2007] Lucas remained with Grêmio until the end of their 2007 Copa Libertadores campaign. They made it to the final where they would meet Boca Juniors. Lucas however, had a niggling injury, causing him to start the first leg on the bench. With Grêmio 1-0 down, Sandro Goiano was sent off. Lucas was brought on to help shore up the midfield, but to no avail as Grêmio lost 3-0. Lucas was back in the starting line-up for the second leg, but again Grêmio were defeated, this time 2-0.

On July 26 he was officially unveiled as a Liverpool player and was given international clearance to compete in the final of the Barclays Asia Trophy [cite web|url=http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drilldown/N156485070726-0416.htm |title=RAFA HAILS NEW LEIVA-POOL SIGNING |work=Article on Liverpoolfc.tv|date=July 26, 2007|accessdate=July 26|accessyear=2007] . On July 27, he made his debut in the match against Portsmouth, coming on for Sissoko in the second half.Benitez has reffered to Lucas as the next Brasilian "wonderkid" and is confident of Lucas' abilities as a footballer.

By late November, manager Rafael Benitez gave Lucas his chance at starting a game in the Liverpool midfield, after easing him into the Liverpool way in his first few months at the club. He quickly became popular with the fans after putting in some mature displays against Newcastle and Bolton Wanderers in the league.

Lucas scored his first goal for Liverpool on January 27th, 2008 when he curled a 25-yard shot into the top corner during an FA cup match against Havant and Waterlooville and as a result became the first Brazilian to score for Liverpool.

The young Brazilian has already started league games against Chelsea and Arsenal, as well as both Champions League games against Inter Milan.

The 2008/09 season will be a big one for Lucas with many critics expecting him to step up to the next level after completing his first season with the Reds. The Brazilian got off to a good start to the campaign with a well taken opening goal in a 2-1 win over Swiss side FC Lucerne in July. However he missed the first month of Liverpool's Premier League games, due to his commitment to the Brazilian Olympic Team of which he had been selected to compete for in the Beijing Olympics.

International

Lucas is the former captain of the Brazilian Under-20 team. He helped the team to victory in the 2007 South American Youth Championship, scoring 4 goals in the process. He was expected to lead the team again in the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup which was contested in Canada in July 2007 and was named in their squad. However an injury in training kept him from playing for 3 weeks, leading to his withdrawal from the squad. [cite web|url=http://aliverpoolthing.blogspot.com/2007/06/new-signing-injured.html|title=New Signing Injured|work=by Paul Grech|date=June 30, 2007|accessdate=June 30|accessyear=2007]

In October 2006 Lucas was brought into the senior Brazilian squad for friendlies against Kuwaiti club Al-Kuwait and Ecuador. Lucas was both the youngest member and one of only two non-Europe-based players in a strong squad. He made his debut for Brazil on October 7, 2006 coming on as a second half substitute against Al-Kuwait. Brazil won the match 4-0. However, this appearance does not count as his first cap as the match was not considered an official friendly match by FIFA.Fact|date=October 2007

Lucas gained his first official Brazil international cap on August 22, 2007, coming on as a substitute in a friendly against Algeria. [cite web|url=http://www.goal.com/en/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=390859|title=Maicon and Ronaldinho See Off Algeria|work=Report on Goal.com|date=August 22, 2007|accessdate=August 23|accessyear=2007]

In June 2008, Lucas was named in the Brazil squad for an Olympics warm-up match later in the month. [cite web|url=http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drilldown/N160146080608-0830.htm|title=Lucas named in Brazil Squad|work=Liverpoolfc.tv article|date=June 8, 2008|accessdate=June 8|accessyear=2008] .

On Tuesday, 19th August, Lucas was shown a red card in the Olympic Semi-Final encounter between Brazil and Argentina, after a challenge ironically on Liverpool team mate Javier Mascherano, as Argentina ran out 3-0 winners.

Lucas scored a header against Crewe Alexandra in the Carling Cup 3rd Round.

Career statistics

Career honours

Grêmio
*Winner
**Campeonato Brasileiro Série B: 2005
**Campeonato Gaúcho: 2006, 2007
*Runner-up
**Copa Libertadores: 2007

Brazil
*Winner
**2007 South American U-20 Championship
*Bronze Medal
**2008 Beijing Olympic Games
*Winner
**2004 Sendai Cup - Brazil U-17

Liverpool
*Winner
**Premier Reserve League: 2008

Personal Awards
*Winner
**Bola de Ouro (Brazilian Footballer of the year): 2006

References

External links

* [http://www.thisisanfield.com/players/lucas Thisisanfield.com player profile]
*soccerbase|47374|name= Lucas
* [http://www.lucasleiva.co.uk/ Lucas Leiva UK Unofficial Fansite]
* [http://www.gremio.net/player/view.aspx?id=17&language=0 Profile on Gremio.net (Portuguese)]
* [http://www.recontragolazo.com/?p=339 Video Compilation with all his goals and skills]
* [http://www.footballdatabase.com/index.php?page=player&Id=7732&pn=Lucas_Pezzini_Leiva Profile on footballdatabase.com]
* [http://www.sportingo.com/football/will_liverpool_go_nuts_for/1001,5447 Lucas Leiva- Will Liverpool Go Nuts For The Brazilian Gerard?] "(Article by Dave Westy on Sportingo.com, following Lucas Leiva's league debut against Everton)"
* [http://www.lfchistory.net/player_profile.asp?player_id=1180 LFChistory.net player profile]