Thiago Emiliano da Silva

Football player infobox
playername= Thiago Silva


fullname = Thiago Emiliano da Silva
dateofbirth = Birth date and age|1984|9|22|mf=y
| cityofbirth = Rio de Janeiro
countryofbirth = Brazil
height = height|m=1.83
currentclub = Fluminense
clubnumber = 3
position = Central Defender
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years = 2001-2002
2003-2004
2004
2005
2006-"present"
clubs = RS Futebol
Juventude
FC Porto
Dynamo Moscow
Fluminense
caps(goals) =
027 0(3)
132 (13)
nationalyears = 2008-
nationalteam = Brazil
nationalcaps(goals) = 4 (0)
pcupdate =
ntupdate =

Thiago Emiliano da Silva, or simply Thiago Silva (September 22, 1984), is a Brazilian central defender. He plays for Fluminense.

Early Life and Career

As a youngster, Thiago Silva trained with Fluminense but was not signed by the club when he grew older. He was, however, offered a professional contract by tiny Rio Grande do Sul state club RS Futebol, in the south of Brazil, and was then quickly picked up by nearby Juventude, with whom he had an excellent debut season in the First Division in 2004.

By this time Thiago Silva, formerly a right winger who also had spells in midfield and at full-back, had been converted into a centre-back. And he was good enough to attract the attention of European clubs. But spells with Porto and Dynamo Moscow were blighted by injuries and illness, and he returned to Brazil to rebuild his career with the club he supported in his youth.

His Fluminense coach, his boyhood hero Renato Gaucho, has described Thiago Silva as one of the very best centre-backs in Brazil. Although the coach calls him "a monster" Thiago Silva is no bully, but rather known for his reading of the game, good covering and timing and more than adequate speed.

All these attributes were on show in his first season with Fluminense, which finished fourth in the national championship, having conceded just 39 goals in 38 games, the second lowest tally, in addition to winning the Brazilian Cup.

During the summer of 2008, Thiago Silva was selected by Dunga to play for the Brazilian Selecao in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. As has long been the case for the Olympic football tournament, the team was mostly made up of players 23 years old or younger, but Thiago Silva was one of two players over 23, the other one being Ronaldinho. Before the Olympics started he played two games with Dunga´s team, against Singapore and Vietnam.

There has been some confusion concerning the September 2008 murder of a Brazilian soccer player who bore a strikingly similar name to Thiago Emiliano Silva and another Brazilian athlete, mixed martial arts fighter [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thiago_Silva Thiago Silva] . Thiago Emiliano Silva and MMA fighter Thiago Silva, whose full name is Thiago Anderson Ramos Da Silva, are both alive and well. The soccer player who was killed was named Thiago Jotta da Silva, and he played for the Estacio Sa FC.

http://www.transworldnews.com/NewsStory.aspx?id=62849&cat=6

Honours

Individual

*Bola de Prata: 2007

Team

*Brazilian Cup: 2007

Contract

*10th January 2007 to 31st December 2008

External links

*pt icon [http://200.159.15.35/registro/registro.aspx?s=156993 CBF]
*en icon [http://www.zerozero.pt/pt/jogador.php?id=5481&search=1 zerozero.pt]
*en icon [http://www.sambafoot.co.uk/players/1839_Thiago_Silva.html sambafoot]
*en icon [http://touchline.onthespot.co.uk/guardian/StatsCentre.asp?Lang=0&CTID=59&CPID=133&pStr=Player&PLID=184845&TEID=3312 Guardian Stats Centre]
*pt icon [http://www.thiagosilva.net/site/pt_perfil.php biografia]