Afonso Alves: Brazil's Anonymous Target Man

Alfonso Alves, a 26-year old striker from Belo Horizonte, is virtually unknown in his homeland, only having appeared in a handful of games for Atletico Mineiro and a little-known team called Valeriodoce from the central part of Minas Gerais state. Alves scored his first and last goal on Brazilian soil on the 23rd of January 2000, a fact which underlines that his career in Brazil was remarkable only for its unremarkability.

Despite this, Alves has found his name on Carlos Dunga's 34 man list for the Copa America Tournament which will be held between the 26th of June and 15th of July in Venezuela.

Only those Brazilians who avidly follow European football knew that this year, Alves scored an astonishing 34 goals in 31 matches (an average of 1.3 goals per game – most strikers consider a goal every-other-game to be an achievment) and became the top scorer in the Dutch Eredivisie. This accomplishment is even more remarkable considering that he does not play for one of Dutch football's big clubs, managing to bag his goals whilst playing in the blue and white striped jersey of less fancied side Heerenveen.
Afonso – who scored more than half of the goals for his team – was proclaimed the best player in the Dutch league and the best athlete playing his trade in Netherlands. He broke several records held by more famous predecessors such as Romario, (who scored 25 goals in 25 matches for PSV in 1990/91, averaging 1.0 goal per match) and Ronaldo, who (30 goals in 33 matches in 1994/95, averaging 0.90 goals per game). Alves led the Golden Shoe standings (the award for Europe's top goalscorer) until the final round when Francesco Totti scored a brace against Messina, snatching the prestigious award, despite having scored 8 goals less than the Brazilian. Alves finished as runner-up, ahead of Ruud Van Nistelrooy, who also started his career at SC Heerenveen.

Alves is following the footsteps of many world class strikers that pushed theirselves forward in Dutch Eredivisie.

The achievement of the Brazilian targetman left many defenders dazzled, especially after having seen replays. The fact is, this chap scores from everywhere: from one-on-ones, from corners, after handling passes and crosses from all areas of the pitch, with headers (he is 185cm tall) as well as being a routine penalty kick taker and a danger from free kicks. If Alves takes the opportunity Carlos Dunga has given to him, the five-time World champions certainly won't miss the likes of injured regulars Fred and Rafael Sobis or even Ronaldo, who is currently on "standby". Alves could make his debut against England, although he already appeared for Brazil's U-17 and U-20 teams:

"We have a list of at least 50 players, that are being monitored on a daily basis and we try to evaluate them all. Fans are probably surprised by Afonso's call-up, but we are not," Dunga's assistant Jorginho told Brazilian tv station O Globo. Dunga is expected to give more space and time to other lesser-known players and will use this year's Copa America in Venezuela as a "trial" before the World Cup 2010 qualifications which will also commence later this year.

After an unimpressive period in Brazil - where Alves played as a midfielder, his life turned upside down in 2002, when he journeyed overseas to Europe to sign for Swedish side Örgryte IC. After two years of accustomizing to his new environment (the Scandinavian freeze was certainly a major concern), Alves gradually began to demonstrate his potential. In two season he scored 23 goals in 39 matches before moving on to Malmö, who paid a Swedish record one million euros for his signing. Malmö won the league in his first season - their first title after 15 dry years, while Alves finished the season as top scorer two seasons in a row – at Malmö he scored an impressive 29 goals in 55 matches. He was offered Swedish citizenship and a chance to play for Sweden, but Alves refused to swap one yellow shirt for another. His move to Heerenveen was a landmark, both for himself and for his club, which splashed 4.5 million euros for him – the highest fee in Heereveen's history. This investment paid off immediately. Alves has caught the eye of the the whole of Europe, with the likes of Chelsea, Barcelona, Valencia and Juventus believed to be involved in a bidding war. It is believed that Heereveen are relucant to let him go for a fee less than 25 million euros – more than 5 times what they paid for him.

Alves found out about his call-up to Selecao during a holiday in Brazil: "I think I played very well in the last five season in Sweden and the Netherlands, so I wasn't shocked when I heard about the news. I worked hard to accomplish this goal," Alves told famous Tv commentator Milton Neves during a football programme at Brazilian television TV Record. This was only his first public appearance on Brazilian screens – but perhaps the first of many.