Nani

Luís Carlos Almeida da Cunha (born 17 November 1986), commonly known as Nani or Luís Nani, is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a winger for English club Manchester United and the Portugal national team. Although predominantly right-footed, he has been utilised on the left wing on many occasions.

Nani was born in Cape Verde and emigrated to Europe with his family at an early age. He was raised in Portugal and began his football career playing for local side Real Massamá. At the age of nine, he began training with Sporting Clube de Portugaland S.L. Benfica on alternate days, eventually joining Sporting's youth squad after they offered him pre-season training. In 2005, he made his professional debut with the club and won the Portuguese Cup during his second season with them. Nani was named the SJPF Young Player of the Month for May 2007 and his performances with Sporting culminated into a move to Manchester United in July 2007 for a fee of €25 million.

Nani won the Community Shield on his competitive debut at Manchester United and has since added a number of trophies, which included the Premier League and Champions League during his debut season at the club. He has established himself as first-choice winger at United and has won a further three Premier League titles, the Football League Cup, one FIFA Club World Cup, and three Community Shield titles. Individually, Nani has been included in the Professional Footballers' Association(PFA) Premier League Team of the Year on one occasion and was a nominee for the PFA Young Player of the Year in 2011.

Nani is also a Portugal international. Prior to playing at senior level, he played at under-21 level. He made his senior international debut in September 2006 in a friendly match against Denmark and scored his first international goal during the 4–2 defeat in Copenhagen. Nani has represented his country at two major tournaments, the 2008 and 2012 European Championships. Since his debut, he has made 86 appearances and scored 15 goals for Portugal, making him their sixth most capped player of all time.

Club career
2011–12 season


Nani began the new season by putting in a man of the match performance and scoring twice against derby rivals Manchester City in the 2011 Community Shield, including a 94th minute winner, as United came from two goals down to win 3–2 on 7 August 2011. He scored his first league goal of the 2011–12 season by netting United's fifth goal in an 8–2 victory over Arsenal on 28 August. Nani made his 100th Premier League appearance on 18 September as he scored in a 3–1 home win over Chelsea. He scored with a long range strike after cutting inside from the right wing. He was also awarded with the man of the match. In United's following league game at the Britannia Stadium, Nani scored his third goal of the season in a 1–1 draw with Stoke City. He played a neat one-two with Darren Fletcher before making his way through Stoke's defence and firing a low shot inside the left post. Nani started the match against Manchester city where they fell victim to a 1–6 beating at home to their neighbours. On 1 November, Nani was shortlisted for the prestigious FIFA Ballon d'Or.

On 10 December, the first match after United's elimination from the UEFA Champions League, Nani scored a brace in a home game against Wolves. He opened the scoring in the 17th minute to put them 1–0 up with a shot into the bottom left corner. He scored his second goal in the 56th minute, tapping in from Antonio Valencia's drilled cross across the six-yard box to extend the lead to 3–1. He was later replaced by another winger Ashley Young as the game finished 4–1 to the home side. Nani scored his sixth league goal of the season and provided two assists in a 5–0 away win at Fulham on 21 December. He first advanced on a run down the left flank before crossing for Danny Welbeck to slot home. He then met a Ryan Giggs cross with his head, to glance United into a 2–0 lead. He then returned the compliment, squaring for Giggs to put United 3–0 up before half time.

During United's 2–1 win against Arsenal on 22 January, Nani sustained a foot injury from a tackle by Arsenal defender Laurent Koscielny in the 75th minute and was replaced by fellow winger Ashley Young. After a scan on Nani's foot, he was feared to have suffered a metatarsal injury, thus not being able to play for 2 months. Nani returned to football on 15 April at United's match against Aston Villa as a substitute, replacing Ashley Young on the left wing. He scored a goal in stoppage time (93rd minute) with a low shot pass Villa keeper Shay Given from Evans's assist with a through pass, resulting in a 4–0 win over Villa. Nani then followed this up with another goal when chipping Tim Howard at his near post the final score resulted in a 4–4 draw at Old Trafford against Everton.

2013–14 season

On 5 September 2013, Nani renewed his contract with Manchester United, which will keep him at the club until 2018. He started his first game of 2013–14 season against Liverpool in the League Cup. Despite this, Nani spent most of the season struggling against injury and trying to find form.

Return to Sporting CP

On 19 August 2014, Sporting CP announced the return of Nani to the club on a season-long loan from Manchester United, as part of a deal that brought in Marcos Rojo to Manchester United. He was given the number 77 shirt.

Nani made his comeback at José Alvalade in a league match against Arouca, four days after signing. He missed a penalty, received a yellow card and was substituted in the 77th minute, as the match ended in a 1–0 win for Sporting. He scored his first goal of this loan on 17 September, opening a 1–1 draw at NK Maribor in the first match of the Champions League group stage. He was also voted Man of the Match. Nani scored his first league goal for the club four days later in a 4–0 win against Gil Vicente F.C. On 3 January 2015, Nani was sent off for two bookings in a 3–0 win over Estoril. Nani scored in Sporting's penalty shootout victory over S.C. Braga in the 2015 Taça de Portugal Final, which earned the club their first trophy since 2008.

Fenerbahce


Fenerbahce have confirmed they will present Nani as their new signing on Monday after his move from Manchester United.

Nani, who spent last season on loan at Sporting Lisbon, was greeted by huge crowds on Sunday evening as he jetted in ahead of a medical.

The Turkish side then announced on their official website that the 28-year-old Portugal international would be presented to fans at the club's Sukru Saracoglu Stadium in Istanbul at 6 p.m. local time on Monday.

International career
2014 FIFA World Cup


Nani started in the opening match of the 2014 FIFA World Cup for Portugal against Germany. After the match he stated how the team played well despite the loss and how "the referee has discriminated against us, but that's normal, Portugal against big teams never get help...". In the team's second fixture, Nani scored the opening goal for Portugal in a 2–2 draw with the United States.

Style of play


In the early stages of his career at Manchester United, Nani often invited comparison in playing style and ability with club and international colleague Cristiano Ronaldo, for whom he often deputised at club level.

In Ronaldo's absence, however, Nani's style has developed into a more classical winger's style, able to play on both wings though more comfortable on the right, utilising pace, ball control and trickery to create space. While capable of cutting off both wings to strike at goal from distance, Nani has substantially fewer goals, yet a substantially higher proportion of assists than his former colleague. He can also play in the more attacking position of forward or wing forward.

source: wikipedia