Anderson
Personal information
Full name	Anderson Luís de Abreu Oliveira
Date of birth	13 April 1988 (1988-04-13) (age 20)
Place of birth	Porto Alegre, Brazil
Height	5 ft 9 in (1.76 m)[1][2]
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Manchester United
Number	8
Youth career
1993–2004	Grêmio
Senior career1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
2004–2005 2005–2007 2007–	Grêmio Porto Manchester United	06 (1) 18 (2) 36 (0)
National team2
2008 2007–	Brazil U-23 Brazil	06 (1) 08 (0)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 12:03, 19 February 2009 (UTC). 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 16:14, 29 December 2008 (UTC). * Appearances (Goals)

Anderson Luís de Abreu Oliveira (born 13 April 1988 in Porto Alegre, Brazil), best known as Anderson, is a Brazilian footballer, currently playing for Manchester United. His regular position is as an attacking midfielder, but he can also operate on the left wing.

Club career

[edit] Grêmio

Anderson joined Grêmio as a youth player and in 2005 he made his first appearance for the team, playing 5 Brazilian Série B games in the second half of the year, as well as playing in the 2005 Gaúcho State Championship in the first half. He earned himself iconic status by scoring the goal that lifted Grêmio back into Serie A in a promotion playoff against Nautico. This goal was particularly memorable because Grêmio only had seven players on the pitch at the time and had just seen the opposition have a penalty saved. The goal gave Grêmio a 1-0 victory in the most unlikely of circumstances.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Porto

He joined Porto in December 2005 after only five first team appearances at a national level with Gremio, and made his league debut on 5 March 2006, playing a part in helping the team seal the Portuguese Championship that season. The following season, he made his UEFA Champions League debut in Porto's first group game against CSKA Moscow.^[3] However, Anderson was forced to miss five months of the 2006-07 season due to a broken leg, in consequence of a tackle by Benfica's player Kostas Katsouranis.^[4]

[edit] Manchester United

On 30 May 2007, the Manchester United website confirmed that the club had agreed in principle to sign Anderson from Porto for an undisclosed fee, reported to be approximately £18 million.^[5] On 29 June 2007, he was granted a work permit to play in the United Kingdom, and the move was completed on 2 July, with Anderson signing a five-year contract to become United's second Brazilian player after the disappointing Kléberson.^[6]

Anderson against Cesc Fàbregas

Anderson was friends with Portuguese-speaking team mates, Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani prior to joining the club.^[7] He was handed the number 8 shirt previously worn by Wayne Rooney and made his Manchester United debut on 3 August 2007, playing 45 minutes of a pre-season friendly against Doncaster Rovers, which United won 2-0.

Anderson made his competitive debut for Manchester United against Sunderland on 1 September 2007, before he was substituted at half time and replaced by Louis Saha. Anderson made his Champions League debut against Sporting CP on 19 September 2007, coming on as a substitute for Ryan Giggs in the 76th minute. He played the full 90 minutes in the League Cup match against Coventry City on 26 September 2007, in a team consisting almost entirely of youth and reserve team players.

In the 2008 UEFA Champions League Final in Moscow, Russia, Anderson was brought on as a substitute in the final minute of extra time to replace Wes Brown, and converted United's sixth attempt in the penalty shootout. He followed it up by kicking the ball back into the net, an act which Alex Ferguson credited with returning the momentum to Manchester United.^[8]

Anderson was brought on as a substitute in the 56th minute for Danny Welbeck in the 2009 Carling Cup final against Tottenham Hotspur, and scored the winning penalty in the penalty shootout.