Luís Carlos Almeida da Cunha, also known as Nani, or Luis Nani. He was born on 17 November 1986 in Lisbon, although he is of Cape Verdean descent. Nani had a hard early life, he had 9 siblings, his father abandoned him at the age of five and his mother abandoned him at twelve. It was Nani‘s older brother who introduced and taught him to play football and he also is good friends with Portuguese international Manuel Fernandes.
Nani began his career at the same club as his fellow Portuguese international Cristiano Ronaldo, Sporting CP. He went on to make 58 league appearances with the club in the two seasons he stayed there and scored 9 goals. Sir Alex Ferguson noticed his impressive league performances and decided to spend a whopping €25 million fee for the then 21 year-old.
Nani made his move to United in 2007 where Manchester won the Premier League and Champions League, not a bad start to his first season. He made his competitive debut by winning the Community Shield against Chelsea on penalties. Later in the season Nani went on to make 26 league appearances, scoring 3 goals and making 8 assists. He also made 11 appearances in the Champions League and he played in the final against Chelsea where United won on penalties.
Nani had a great career with United, but unfortunately he never met his expectations to be the man to fill the boots of Cristiano Ronaldo when he left for Real Madrid in 2009. Nani ened up with 25 goals and 56 assists in 147 league apperances in eight seasons with United, mainly playing as a winger on either side of the pitch. With United, Nani won 13 trophies, most notably the one Champions League trophy and four times the English Premier League.
Nani went back to Sporting CP on a loan in 2014. He played 27 games in the league, had 7 goals and helped the team win their first trophy since 2008. After the end of his loan he signed a 3-year contract with Fenerbache for a £4.25m transfer fee.
Due to great performances with Fenerbache, Nani was bought by Valenica in July 2016 for a £7.2m transfer fee. He has been playing decent football for them, but not up to the standard the team sets for their players. He was loaned to Lazio last year and there he has barely been playing any football. Unfortunately he suffered an injury a few days later after he joined the team.The fans are not satisfied with his performances with the Italian team when he had been playing, so Nani will most likely return back to Valencia at the end of his loan.
PHOTO 1: http://www.zimbio.com/photos/Nani/Manchester+United+v+Fulham+Premier+League/rmvOQ1kTMNc
Although Nani hasn‘t had the best of careers considering his potential to be a world-beater, he has had a great national career. Nani is the 3rd most capped player for Portugal with 112 appearances, just behind footballing legends, Luís Figo and Cristiano Ronaldo. He is also the 8th highest goalscorer for the national team with 24 goals. Nani played in the EURO 2016 final against host-nation, France where they won in extra time with a goal in the 109th minute by Eder. Besides his unleashed potential, Nani is considered a legend in modern Portuguese football and deservedly so.
PHOTO 2: https://images.performgroup.com/di/library/GOAL/95/ac/nani_17bv3gioy6t331otyvbb9soz69.jpg?t=-533510403&quality=90&h=300
Post by: Hákon Þráinsson
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