Alex (footballer, born 1977)

Alexsandro de Souza (born 14 September 1977), commonly known as Alex, is a Brazilian football manager, pundit and retired footballer, who played as an attacking midfielder.

Alex is a former captain of the Brazil national team and Turkish club Fenerbahçe; throughout his career, he also played for Coritiba, Palmeiras, Flamengo and Cruzeiro in Brazil, and Parma in the Italian Serie A. Alex is most prominent for his time at Fenerbahçe where he become the highest-scoring foreign player of all time in the Süper Lig.

Internationally, Alex earned 48 caps and scored 12 goals for Brazil from 1998 to 2005. He was part of their squads at three Copa América tournaments, winning in 1999 and 2004, the latter as captain. He additionally went to the 2000 Olympics and two FIFA Confederations Cups, but never was chosen for the FIFA World Cup.

Early years
Born in Curitiba, Alex first played professionally for his hometown club Coritiba, where he stayed from 1995 until 97, when he was sold to Palmeiras, from São Paulo. He conquered for the Parque Antárctica club a Libertadores da América cup title, in 1999, a Rio-São Paulo cup title in 2000 and a Copa do Brasil title and a Mercosul cup title in 1998. He left Palmeiras and signed with Flamengo, of Rio de Janeiro in 2000.

In 2000, he returned to Palmeiras for a few months and then signed with Cruzeiro, where he stayed until 2002, when he returned to Palmeiras. Alex was sold to Parma of Italy. He returned to Cruzeiro, after playing only friendly matches for the Italian team. Made team captain and wearing jersey number 10, he led his team to winning the Brazilian triple crown (that is the State Championship, the Brasileirão and the Brazilian Cup). Cruzeiro won the Brazilian League (Brasileirão) with a record-breaking 100 points, 13 ahead of the second place, Santos, with more than 100 goals scored in 46 games.

Fenerbahçe
Alex was then sold by Cruzeiro in 2004 for 5 million euro to Fenerbahçe. He became Fenerbahçe captain after the team's captain Ümit Özat's transfer to Köln and vice-captains Tuncay's transfer to Middlesbrough and Rüştü Reçber's transfer to rival Beşiktaş. Alex scored his 100th goal in the Süper Lig for Fenerbahçe on 13 November 2010 against Gaziantepspor when they lost 2–1. At 33 years of age Alex scored a hat-trick against Bucaspor in the first 35 minutes of the game. Fenerbahçe won the match 5–2. His first goal in this game was Fenerbahçe's 3000th goal in the Süper Lig, so his kit and shoes used in the Bucaspor match are now shown in the club's museum. On 9 February 2011, he signed another two-year contract with Fenerbahçe.

On 15 May 2011, he scored five goals, including three penalties and a free-kick, in a 6–0 win against Ankaragücü.

After Fenerbahçe's league title for the year 2010–11, Alex won the golden boot award with 28 goals for the season, nine more than second place Burak Yılmaz. He made his 900th career appearance on 12 September 2011 in the opening match of the Super Lig season, a 1–0 victory against Orduspor. In the Turkish Cup final on 16 May 2012 against Bursaspor, Alex netted Fenerbahçe's fourth and final goal of a 4–0 victory and was named the game's "Man of the Match".

On 15 September 2012, while Alex was still under contract with Fenerbahçe, a fan-funded statue of the player was unveiled in Kadıköy Yoğurtçu park. Alex's last goal for Fenerbahçe came on 20 September in the Europa League, scoring Fenerbahçe's second goal in a 2–2 draw with Marseille. Alex's last appearance for the club came on 29 September, playing the first half of a 2–0 defeat to Kasımpaşa in the Süper Lig. After a rift with coach Aykut Kocaman over the team's system, his contract with Fenerbahçe was terminated on 1 October. With Fenerbahçe he has concluded his impressive career in Turkey with 136 assists and 171 goals in 341 games. He left just five goals shy of matching the club record for league goals with 136 goals, held by former striker Aykut Kocaman.

Coritiba
After he rarely featured for Fenerbahçe throughout the early part of the 2012–13 campaign, managing just five league appearances through October, Alex joined Brazilian side Coritiba on 18 October 2012 for an undisclosed fee. He made his debut for his boyhood club on 31 January 2013, playing the full ninety in a 1–0 defeat of J. Malucelli in Campeonato Paranaense play. His first goal for his new club came on 9 February in a 1–1 draw with Arapongas, scoring the equalizing goal three minutes after Wellington Indio's opener in the 47th minute. Alex scored the solitary goal of the game against Londrina on 3 March, starting a run of nine straight matches where the player scored, netting 12 goals. Included in this goal-scoring run was a brace in a 6–0 defeat of Rio Branco on 13 April. Alex finished the Campeonato Paranaense campaign by scoring a brace in Coritiba's 3–1 defeat of Atlético Paranaense on 12 May, securing a 5–3 aggregate win in the final as Coritiba claimed a record 37th state title. In October 2014, Alex announced his retirement from football. His last game was a 3–2 win against Bahia, on 7 December 2014.

International career
Alex made his senior international debut for Brazil on 23 September 1998 in a 1–1 friendly draw with FR Yugoslavia in São Luís, Maranhão, as an 82nd-minute substitute for Denílson in Brazil's first match since defeat in the 1998 FIFA World Cup. He scored his first goal in his third appearance, opening a 3–0 win over Latvia in his hometown the following 26 June.

At the 1999 Copa América in Paraguay, Alex scored the decisive goal in a 2–1 group win over Mexico with a 25-yard strike. Brazil won the tournament under manager Vanderlei Luxemburgo, with Alex and Ronaldinho being young replacements for Edílson and Leonardo who were dropped for disciplinary reasons. Days later at the 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup in Mexico, he scored twice in a 4–0 opening win over Germany and twice again in an 8–2 semi-final rout of Saudi Arabia, though his team lost the final to the hosts.

Alex also went with the Brazilian Olympic team to the 2000 tournament in Australia, concluding a 3–1 opening win over Slovakia and scoring the only goal of a group win against Japan; quarter-final defeat to Cameroon led to Luxemburgo's resignation. At the 2001 Copa América in Colombia, Alex equalised in a 3–1 group win over Paraguay as the team were again eliminated in a quarter-final shock, this time to Honduras. In qualification for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, he scored once to open a 3–1 home win over rivals Argentina. He was not chosen for the final tournament because of fitness issues, which Brazil won under manager Luiz Felipe Scolari, and confessed in his autobiography that he drank heavily to distract himself from the event, while his wife miscarried upon hearing that Ricardinho had been called up as a replacement for the injured Emerson and not her husband.

Alex scored an added-time equaliser at the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup in France as Brazil drew 2–2 with Turkey in their final group game in Saint-Étienne, but were eliminated nonetheless. Brazil won the 2004 Copa América in Peru, in which captain Alex scored in a 4–0 quarter-final win against Mexico; he was then overlooked for the 2006 FIFA World Cup as well.

Style of play
A talented and creative playmaker, with an eye for goal, Alex usually played in a free role as an attacking midfielder. Although he lacked significant pace and physical power, and was not particularly hard-working defensively, he was known for his passing, technical skills, control, low centre of gravity, vision, reading of the game, and ability to provide many assists for his teammates, in addition to being capable of scoring himself, in particular from set pieces. In addition to his usual role as a number ten, he was also deployed as a second striker on occasion throughout his career, or even on the left flank.

Managerial career
On 5 April 2021, Alex joined São Paulo after being appointed the head coach of the under-20 team. On 28 October 2022, he left the club.

On 16 November 2022, Alex was appointed head coach of Avaí, freshly relegated from the top tier. He was dismissed the following 3 May.

On 18 May 2024, Alex was appointed Head coach of Antalyaspor, years after, coming back to Türkiye.

Personal life
Alex married Daianne in 2000. The couple have two daughters and one son: Maria Eduarda, born in 2004, Antonia, born in 2006 and Felipe born in 2010. He features prominently in Puma advertising and also has a modeling contract with Armani. Alex's father-in-law is the former president of Coritiba. After his retirement, Alex started to work on ESPN Brasil as a pundit and presenter for interview show Papo Cabeça.

Honours
Palmeiras
 * Copa do Brasil: 1998
 * Copa Mercosur: 1998
 * Copa Libertadores: 1999; runner-up: 2000
 * Torneio Rio-São Paulo: 2000
 * Copa dos Campeões: 2000
 * Intercontinental Cup runner-up: 1999

Flamengo
 * Campeonato Carioca: 2000
 * Taça Rio: 2000

Cruzeiro
 * Campeonato Brasileiro Série A: 2003
 * Copa do Brasil: 2003
 * Campeonato Mineiro: 2003, 2004
 * Copa Sul-Minas: 2001, 2002

Fenerbahçe
 * Süper Lig: 2004–05, 2006–07, 2010–11
 * Turkish Cup: 2011–12
 * Turkish Super Cup: 2007, 2009

Coritiba
 * Campeonato Paranaense: 2013

Brazil U20
 * South American Youth Championship: 1992, 1995

Brazil U23
 * CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament: 2000

Brazil
 * Copa América: 1999, 2004

Individual
 * Campeonato Paranaense Revelation: 1995
 * Campeonato Paranaense Best Player: 1996
 * Campeonato Paranaense Best Midfielder: 1997
 * Copa Mercosur Best Player: 1998
 * IFFHS World's Top Goal Scorer: 1999 (3rd place)
 * South American Team of The Year: 1999, 2003
 * Troféu Telê Santana Best Midfielder: 2002
 * Troféu Telê Santana Star of the Year: 2003
 * Bola de Ouro: 2003
 * Bola de Prata: 2003
 * Copa América Team of the Tournament: 2004
 * Turkish Cup top scorer: 2004–05
 * Footballer of the year in Turkey: 2005, 2010
 * Süper Lig Gol Kralı: 2006–07 (19 goals), 2010–11 (28 goals)
 * UEFA Champions League top assist provider: 2007–08 (6 assists)
 * Turkish Cup Best Player: 2011–12