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Rooney bested by Nani who wins MLS All-Star Skills Challenge
Personal Information
| Full Name | Luís Carlos Almeida da Cunha |
| Date of Birth | November 17, 1986 |
| Nationality | Portuguese |
| Height | 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in) |
| Role | Winger |
| Past Team(s) |
Nani News
Nani: A Brief Biography
Luís Carlos Almeida da Cunha, commonly known as Nani, is a Portuguese professional footballer. He was born on 17 November 1986 in Amadora, Portugal. He mainly plays the role of a Winger, currently for the club Sporting CP. He started being part of the national side from 2006.
Background
He started his football career by playing for local side, Real Massamá to which his older brother introduced him.
He started his training with Sporting CP and S.L. Benfica At the age of nine and finally joined Sporting's youth squad after they offered him pre-season training.
Debut
At the 2006 UEFA Under-21 Championship, Nani made his debut on 23 May 2006 as the youngest member of the Portugal squad which ended in a 0–1 defeat to France U21. He appeared in all the matches but scored no goals.
Rise to glory
On 1st September 2006, Nani played his first game for the senior Portuguese team, and marked his debut goal with one of the Portugal's 4 in team’s 4–2 friendly defeat to Denmark. Nani played in the Euro 2008 qualifiers against Poland and Serbia in September and on 6 February 2008 assisted in Ricardo Quaresma's goal in a friendly against Italy .
On 2nd June 2007 Nani scored one of the goals in the 2–1 away win over Belgium as a member of the Portuguese squad in Euro 2008 qualification.
On 20th August 2008, in Portugal's final friendly match against the Faroe Islands, Nani's fourth international goal came and was part of a 5–0 victory.
Nani netted Portugal's third goal on 1 June 2010 in a 3–1 victory over Cameroon.
Club Career
Nani joined Sporting CP after his first club, Real Massamá. After two seasons in the youth team, he was promoted to the first team early in 2005. He made his Sporting debut on 10th August 2005 in a 1–0 home defeat to Udinese in their third-round qualifier of the UEFA Champions League. On 28th August, Nani made his Portuguese Liga debut. Nani scored his first Sporting goal on 30th October.
Nani was bought by Manchester United for 25.5 million euros of which he got 95% and rest went to Real Massamá. He joined in August of 2007. On 16 February 2008, Nani got the man of the match award in the FA Cup Fourth Round against Arsenal, his goal and two assists helped United get a 4–0 win.
In the 2009 Cristiano Ronaldo got transferred to Real Madrid all expectations were on Nani to lead the team as did Ronaldo. Nani's first contribution in the new season was opening the score in the tenth minute of the 2009 FA Community Shield. On 19th August 2014, he returned on Loan to Sporting CP. Nani joined Turkish club Fenerbahçe on 6 July 2015 for £4.25 million and 3 year contract. Nani then signed with Spanish club Valencia in July 2016.
