 Alves in 2007 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Afonso Alves Martins Júnior | ||
| Date of birth | (1981-01-30)30 January 1981 (age 44) | ||
| Place of birth | Belo Horizonte, Brazil | ||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[1][2] | ||
| Position | Striker | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2001–2002 | Atlético Mineiro | ||
| 2002–2003 | Örgryte | 39 | (23) |
| 2004–2006 | Malmö FF | 55 | (29) |
| 2006–2008 | Heerenveen | 39 | (45) |
| 2008–2009 | Middlesbrough | 42 | (10) |
| 2009–2010 | Al Sadd | 13 | (2) |
| 2010 | →Al-Rayyan (loan) | 7 | (8) |
| 2010–2012 | Al-Rayyan | 27 | (19) |
| 2012–2013 | Al-Gharafa | 4 | (0) |
| Total | 227 | (136) | |
| International career | |||
| 2007 | Brazil | 8 | (1) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Afonso Alves Martins Júnior (born 30 January 1981), better known asAfonso Alves, is a Brazilian former professionalfootballer who played as astriker. He representedAtlético Mineiro,Örgryte,Malmö FF,Heerenveen,Middlesbrough,Al-Sadd,Al-Rayyan andAl-Gharafa during a career that spanned between 2001 and 2013. He won eightcaps and scored one goal for theBrazil national team, and helped his country win the2007 Copa América.
![[icon]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aWiki_letter_w_cropped.svg) | This section is empty. You can help byadding to it.(November 2025) |
In Summer 2006, he moved to the Dutch clubSC Heerenveen of theEredivisie for €4.5 million, which remains their highest-ever transfer fee paid.
In his first season, he finished as top goalscorer of theEredivisie with 34 goals (in 31 games), which is a club record. Alves is the third Brazilian to become topscorer in the Dutch first division, joining formerPSV strikersRomário andRonaldo, and the second Brazilian who scored over 30 goals in the same competition, with Ronaldo netting 30 in the 1994–95 season. Other than finishing first in the scorers table, he was runner-up in the race for theEuropean Golden Boot, a single point behindRoma forwardFrancesco Totti.[3]
On 7 October 2007, in only his second appearance of the season, Alves scored seven goals in his side's 9–0 victory over [Heracles Almelo]],[4] setting a newEredivisie record for most goals scored in a single match. Heerenveen's manager (Gertjan Verbeek) had already made three substitutions yet chose to take Alves off the pitch in the 89th minute to pay tribute to his fantastic performance.[5]
In the January transfer window of the 2007–08 season he moved toPremier League sideMiddlesbrough on 31 January 2008. Alves' transfer fee was said to have been €12 million, on a four-and-a-half-year contract.[6]
He made his debut on 9 February, againstFulham as a second-half substitute forLee Dong-Gook. His first Middlesbrough start came on 27 February in anFA Cup home tie againstSheffield United, when he was substituted in the 73 minute. Middlesbrough eventually won the game 1–0.[7]
His first two goals for Middlesbrough came at theRiverside Stadium on 6 April againstManchester United in a 2–2 draw.[8] He finished his first season in England with a hat-trick in an 8–1 home victory againstManchester City.[9]
Alves' first goal of the 2008–09 season came on 30 August, where he scored a 25-yard free-kick which flew into the top corner of theStoke City net.[10] He then scored goals against Blackburn Rovers and a penalty against Manchester City, two against Barrow and one against local rivalsSunderland with a goal from 18 yards out. However, Alves could not find steady form which led to his record move, and with a haul of just four league goals the season turned out to be a disappointing one for both him and Middlesbrough, who were relegated to the Championship.
On 4 September 2009, Alves moved to Al-Sadd on a three-year deal for £7 million.[11] He scored 2 goals in 12 league matches, and scored one goal in theQatari Stars Cup after three games. Alves then accepted a loan bid from anotherQatari League club,Al-Rayyan SC.
On 31 January 2010, Alves was loaned to the Qatari seven-time league championAl-Rayyan SC, coached by the Brazilian coachPaulo Autuori. Alves scored 18 goals on his loan spell, 9 of them in seven matches of theAFC Cup, and seven goals in seven league matches. He officially moved to Al-Rayyan in May 2010.[12]
Alves officially moved toAl-Rayyan SC for a further two years after winning the2010 Emir of Qatar Cup with Al Rayyan on 15 May 2010.[13]
Alves shortly emerged as a fan favorite, however he suffered a ligament injury in his left knee in December which kept him out of action for eight months. While recovering, he stated:
"Offers may’ve come to me during the transfer period, but I never bothered to listen to them and left them all to my agent. While recuperating from surgery, I remained in touch with coach Paulo (Autuori) and the club management, and kept them updated on my progress."
He rejoined Al-Rayyan as their top striker and started the2011–12 season in Al-Rayyan's starting eleven.[14]
On 11 September 2012, he signed a one–year deal withQSL clubAl Gharafa as their fourth professional player.[15]
Having been a free agent for over two seasons, Alves announced his retirement from professional football on his Instagram page on 5 October 2015.[16] Alves had been training with the youth team of his former club Heerenveen the days before his decision to retire.[17]
On 17 May 2007, Alves received his first call-up for theBrazil national team for friendlies againstEngland andTurkey.[18] On 1 June, in the game against England, Alves was brought on to replaceKaká after 71 minutes of play and very nearly scored after aWes Brown slip. He was also part of the Brazilian squad which won the2007 Copa América in Venezuela. Alves scored his first international goal on 12 September 2007 againstMexico in a 3–1 win.
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Continental | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Atlético Mineiro | 2001 | Série A | ||||||||||||
| 2002 | Série A | |||||||||||||
| Total | ||||||||||||||
| Örgryte IS | 2002[2] | Allsvenskan | 18 | 13 | – | – | – | 18 | 13 | |||||
| 2003[2] | Allsvenskan | 21 | 10 | – | 2[c] | 2 | – | 23 | 12 | |||||
| Total | 39 | 23 | – | 2 | 2 | – | 41 | 25 | ||||||
| Malmö FF | 2004[2] | Allsvenskan | 24 | 12 | – | 2[c] | 0 | – | 26 | 12 | ||||
| 2005[2] | Allsvenskan | 24 | 14 | – | 6[d] | 3 | – | 30 | 17 | |||||
| 2006[2] | Allsvenskan | 7 | 3 | – | 0 | 0 | – | 7 | 3 | |||||
| Total | 55 | 29 | – | 8 | 3 | – | 63 | 32 | ||||||
| Heerenveen | 2006–07 | Eredivisie | 31 | 34 | 1 | 0 | – | 6[e] | 3 | 2[f] | 0 | 40 | 37 | |
| 2007–08 | Eredivisie | 8 | 11 | 1 | 0 | – | 1[e] | 0 | – | 10 | 11 | |||
| Total | 39 | 45 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 50 | 48 | ||
| Middlesbrough | 2007–08[19] | Premier League | 11 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 14 | 6 | ||
| 2008–09[20] | Premier League | 31 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 35 | 7 | |||
| Total | 42 | 10 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 49 | 13 | ||||
| Al-Sadd | 2009–10[1] | Qatar Stars League | 13 | 2 | 13 | 2 | ||||||||
| Al Rayyan (loan) | 2009–10[1] | Qatar Stars League | 7 | 8 | 7 | 8 | ||||||||
| Al-Rayyan | 2010–11[1] | Qatar Stars League | 9 | 4 | 9 | 4 | ||||||||
| 2011–12[1][2] | Qatar Stars League | 18 | 15 | 5[g] | 0 | 23 | 15 | |||||||
| Total | 27 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 19 | ||
| Al Gharafa | 2012–13 | Qatar Stars League | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | ||||||||
| Career total | 226 | 136 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 22 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 259 | 147 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brazil | 2007 | 8 | 1 |
| Total | 8 | 1 | |
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 September 2007 | Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, USA |  Mexico | 3–1 | 3–1 | Friendly |
Malmö FF
Al-Rayyan
Individual
Awards | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|  | |
