 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Alex Raphael Meschini | ||
| Date of birth | (1982-03-25)25 March 1982 (age 43) | ||
| Place of birth | Cornélio Procópio, Brazil | ||
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||
| Position | Midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Corinthians (assistant) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2000–2002 | Guarani | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2003–2004 | Guarani | 40 | (6) |
| 2004–2009 | Internacional | 168 | (56) |
| 2009–2011 | Spartak Moscow | 54 | (15) |
| 2011–2012 | Corinthians | 32 | (6) |
| 2012–2013 | Al-Gharafa | 19 | (5) |
| 2013–2016 | Internacional | 93 | (7) |
| International career | |||
| 2008–2009 | Brazil | 3 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2021– | Corinthians (assistant) | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Alex Raphael Meschini (born 25 March 1982), simply known asAlex, is a Brazilianfootballcoach and former player who played as amidfielder. He currently works as a footballpundit onSporTV's nightly 'Troca de Passes'.
Alex was born inCornélio Procópio,Paraná. His family are Italian descents when his grandmother on his father side came to Brazil.[clarification needed][1] By the time he was one year old, his family had relocated toItambé, and relocated again toSanta Amélia when he was seven.[2] He has two brothers, who work in banking and agronomy respectively.[3]
At Santa Amélia, Alex spent much of his childhood playing football; he played for Atlético Pirassunungense at age nine. His family once again relocated toCampinas, São Paulo. When he was sixteen, he signed for Primavera (where he was signed by his cousin). He went on a trial to his future clubCorinthians, only to be rejected. He was determined not to give up his football career.
Alex joinedGuarani in 2000 and played his first match in a youth match against Capivari. Upon joining Guarani, he recalled "We did not have enough to eat and ended up at a club partner of Guarani in disrepair."[4]
In 2003, he made his debut in the first team match againstUnião Barbarense.[5] At Guarani, he quickly became a team regular, spent two seasons at 54 games and scored 7 goals. He also played left wing and was the main corner taker and as well, free kicks.[clarification needed]
Alex joinedInternacional fromGuarani on 11 March 2004 for a fee of €450,000, signing a four-year deal.[6] Shortly after his move, he said, "It is an honour to play at a club with four Brazilian bonds and the largest crowd of the Rio Grande".
However, in August, his debut was delayed after suffering an ankle injury, resulting in being out for three months. Between 2004 and 2005, he was unable to establish himself in the first team. The following season, Alex was in hospital due to injury, and by the end of the season, the club won the title ofCampeonato Gaúcho. In February, he suffered an injury to his right knee, keeping him out for four months. During a match in Libertadores Cup, he suffered an injury on his pubis. While in the first team, he played in the positions of left midfielder and second striker.[7]
After recovering from the pubis injury, Alex returned in a 1–0 win overEsporte Clube Novo Hamburgo on 18 March 2006. After the match, he was voted the man of the match by the club's official website. In the second round of Libertadores, he played as a starter in a 2–1 win overNacional. From then on, Alex established himself as a starter and key player under coachAbel Braga.
In the semi-final of Libertadores in the second leg after a 0–0 draw in the first leg, Alex scored and helped the club, ending a long-awaited place in thefinal of the Libertadores againstSão Paulo. The club won the title 4–3 on aggregate.
"I became a winner and very happy with this comeback. Difficulties that were overcome with persistence. If you do not have a structure and not chasing their goals, it becomes increasingly difficult."
— Alex on his comeback in thefinal
Because of the club's winning the Copa Libertadores, the club participated in the FIFA Club World Cup. Alex suffered an injury, but eventually recovered and played an important role in thefinal as Internacional beatBarcelona 1–0.
After the tournament, he was linked with a move to Russian clubCSKA Moscow after being recommended byPaulo Paixão, but the move never happened.[8]
The next season, Alex suffered an injury to his muscles of both hips, resulting him out for two months. He recovered from the injury and was an important member of the team as he led the club winning theRecopa Sudamericana after beatingPachuca 5–2 on aggregate, which he scored on the penalty in the second leg.
In the summer transfer of 2007, he was linked with an 8 million move to German sideVfL Wolfsburg, but it never happened. Among those interested was Barcelona,[9] but they signed someone instead.
Once again in December, Alex suffered a pubis injury caused by an inguinal hernia.
In his final season, he chose the number 10 shirt.[10]
Manager Braga began to put Alex at the center of the field. In theCopa Sudamericana, he become a top scorer with 13 goals, along withNilmar, and was voted the best player in the tournament. In the final ofCopa Sudamericana Finals againstEstudiantes, Alex scored in the penalty, giving the only goal in the game in the first-leg. In the second-leg, the club won the Copa Sudamericana again after a 1–1 draw. On 6 July 2008, Alex scored a hat-trick in a 3–0 win overCoritiba.[citation needed] In the summer transfer of 2008, he was in the transfer spotlight when he was linked with a move to Spartak Moscow worth €14 million.[11] However, the potential buyers has not been reached.[clarification needed][12]
Alex joinedSpartak Moscow in February 2009 for a transfer worth €5 million and on a contract keeping him there, until 2013.[clarification needed][13] After leaving Brazil for Russia, Alex explained his departure, stating the time had come for him to play in Europe and against his wishes to stay for the rest of his career at Internacional.[14] On 2 March 2009, he was presented by the club[15] and was given the number 12 shirt.[16]
Frankly, it is hard to leave home. However, in Internacional I accomplished a lot, so leave the team happy. Outcome of the negotiations about the transfer are good for me and for the club. (Spartak Moscow) this is an interesting team, the draft of which is the task to achieve success in European competitions.
— Alex[17]
Alex made his debut for the club, where he made his first start and played 90 minutes, in a 1–1 draw againstZenit Saint Petersburg on the opening game of the season. Two weeks after the opening game of the season, he scored his first goal in a 2–0 win overSpartak Nalchik when he scored in a free-kick.[18] On 23 May 2009, he scored a brace in a 5–1 win overAmkar Perm. In his first season, he had an optimal season, with the club second place, missing out to become first place behindRubin Kazan, who won the title for the second time, as Alex made 29 appearances, scoring 12 goals and providing 9 assists. In a match against Amkar Perm, Alex was given a captaincy and made a double assist in a 2–1 win.[19]
The following season, Alex did not make a bright start, as in the previous last season. In a match against Spartak Nalchik on 25 April 2010, he received a second bookable offence in a 0–0 draw. Due to lack of his performance earlier in the season, ManagerValery Karpin spoke out about Alex, claiming he had a problem with psychology.[20] On 21 July 2010, Alex made a fourth assist in a 5–3 win overSibir Novosibirsk. With the departure ofMartin Jiránek toBirmingham City in August, Alex was named the new captain of Spartak after just one and a half seasons with the club. During a match against Alania Vladikavkaz on 15 October 2010, he scored in a penalty spot but suffered an injury on the muscles of his right thigh.[21] By 7 November, he made his return in a 1–1 draw against Rubin Kazan (which turned out to be the last league appearance of the season). In the Champions League campaign, he made his debut in a 1–0 win overMarseille on the opening game of the group stage. In the first game againstMŠK Žilina, he set up a goal forAri in a 3–0 win. In the second game, he scored and set up a goal forIbson in a 2–1 win in the final game of the group stage, resulting in the club going to the Europa League. At the end of the season, Alex had made 27 games and scored 5 goals.
The following season, Alex made a few appearance until his move back to Brazil. He played his first match in the Europa League where he made a double assist in a 3–2 win overBasel in the first leg. The club advanced to the next round after a 1–1 draw in the second leg. AgainstAjax, he scored twice in each leg and the club won both games against Ajax before losing to Porto in both leg 10–3 on aggregate. In the semi-final of theRussian Cup, he made his last appearance in a 5–4 loss against CSKA Moscow. In April 2011, he announced his intention to leave Spartak Moscow.[22] This was later explained as his wife was seven months pregnant and feared a miscarriage. However, his son was born prematurely and he needed to support his wife.[23] Alex was also struggling with the freezing weather as another reason he wanted to leave despite being content on the pitch.[24] After leaving the club, he made his final interview and apologised to Spartak's fans.[25]
On 13 May 2011, Spartak agreed the transfer of Alex to Corinthians for 6 million and signed until 2014.[26] Four days later, on 17 May, he was presented by the club in São Paulo.[27]
"I'm back, but not because of lack of adaptation in Russia. In Russia, I was treated very well, even though I could not read, write or speak in Russian. It goes back to the fact that it was an offer from Corinthians, and also influenced by family matters. Also returning to Brazil can help me realize my dream of play at the World Cup. That is my choice. Spartak knew of my intentions. I can not say that I leave Spartak happy because was not able to win anything with this team. I hope the victory will come to me in Corinthians.
— Alex on his return to Brazil[28]
One month since joining Corinthians on 30 June 2011, he made his debut in a 1–0 win overBahia. 38 days later, he scored his first goal in a 1–1 draw againstAtlético Paranaense. After scoring his first goal, he scored three more in three games.
During a match againstSantos on 18 September in a 3–1 loss, Alex collapsed on the field and was immediately taken to Hospital São Luiz. Despite serious concerns, he was released after no injuries were found by a CT scan.[29]
At the end of the season, the club won their first league title in six years and also won theCopa Libertadores Finals. In the final, Alex played in attacking midfield in both legs.
For Corinthians, Alex played 56 games and scored nine goals.[30]
For €6 million, on 17 July 2012, Alex leftCorinthians and was transferred to Qatari sideAl-Gharafa,[31] where he joined his Brazilian compatriotsDiego Tardelli andAfonso Alves. Two months after signing for the club, Alex made his debut in a 2–0 loss againstAl-Wakrah. On 21 October 2012, he scored his first goal in a 2–0 win overEl Jaish. In January 2013,Nenê was recruited by Al-Gharafa fromParis Saint-Germain, meaning that Alex had to leave the club as the foreign players' quota was reached, as announced on the Qatar Stars League official website.[32] However, the departure of Diego Tardelli a week later led to the reinstatement of Alex, who would continue with Al-Gharafa until the end of the season.[33]
On 20 July 2013, just one day after joining Al-Gharafa the previous year, Alex made a return toInternacional for worth €3 million and signed a deal with them, until 2015.[34][35]
On 12 October 2008, Alex replacedKaká in 70th minute in the match against Venezuela to make his international debut.
Alex is married to Ana Paula, and has two sons: Lucas (born in 2006), and Theo (born in 2011).[36]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | Continental | State League | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Guarani | 2003 | Série A | 40 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 19 |
| 2004 | Série A | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 3 | 9 | 3 | |
| Total | 40 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 3 | 49 | 22 | ||
| Internacional | 2004 | Série A | 20 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 10 |
| 2005 | Série A | 23 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 10 | |
| 2006 | Série A | 15 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 12 | |
| 2007 | Série A | 28 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 10 | |
| 2008 | Série A | 23 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 14 | |
| Total | 109 | 56 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 109 | 56 | ||
| Spartak Moscow | 2009 | Russian Premier League | 29 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 12 |
| 2010 | Russian Premier League | 22 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6[b] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 3 | |
| 2011 | Russian Premier League | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| Total | 54 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 60 | 15 | ||
| Corinthians | 2011 | Série A | 28 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 6 |
| 2012 | Série A | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12[c] | 1 | 12 | 1 | 28 | 2 | |
| Total | 32 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 12 | 1 | 56 | 8 | ||
| Al-Gharafa | 2012 | Qatar Stars League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Career total | 235 | 96 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 1 | 21 | 4 | 274 | 101 | ||
Internacional
Corinthians
Individual
