Daniel Alves, from record-breaking player to convicted rape – 02/22/2024 – Sport

Daniel Alves once stated that he would “play until he was 50” if someone threatened his record of titles on the pitch, but his career came to an end this Thursday (22) in Barcelona, ​​where he was sentenced to four and a half years in prison for a rape.

The former player was sentenced more than a year after his entry into pre-trial detention in January 2023, when Pumas terminated the Brazilian’s contract.

The sentence was announced after the trial for the rape of a young woman in a bathroom at the Sutton nightclub, in Barcelona, ​​in the early hours of December 30th to 31st, 2022.

Between his debut with Bahia in 2001, at the age of 18, and his last match with the Mexican club in January 2023, at the age of 39, the former right-back played almost 1,000 official matches for his teams and the Brazilian national team, accumulating a record number of trophies.

“I’m 39 years old and together with mine, I’m the biggest winner in the history of football with 43 trophies. Oh, and if someone passes me. I’ll play until I’m 50”, he stated in June 2022 on his social networks.

His collection of trophies grew as he played for clubs like Barcelona, ​​Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain, who all wanted to have one of the best full-backs in the world in their squads.

Born into a family of humble origins in Juazeiro, Bahia, at the age of 10 he got up at five in the morning with his brother to help his father in the fields, before going to school.

He made his debut at a local club, but was quickly discovered by Sevilla, where he was signed in 2002 and remained for six seasons.

Two Europa Leagues, a Copa del Rey, a UEFA Super Cup and a Spanish Super Cup later, the Brazilian arrived at Barcelona for 35 million euros (64.2 million reais at the time).

Over eight years at the Catalan club, between 2008 and 2016, the former full-back won 23 trophies, including three Champions League titles, three Club World Cup titles, six Spanish Championship titles and four King’s Cup titles.

“Crazy and happy”

In 2016, he left Barcelona as a free agent for Juventus, where he stayed for a season, winning an Italian Championship and an Italian Cup and reaching a Champions League final, which he lost to Real Madrid.

“Dani is a crazy, happy guy who lives his life at 300 km/h,” said his then Juve teammate, Giorgio Chiellini.

The following year, he joined PSG to try to help his compatriot Neymar win a Champions League, although without success. Which didn’t stop him from winning two French Championship titles in two seasons in Paris, a city he didn’t like.

“Paris is a stressful city, I don’t like it very much,” he told GQ Brasil, denouncing the “racists” in France.

In 2014, the former player was the target of racism when a banana was thrown at him on the field as he prepared to take a corner. In response, Alves picked up the fruit and took a bite, before throwing it to the ground.

Back in Brazil in 2019, he won a Campeonato Paulista with São Paulo before a brief return to Barcelona.

“Now it’s time to say goodbye”, he wrote on his Instagram in June 2022, when he left ‘Barça’ for Mexico, evoking “more than eight years dedicated to this club, these colors, this house…”.

Brazilian Team

His trajectory at clubs is reflected in the ‘Seleção’, with which he debuted in October 2006 and made his last appearance in the round of 16 of the 2022 World Cup, in Qatar. In total, there were 126 games played with the green and yellow shirt.

He lost in the quarter-finals at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, again in the semi-finals in 2014, when Brazil played the World Cup at home, and was not in Russia in 2018 due to a knee injury.

The World Cup trophy was the only trophy he didn’t win.

Daniel Alves won two Copa América, the second replacing Neymar as captain in 2019 and, at 38 years old, led Brazil to Olympic gold in Tokyo-2021, his last trophy before his conviction.