Lucas Leiva is a Brazilian footballer as defensive midfielder

Lucas Pezzini Leiva or named Lucas is a Brazilian footballer who was born on January 9, 1987 in Dourados, Brazil and played as a defensive midfielder for the Brazilian national team and club Liverpool.
Lucas began his career at Gremio in 2005, the year 2006 be the year a success for him as Gremio won the championship Rio Grande do Sul for the first time since 2001. Lucas also became the youngest player ever to receive Placar magazine's Bola de Ouro (Golden Ball) as the best player in the Campeonato Blasileiro. From his appearance during the play, he attracted much interest in big clubs including Liverpool. Even Liverpool confirmed the club signed a contract to Lucas on May 13, 2007 before the start of the 2007-2008 season with a transfer value of £ 6 million. But Lucas still playing for Gremio until the end of 2007, including during the finals in the Copa Libertadores against Boca Juniors.
On July 26, 2007, Lucas was officially registered as a Liverpool player with a transfer value of £ 5 million and were granted permission to compete internationally in the Barclays Asia Trophy final. He scored the first goal for Liverpool on 27 January 2008 during the FA Cup match against Havant and Waterlooville and he was the first Brazilian to score for Liverpool.
In the 2008-2009 season began with Lucas got a lot of criticism. But he proved himself and finally gets compliments when playing against Newcastle in December 2008. Lucas plays a crucial role as Liverpool against Manchester United at Old Trafford even though as a substitute. Lucas scored the first goal in the Premier League on May 3, 2009 as against Newcastle.
For the period 2009-2010 pre-season, he showed his ability to play against Atletico Madrid and at the opening of the season against Tottenham Hotspur on August 16, 2009. He scored a goal in the quarterfinals of the UEFA Europa League as Liverpool against Benfica.
In the 2010-2011 season, starting with Lucas as a substitute and scored for Liverpool in the European League against Steaua Bucuresti. He was elected as the "man of the match" by the fans at Liverpool's official website. On February 12, 2011 is his 100th appearance for Liverpool's Premier League.
On March 30, 2011, Lucas signed a new long term contract with Liverpool and initially after signing appearance against Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium. Lucas was selected as the player "Standard Chartered Fans" on May 24, 2011.
Lucas footballing career with the Brazilian national team when he became captain for the U-20 team and won at the 2007 South American Youth Championship held in Canada in July 2007. Lucas continues as included in the squad for the friendly match against Al-Kuwait and Ecuador in October 2006. Lucas played in an official international match on August 22, 2007 as a substitute in a friendly against Algeria and in July 2008 for the Olympic warm-up games. He played full-time when playing against the United States in a friendly on August 10, 2010. On the 17th of July 2011 Lucas was shown a straight red card in the Copa America Play-Off semi-final against Paraguay.
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