Edison Cavani

Edinson Roberto Cavani Gómez (born 14 February 1987 in Salto, Uruguay) is a Uruguayan footballer with Italian origins. He currently plays as a striker for Serie A club S.S.C. Napoli. Cavani is nicknamed "El Matador" for his commanding presence.

Danubio

Cavani moved to Montevideo when he was 12 years old, and came through the youth system at Danubio F.C. to make his debut for the first team in 2006. He was part of the Apertura 2006 championship winning squad, scoring nine goals in his debut season.

Palermo

After his breakthrough at the 2007 South American Youth Championship, several big teams were reportedly interested in signing Cavani, including Juventus and AC Milan. However, on 29 January 2007, Palermo chairman Maurizio Zamparini announced the signing of the promising Uruguayan. The bid was officially confirmed on January 31.

Cavani made his debut on 11 March 2007 in a home league match against Fiorentina, coming on in the 55th minute with his team 0–1 down and scoring an impressive equaliser only fifteen minutes later, a goal reminiscent of Marco van Basten's strike in the 1988 UEFA European Football Championship final. In his second season with the Rosanero, Cavani found himself fighting for a first team place with Fabrizio Miccoli and Amauri.

After Amauri's departure to Juventus in June 2008, Cavani cemented his place in the starting lineup, forming a striking partnership with Fabrizio Miccoli and scoring a total 14 goals in the 2008–09 season. He retained his place for the 2009–10 season under new boss Walter Zenga, and also under successor Delio Rossi, being instrumental in the team's successful run in Serie A which took Palermo to European qualification, and potential qualification to the UEFA Champions League with two games remaining. In April 2010, he penned a new contract with Palermo valid to June 2014.

Napoli

In June 2010, Cavani signed a 5 year contract with Palermo's Serie A rivals Napoli. Cavani scored twice in his first start, as Napoli beat Elfsborg in the Europa League 2-0 and qualified for the main tournament. He then started his Napoli Serie A in spectacular fashion, scoring a controversial goal on Fiorentina after just seven minutes, with replays showing the ball hardly crossing the line. Cavani also scored on his home debut against Bari, before adding a late winner against Sampdoria, meaning he had scored in his first four competitive matches with Napoli. On 26 September 2010, Cavani came on as a late replacement with 30 minutes left in a game against Cesena which Napoli were losing 1-0. After assisting the equalizing goal, he went on to score two more, with the final score 4-1. That meant Cavani shared the lead as top scorer for the entire series with Samuel Eto'o. On 15 December 2010, Cavani netted a 90+2 minute goal against FC Steaua Bucureşti to help his team to a 1-0 win and progress beyond the group stage of the UEFA Europa League. In the first match, which was held on Romanian soil, he had scored an equalizing goal in the 90+7 minute. On 09 January 2011, Cavani scored a hat-trick during a 3-0 win over Juventus, the third goal coming by way of a scorpion kick. On January 30, Cavani scored another hat-trick, this time in a 4-0 win over Sampdoria.Cavani continued his fine form scoring a brace against Roma, Napoli winning 2-0. On 20 March 2011, Cavani scored another brace against Cagliari, in a 2-1 win. This win kept them within three points of leaders Milan with eight games left. On 03 April 2011, Cavani scored yet another hat-trick in a 4-3 comeback win over Lazio having been 2-0 and 3-2 down during the game. He also became the highest league goalscorer in a single season in Napoli's history, netting 25 goals in Serie A. On May 26, in an away 1-2 loss against Lecce he received a red card for having two booked offenses. He sarcastically applauded the referee after the decision and was handed a 2-match ban for the action. As Napoli only had 2 more games of the season, it meant that his season was over and that he wouldn't be able to regain his top position in the Serie A scoring charts, as Antonio Di Natale had surpassed him, and he ended the season with 26 goals. On May 21 he was signed by Napoli on a longterm contract to stay until 2016 which has seemingly quashed all transfer rumours regarding him since.

On 14 September, Cavani scored the opener in Napoli's first game of their Champions League campaign, a 1–1 away draw at Manchester City. Four days later, on 18 September, he scored a hat-trick against Milan in Napoli's 3–1 home win. On 22 November, Cavani scored both goals in the match winning brace 2-1 at home against Manchester City in the Champions League, leaving Napoli in pole position to follow Bayern Munich into the knockout stage.

International Career

In January 2007, Cavani was selected to join the Uruguay national football team Under-20 squad to play in the 2007 South American Youth Championship in Paraguay. Cavani finished the tournament as top scorer with seven goals in nine games, helping Uruguay to finish in 3rd place, earning them a place in the World Youth Championship

On February 6, 2008, Cavani made his first senior appearance for the Uruguay national team, and immediately scored a goal in his debut with the Celeste, a 2–2 tie with Colombia. On 10 July 2010, he scored against Germany in the 3rd place match in the 2010 FIFA World Cup making the game 1-1, Germany went on to win 2-3. On July 27, 2010 he played in a friendly match against Angola in Lisboa. He scored a late goal in the match in a 2-0 win for Uruguay. On October 8, 2010 he scored his first career hat-trick in a friendly match against Indonesia.