Thiago Alcântara

Thiago Alcântara do Nascimento (born 11 April 1991) is a Spanish football player. He currently plays as a central midfielder for La Liga club FC Barcelona.

Early Years

Thiago was born in San Pietro Vernotico, Italy and grew up in Spain. His father is former Brazilian World Cup winner Mazinho. He started at the lower levels of Flamengo and at the age of five, he moved to Spain with his father and his cousin Patrick Gude, and started playing with Galician team Ureca in Nigrán. He returned to Flamengo aged 10 and, in 2005, once again moved back to Spain, signing with FC Barcelona, where his cousin Patrick was also playing for Barça.

FC Barcelona

On 17 May 2009, aged 18 years old, Thiago made his debut with the first team when he came on as a substitute for Eiður Guðjohnsen in the 63rd minute against RCD Mallorca. On 20 February 2010, after coming on as a subtitute for Yaya Touré in the 76th minute, Thiago scored his first goal for Barcelona's first team in a 4–0 win against Racing de Santander at the Camp Nou. His second goal came in a game against UD Almería on 9 April 2011, to make the score 2–1. He scored his third goal against Real Sociedad in a start. He ended the 2010–11 season with 17 games, three goals, and three assists under his belt. On 29 June 2011, Thiago signed a contract renewal keeping him at Barcelona until 30 June 2015, with a buyout clause of €90 million.

International Career

He participated in the 2008 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship with Spain, helping his country to eventual victory in the tournament. He was also called up for the 2010 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship in France by Spain and played a major role in Spain reaching the final. Thiago was ever-present during Spain's victorious 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship campaign, scoring the second goal of a 2–0 victory with a 40-yard free kick in the final against Switzerland. He was awarded the man of the match of the final as well as player of the tournament due to his dazzling performances throughout the competition. He made his first appearance for Spain's senior squad in a friendly against Italy on 10 August 2011, while his first competitive match was on 6 September 2011, in a Euro 2012 qualifying match 6-0 win against Liechtenstein.