In his homeland he has always been regarded as a huge talent. However, his first European adventure in Italy's Serie A lasted only a few months naturally raising question marks over his actual ability. Now in his second European stint Alex appears to have put a few things straight.

Alexsandro de Sousa was born in Curitiba-PR Brazil on 14 September 1977. His early playing days were with his hometown team before moving on to Cruzeiro where he would spend 3 seasons and then pack his bags for Fenerbahçe on 20 June 2004 for a transfer fee of $5M (USD). He had already undergone an indifferent European experience with Parma previously and many thought that his time in Kadikoy would be similar. How wrong they were...

By the end of his first full season Alex has already captured the fans hearts and this love affair continued for the remainder of his initial 3 year contractual term at the club. In this time frame he played a total of 94 League matches scoring 56 and assisting another 54. He featured in 24 European matches finding the net 5 times and assisting a further 13. He was also involved in 16 Turkish Cup ties netting 5 goals and assisting 6 more. That is an incredible total of 134 official matches played, 66 goals scored and 73 goals assisted.

In these 3 seasons Alex won 2 Championship titles, played in 2 cup finals, was the highest goal assister on 2 occasions and became the first foreign Goal King in Fenerbahce's history. With this standard of performance it was no surprise that the board extended Alex's tenure at Fenerbahce by a further two years.

At the start of this season Alex took over the captain's armband after Umit Ozat moved to Koln and Tuncay Sanli left for Middlesbrough. Captaincy wasn't anything new for the 48 time capped Brazilian International who skippered his country to Copa America glory in 2004. He had also lead Curitiba and Cruziero to countless trophies in his home country too.

His tenure as Fenerbahce Captain began with winning the Turkish Super Cup with a 2-1 victory over Besiktas in August 2007, and with these sensational statistics who can bet against him lifting more silverware over the next year and a half? This man is a born winner and a living legend. He is simply the best foreign player in Fenerbahce's 100 year history.

He is Alexsandro de... Great, and long may he reign over our team.