Dani (footballer, born 1976)

Daniel da Cruz Carvalho (born 2 November 1976), commonly known as Dani, is a Portuguese former professional footballer who played mainly as an attacking midfielder.

In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Cruz and the second or paternal family name is Carvalho.
Dani
Dani in 2011
Personal information
Full name Daniel da Cruz Carvalho[1]
Date of birth (1976-11-02) 2 November 1976[1]
Place of birth Lisbon, Portugal[1]
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[1]
Position(s) Attacking midfielder
Youth career
1985–1995 Sporting CP
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1995–1996 Sporting CP 9 (0)
1996 → West Ham United (loan) 9 (2)
1996–2000 Ajax 72 (12)
2000 Benfica 5 (0)
2001–2003 Atlético Madrid 64 (10)
Total 159 (24)
International career
1992 Portugal U15 8 (4)
1992–1993 Portugal U16 15 (6)
1993 Portugal U17 6 (4)
1994 Portugal U18 8 (6)
1995–1996 Portugal U20 15 (6)
1995–1998 Portugal U21 11 (6)
1996 Portugal U23 6 (0)
1995–2000 Portugal 9 (0)
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Portugal
FIFA U-20 World Cup
Third place1995 Qatar
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

He spent most of his eight-year professional career with Ajax after starting out at Sporting CP, appearing in nearly 100 competitive matches and winning three major titles. He also competed abroad in England with West Ham United, and in Spain with Atlético Madrid.

All youth levels comprised, Dani played 69 times for Portugal and scored 33 goals. He made his full debut in 1995.

Club career

A skilled attacking player whose career was cut short by poor professional judgment, Dani was born in Lisbon and began his career with local club Sporting CP,[2] making his first-team debut during 1994–95 aged just 17, in a team which also included Luís Figo, Ricardo Sá Pinto and Bulgarian Krassimir Balakov, and helped the side to the season's Portuguese Cup.

In January 1996, Dani started a small loan in the Premier League with West Ham United, where he scored at Tottenham Hotspur[3] and at home against Manchester City.[4] Despite performing reasonably well during his tenure, his season ended when he was fired by manager Harry Redknapp when he missed training after being spotted in a nightclub.[5]

Subsequently, Dani represented AFC Ajax, appearing regularly for the Amsterdam side but almost never as an undisputed starter. He did score an important goal in the 1996–97 UEFA Champions League quarter-final clash against Atlético Madrid, in a 3–2 away win (4–3 aggregate).[6]

In December 2000, after a brief spell with S.L. Benfica, Dani signed for Atlético Madrid of the Spanish Segunda División, teaming up with compatriot Hugo Leal.[7] After the Colchoneros returned to La Liga with him as an important unit,[8][9] he was pretty much absent for the majority of the 2002–03 campaign and, after failing to find a new team, definitively retired from football in early 2004 at only 27.[10]

International career

Dani earned nine caps for Portugal, the first coming on 12 December 1995 in a 1–1 friendly with England, and the last on 29 March 2000 in a 2–1 victory over Denmark (also friendly).[11]

Previously, he appeared for the under-20 national team at the 1995 FIFA World Youth Championship in Qatar, being awarded the second place in both the Golden Boot and Golden Ball awards,[12] and also competed at the 1996 Summer Olympics where his side finished fourth.[13]

Personal life

Still during his playing career, Dani worked regularly as a model. After retiring, he worked in television.[14]

Redknapp, when he was manager at West Ham, once said about the player: "Dani is so good-looking I don't know whether to play him or fuck him".[15]

Honours

Sporting CP

Ajax

Atlético Madrid

Portugal

Individual

References
  1. Dani at FootballDatabase.eu
  2. Simões de Abreu, Alexandra (8 October 2017). ""Van Gaal contratou uma loiraça para me dar aulas de holandês. Um dia, ele entra na sala e apanha-nos a combinar um jantar: 'Dani, desisto'"" ["Van Gaal hired a blonde bombshell to give me Dutch classes. One day, he enters the room and catches us making plans for dinner: 'Dani, I give up'”]. Expresso (in Portuguese). Retrieved 29 April 2020.
  3. Moore, Glen (12 February 1996). "Dani buoys West Ham on debut". The Independent. Retrieved 23 November 2009.
  4. Jones, Ken (23 March 1996). "City refuse to employ crisis tactics". The Independent. Retrieved 23 November 2009.
  5. "'I lost all respect for him': Former West Ham loanee Dani on troubles with Harry Redknapp". Evening Standard. London. 9 October 2017. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
  6. "Babangida thrills Ajax". The Independent. 20 March 1997. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
  7. Balasch, M. (31 December 2000). "Gil, a vueltas con la persecución política" [Gil, going crazy with political persecution]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 May 2015.
  8. "At. Madrid (con)vence no "inferno" da II Liga" [At. Madrid win and convince (Portuguese wordplay, impossible to translate otherwise) in II League "hell"]. Record (in Portuguese). 2 September 2001. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
  9. Cabral, Mariana (16 May 2014). ""No meu primeiro jogo em Madrid furaram-me os pneus"" ["In my first game in Madrid they slashed my tires"]. Expresso (in Portuguese). Retrieved 29 April 2020.
  10. Fernandes, Mariana (26 June 2019). "Futre e mais 15: os outros portugueses que passaram pelo Atl. Madrid antes de João Félix, entre flops e figuras de proa" [Futre and 15 others: the other Portuguese who had spells in Atl. Madrid before João Félix, from flops to figureheads]. Observador (in Portuguese). Retrieved 29 April 2020.
  11. "Lista completa dos internacionais portugueses" [Complete list of Portuguese internationals] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. 18 February 2004. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
  12. Roseiro, Bruno (20 May 2017). "Portugal no Mundial Sub-20: quem, quando e onde? Um guia para a competição" [Portugal at the Under-20 World Cup: who, when and where? A guide for the competition]. Observador (in Portuguese). Retrieved 24 January 2023.
  13. "Portugal-Brasil: o pesadelo das Olimpíadas de 96 segundo Ronaldo e Bebeto" [Portugal-Brazil: the nightmare of the 96 Olympics according to Ronaldo and Bebeto] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. 27 March 2003. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
  14. Casado, Edu (4 July 2013). "Qué fue de… Daniel da Cruz Carvalho 'Dani': era tan guapo que decidió retirarse" [Whatever happened to… Daniel da Cruz Carvalho 'Dani': he was so good-looking he decided to retire]. 20 minutos (in Spanish). Retrieved 1 January 2015.
  15. Maysh, Jeff (5 September 2013). "The day Harry Redknapp brought a fan on to play for West Ham". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
  16. "FIFA World Youth Championship Qatar 1995 – Awards". FIFA. Archived from the original on 11 July 2015. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
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