Alex (footballer, born June 1982)

For other footballers named Alex, see Alex (disambiguation).
In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Dias and the second or paternal family name is da Costa.

Alex
Alex lining up for Chelsea in 2010
Personal information
Full name Alex Rodrigo Dias da Costa[1]
Date of birth (1982-06-17) 17 June 1982 (age 42)[2]
Place of birth Niterói, Brazil
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[2]
Position(s) Centre-back
Youth career
2000–2001 Juventus (SP)
2002 Santos
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2002–2004 Santos 78 (14)
2004–2012 Chelsea 86 (7)
2004–2007 → PSV (loan) 84 (11)
2012–2014 Paris Saint-Germain 70 (6)
2014–2016 AC Milan 46 (4)
Total 361 (42)
International career
2003–2004 Brazil U23 13 (2)
2002–2011 Brazil 17 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Alex Rodrigo Dias da Costa (Brazilian Portuguese: [aˈlɛks ʁoˈdɾiɡu ˈdʒiaz dɐ ˈkɔstɐ]; born 17 June 1982), known as Alex, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. He was known for his physical strength and the power of his shot, which has gained him the nicknames of "The Tank"[3] and Canhão da Vila ("Cannon of Vila Belmiro").[4]

Having been bought by the Premier League club Chelsea in 2004, Alex was loaned to Dutch team PSV and he won 3 Eredivisie titles with them. Alex finally joined the Chelsea squad in the summer of 2007 after three years in the Netherlands.[5] In his time at Chelsea, he won the FA Cup in 2009 and a league and FA Cup "double" in 2010, as well as reaching the 2008 UEFA Champions League Final. He joined Paris Saint-Germain for £4.2 million in January 2012 and won Ligue 1 twice with the club, moving to A.C. Milan on the expiration of his contract in 2014 and retiring two years later.

Alex earned 17 caps for Brazil between 2003 and 2008, winning the 2007 Copa América and finishing as runner-up at the 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

  1. ^ "Comunicato Ufficiale N. 210" [Official Press Release No. 210] (PDF) (in Italian). Lega Serie A. 22 April 2016. p. 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 July 2021. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference PremProfile was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Tank was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "Central Alex chega a custo zero para reforçar o F. C. Porto Leia mais: Central Alex chega a custo zero para reforçar o F. C. Porto [Cente-back Alex joins FC Porto for free]". Jornal de Notícias (in Portuguese). Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  5. ^ "Chelsea target Alex earns permit". BBC Sport. 2 August 2007. Retrieved 2 August 2007.