Football Dissected

People talk about Cesc Fàbregas as having the world at his feet. But there's one player who may also have the world at his feet - Alexandre Rodrigues da Silva, aka Alexandre Pato. No player has ever had the enormous potential that Pato has at this moment in time. The kid is a future genius, through and through. He's got the skills, the tactical awareness, the upper body strength, and, of course, the mark of a great striker. He's also now playing at one of the biggest clubs in the world, AC Milan.

Standing at 5 ft 11 in, he just a little shorter than Ronaldinho and Ronaldo. But he's got the best of both worlds. He's got the skills of a future Ronaldinho while at the same time he's got the nose for goal that made Ronaldo a household name. Yet in truth he's more like the so-called 1000 goals man, Romário. Romário had the eye for goal that made him one of the most feared stirkers in all of Europe when he played for PSV Eindhoven and Barcalona back in the late eighties, early nineties. And Alexandre Pato has the potential to become a feared striker just like Romario was, although he'll probably stay in Europe and write his name into the history books.

I was lucky to see Pato in the 2007 South American Youth Championship where he played a part in helping Brazil win the competition, which qualified Brazil for the 2007 FIFA U20 World Cup in Canada (which took place between June 30 and July 22) and next year's Summer Olympics in Beijing. He was outstanding in the competition, becoming Brazil's leading scorer in the tournament with five goals. Many observers may say his performances are lackluster, but I disagree. With the demands of footballers in this day and age to run thousands of metres every game, particularly for box-to-box midfielders and wing-backs, Pato may look lackluster but he's the kind of player who can change a game in a second, so why not save his energy for that killer goal that may win the match? As they say tired legs, tired minds.

Pato is the future of Brazil and the future of Milan. Everyone hopes he'll get more games for Milan after 3rd January 2008 when he'll be officially allowed to play for the Italian outfit, particularly this season after the poor run Milan are having in Serie A.