Alexandre Pato - International Career

International Career

After gaining prominence at club level, Pato was called up for the youth teams of Brazil. He helped Brazil win the 2007 South American Youth Championship, which qualified the country for the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup, and was selected by Brazil coach Dunga for the 2008 Summer Olympics. He scored his first goal for the senior Brazilian team on his debut against Sweden at the Emirates Stadium in England on 26 March 2008, beating Pelé's record of scoring a goal within seconds of his full international debut.

He took part at the 2009 Confederations Cup in South Africa, where he played only in the first round match against Egypt. Then, he was not called by Dunga to play in the 2010 World Cup. He is the best


He became a regular under new coach Mano Menezes, wearing the number 9 jersey. He scored a goal in Brazil's 2–0 friendly win over the United States on 10 August 2010. He scored the second goal in Brazil's 3–0 win against Iran on 7 October 2010. Pato's success in the Brazil national team continued as he again scored in a friendly match against Ukraine, where they won 2–0.

Pato has so far participated in the 2011 Copa América and has scored a notable brace in the group stage against Ecuador.

Pato was selected for the Brazil Olympic Football team for London 2012 Olympics. He scored a header against Belarus at Old Trafford to make it 1–1, Brazil went on to win the match 3–1.

Pato scored twice as Brazil beat Sweden 3–0 in the final international match at the Rasunda Stadium in Stockholm (Sweden 15 August 2012). He entered in the 76th, scored on a header in the 85th and converted a penalty kick two minutes later after a foul by Pontus Wernbloom.

Read more about this topic:  Alexandre Pato

Famous quotes containing the word career:

    “Never hug and kiss your children! Mother love may make your children’s infancy unhappy and prevent them from pursuing a career or getting married!” That’s total hogwash, of course. But it shows on extreme example of what state-of-the-art “scientific” parenting was supposed to be in early twentieth-century America. After all, that was the heyday of efficiency experts, time-and-motion studies, and the like.
    Lawrence Kutner (20th century)