It’s 20 years this month since Porto shocked Manchester United en route to a remarkable Champions League triumph. The star of Jose Mourinho’s team? A magician called Deco, who would later score in the final as Porto beat Monaco 3-0.
At the start of that season, Deco had wanted to fulfil a lifelong dream by joining Barcelona, but Porto snubbed their bid. Things worked out pretty well in the end, just as they did when the midfielder – born in Brazil as Anderson Luis de Souza – won 75 caps for Portugal after moving there aged 19.
Deco joined Barça in 2004 and won the Champions League with them, too, followed by league titles with Chelsea and Fluminense. This season, after a decade as an agent, he returned to Camp Nou as sporting director, eyeing Champions League glory again – Barça take on Napoli in this month’s last 16.
FFT meets the 46-year-old in his office at the training ground, after we have been generously transported by golf cart from the main entrance. The first team train on the pitch outside while Deco answers your questions…
Where did you get the nickname Deco, and what does it mean?
Jesse Bailey, Lincoln
[Laughs] Nothing! I’ve been called Deco for as long as I can remember. My uncle called me Deco, or Dequinho, but I don’t know why. Even he doesn’t!
How did your move from Brazil to Benfica come about?
Luciana Santos, Lisbon
I was playing for Corinthians. I wanted to stay, but I belonged to a club called Corinthians Alagoano, the club of my agents. They couldn’t reach an agreement with Corinthians and ended up negotiating with Benfica, who then loaned me to Alverca in Portugal’s second division. That’s how my story in Portugal began.
Despite a successful season at Alverca, you left Benfica without playing a game – did you have many dealings with Graeme Souness, the club’s manager back then?
Chris Sergeant, via Instagram
Benfica had the chance to keep me, but they didn’t want to, so I ended up going to Salgueiros and then Porto. I did very few training sessions with Souness – there was no relationship between us. I was a youngster, in a sort of B team; I was only called up three times to train with the first team.
It was a bad time for Benfica in terms of titles. Porto were controlling Portuguese football. When I joined Porto, the club were on the way to winning their fifth league title in a row.
How did it feel to join Porto not long after leaving Benfica, and quickly help them to win the title? Were you motivated to prove Benfica wrong?
Matheus Campos, Vila Nova de Gaia
I don’t
