Player profile

Once the bad boy of Brazilian football, Luis Fabiano now more than lives up to his nickname of ‘O Fabuloso’ (The Fabulous One).

An automatic starter for Brazil, having held off the claims of Adriano, and now one of the most feared strikers in Europe, memories of his first forays into European football have long since been forgotten.

He first arrived at Stade Rennes in 2001 but failed to score in just 11 appearances in a disappointing 2000/01 season so he returned to Brazil and re-signed for Sao Paulo. The goals soon flowed and his total of 118 goals in 160 competitive matches remains the best strike ratio in the club’s history.

This prompted him to again try his luck overseas, this time at Porto, but he managed just three goals in 22 games.

It’s fair to say he had mitigating circumstances for not being at the top of his game in 2005, given that his mother had been kidnapped and held for 60 days before she was finally rescued.

Once a transfer to Sevilla had been completed, and he was freed from the stresses that blighted his time in Portugal, he resurrected his career in some style.

In five prolific years he has won back-to-back Uefa Cups in 2006 and 2007 and made himself an indispensible member of the Brazil first team.

He was forced to miss the season-ending Copa del Rey final for Sevilla in May due to a thigh injury, but recovered to take his place in the national squad.

After scoring on his international debut and then going on to win the Copa America in 2004, it was assumed that Fabiano would be an automatic starter for Brazil for many years to come.

However, he lost his way after his ill-fated spell at Porto, so was cast into the international wilderness for three years. He has returned with a vengeance since then - scoring a hat-trick against Portugal and ending the 2009 Confederations Cup with the Golden Shoe.

His direct, physical style got him a reputation for trouble in Brazil - in one incident whilst at Sao Paulo in 2003 he studded a River Plate player just below the neck after a fight broke out.