Pato

Alexandre Pato is a soccer player. You can simply say the name Pato and most soccer fans will know him. This is pretty incredible in that he is only 18 years old. He made his pro debut with our soccer team, Internacional, in 2006 when he was 17. He scored a goal in his first game.

He then played for us in the world championship in Japan at the end of 2006 and scored a goal in his first game, which was the semi-final game. By doing so he became the youngest player to make a goal in the history of FIFA official competitions. He broke Pelé's record.

The problem with excellent Brasilian soccer players is that Brasilian teams don't have enough money to keep them here with us. European teams will always come and pay big sums to get our best. It's a tough situation. We have to have the money and they have it. So, our best players don't stay around for long.

A.C. Milan (one of the best teams in the world) bought Pato's contract last year and in his first game for them he made a goal. He's insanely good.

If you play soccer your ultimate dream is to play for your country's national team in the World Cup (which is every four years and the next one will be in 2010.......Brasil will host it in 2014). Pato was asked to play for the national team in a game against Sweden last month. It was his first game for the national team. If you've been paying attention you probably already know what happened in this first game.

Take a look at how Nike saw it:


Here's how we watched and heard it on Brasilian television. Watch the goalie after he tried to clear the ball, failed, watched Pato curve it home and then fell to the ground. You can almost hear the Homer Simpson "D'oh!" come out of his mouth. It's a great shot considering that Pato normally kicks with his right foot. Here it is:


Like I said, he's good. So, for you people living in the United States you can remember that you heard the name Pato here first and for the rest of the world, let's keep enjoying this great soccer talent.