Afonso Alves Martins Junior is an international football player who was born on January 30, 1981 in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. At the age of eight, he lost his father and his mother, Dona Eliade raised him and his siblings on her own. As of 2008, he plays for Middlesbrough Football Club as a striker and wears jersey number 12.
Afonso Alves represents Brazil at the international level and was first called up to represent the national side on May 17, 2007 for friendly matches against England and Turkey. On June 1, 2007 he came as a substitute for his teammate, Kaka, after 71 minutes of play in the match against England. Brazil emerged victorious in the Copa America 2007 held at Venezuela and Afonso Alves was a part of this winning squad. He scored his first goal for the national side came in a 3-1 win against Mexico that took place on September 12, 2007. As of 2008, he has won eight international caps and scored once for his national team.
Starting his career with Clube Atlético Mineiro, Afonso Alves played from 1997 to 2002 with the club and scored a goal from his eight appearances. He made a move to the Swedish football club, Örgryte IS in Gothenburg, in 2002 and played there till 2004. He appeared in forty games and scored 23 goals during his stint with Clube Atlético Mineiro. Following this, Afonso Alves signed to play for Malmö FF and helped his team win the Swedish League in 2004. During the 2005 season, he had 14 goals to his credit from 24 games, making him the club’s leading goal-scorer. Afonso Alves played with the club till 2006 making 55 appearances and had twenty nine goals to his credit.
In 2006, Afonso Alves signed a €4,500,000 contract with SC Heerenveen, making this the most expensive signing in the club’s history. This talented striker has netted 34 goals in 2007 making this a club record for the most number of goals in the Eredivisie. Afonso Alves is the third Brazilian to earn the distinction of being the top scorer in the Dutch first division and is also the second Brazilian to score over 30 goals in the same competition. He ended as a runner-up in the contention for the European Golden Boot, missing it by a single point behind the Italian mid-fielder Francesco Totti. In a match against Eredivisie rivals, Heracles Almelo, held on October 7, 2007, Afonso Alves helped his team set an Eredivisie record for scoring the most goals in a single match, by contributing seven goals to the side’s 9-0 victory.
On January 31, 2008, Premier League side, Middlesbrough Football Club signed a four and a half year contract with Afonso Alves. He made his first appearance for the club on February 9, 2008 when he came in as a substitute for Lee Dong-Gook in a match against Fulham. His first start for the club came in a match against Sheffield United on February 27, 2008, and helped the team win the match 1-0. Afonso Alves scored his first two goals for the club on April 6, 2008 in a match against Manchester United and finished his first season at the club with a hat-trick against Manchester City.
