Luis Carlos Nani, nicknamed “Nani”, was born on November 17, 1986 in Praia, Cape Verde, an island nation in the Atlantic Ocean. He moved to Portugal at a very young age and was raised in the Amadora district of Lisbon where he used to play football with childhood friend and Valencia’s. midfielder, Manuel Fernandes.
Luis Carlos Nani was the youngest in the Portugal team that played at the 2006 United European Football Association (UEFA) Under-21 Football Championship. He made his international debut on September 1, 2006, in a friendly match against Denmark and scored a goal. Luis Carlos Nani has also played for the Portugal A team and scored a goal against Belgium that helped his team win the game 2-1. He helped team mate Ricardo Quaresma to strike a goal against Italy. Luis Carlos Nani was part of the 23-member team, which was selected to play at the Euro 2008. In the quarter finals match against Germany, he assisted Helder Postiga, a fellow team member, to score a goal.
Since his childhood, Luis Carlos Nani was a F.C. Porto supporter and played junior football at Real Sport Clube, a youth club at Massama, a Lisbon suburb. He represented the youth squad of Sporting Clube de Portugal during the 2005-06 season, netting 4 goals in 29 appearances. The following season also proved to be successful for Luis Carlos Nani, as he went on to score 5 goals in 29 matches. He represented the club in 6 UEFA games and has a goal to his credit. Luis Carlos Nani was bought by Manchester United for a transfer fee of £17 million and he signed a five-year contract on June 6, 2007, after passing his medical test. His debut for the club took place in a pre-season friendly against Shenzhen Shangqingyin and Luis Carlos Nani netted a goal that helped the team win the match 6-0. He scored again in the team’s next game against the Guangzhou Pharmaceutical football club. He played as a substitute in the Community Shield tournament game against Chelsea held on August 5, 2007. His competitive debut for Manchester United ended with the team lifting the trophy after a 3-0 win on penalties. Luis Carlos Nani debuted in the Premier League for Manchester United on August 12, 2007, as a substitute for the injured Wayne Rooney in a match against the Reading football club. On August 26, 2007, Luis Carlos Nani scored his first competitive goal for his club in the 69th minute of the game against Tottenham. His accurate timing and good passing skills helped his team score crucial goals and helped Manchester United win over Sutherland and Everton. With 2 assists and 1 goal in the Football Association (FA) Cup 4th round, 4-0 win against Arsenal, Luis Carlos Nani was awarded the “Man of the Match”. Within 5 minutes of coming off the bench on March 23, 2008, Luis Carlos Nani scored the 3rd and the final goal of the 3-0 victory over Liverpool. He came on to substitute for Wayne Rooney at the UEFA 2008 final on May 21, 2008 and scored the 5th penalty shootout in the 6-5 win over Chelsea.
Luis Carlos Nani celebrates each score with a trademark somersault. As a boy he used to practice ballet and capoeira, a traditional blend of Brazilian martial arts, games and dance.
