Name	Deco
Height	5 ft 8 1⁄2 in
Naionality	Brazilian
Date of Birth	27-August-1977
Place of Birth	Sao Bernardo do Campo, Brazil
Famous for	Footballer

Deco is a retired Brazilian-born Portuguese professional footballer who last played for Fluminense. Deco is one of the few players to have won the UEFA Champions League with two different clubs – FC Porto in 2004 and FC Barcelona in 2006. He was named UEFA Club Footballer of the Year and UEFA Best Midfielder in Porto's Champions League-winning season and was named Man of the Match in the 2003–04 Champions League final.

Deco was the first player to win the UEFA Best Midfielder Award with two different clubs, Porto and Barcelona. He was awarded the FIFA Club World Cup Golden Ball and the Man of the Match award in the final despite losing to Internacional. Deco received Portuguese citizenship in 2002 having completed five years of Portuguese residence, subsequently opting to play internationally for the Portugal national football team. Deco announced his retirement on 26 August 2013, following a hamstring injury. Deco was never called up to the Brazilian national team and the Brazil squad for the 2002 FIFA World Cup included other attacking midfielders such as Ronaldinho, Rivaldo, and Juninho. Having played six years of club football with Porto allowed Deco to gain Portuguese citizenship that made him eligible to play for Portugal. None of Deco's great grandparents, grandparents or parents were Portuguese and therefore under FIFA's player eligibility rules required Portuguese citizenship to be considered eligible.

Deco was mentioned several times in the media as an option for the Portuguese national team. Deco played for Portugal in their opening game against Côte d'Ivoire. During the game he was injured and was ruled out of the remaining two group games, against North Korea and Brazil. He was fit again for the Last 16 game against Spain but Portugal coach Carlos Queiroz chose Tiago over Deco. Deco retired from international football with 75 caps and 5 goals. Deco announced his retirement from professional football on 26 August 2013.