Daniel Alves da Silva (born 6 May 1983 in Juazeiro, Bahia, Brazil), commonly known as Dani Alves, is a Brazilian defender who currently plays as an attacking right back for Spanish La Liga club Barcelona and the Brazilian national team. Before joining the Catalan giants, Alves spent a successful six year spell with Sevilla, winning two UEFA Cups and the Copa del Rey with the Andalusian side. He joined Barcelona for €34 million plus add-ons of €6 million, becoming the most expensive defender in history, and won The Treble in his first season with the club.
Dani Alves made his Brazil debut as a substitute in an unofficial friendly match against Kuwait club Al-Kuwait Selection on 7 October 2006. Three days later, he earned his first international cap in a friendly against Ecuador. He was included in Brazil's team for the Copa América 2007. He appeared in four matches including the final against Argentina, where he gave an assist and scored a goal in a 3-0 victory. Despite being the most expensive right-back in history, he has not been able to hold down a regular starting spot in the national team with Maicon being the first choice when available. Dani Alves came on as a substitute in the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup semi-final against South Africa and scored the winner, a free-kick and a traditional Brazilian full back goal in the style of Roberto Carlos in the 88th minute in a 1-0 win.Barcelona FC
On 2 July 2008, Alves joined Barcelona. He left Sevilla in tears and said that he would love to join the club again. He said that he came to Sevilla as a boy and is now leaving as a man, and later broke down in tears at the press conference.[12] The official price of the transfer stands at €28 million up front, with €6 million more to pay depending on a number of performance related factors over the next few seasons of Dani Alves' Barcelona career, making him the world's most expensive defender[13] and the third most expensive player bought by Barça. He signed a four-year contract with Barcelona, that includes a buy-out clause of €90 million. As of 8 August, he was the most expensive player in the Summer 2008 transfer window, but this record was then broken when Real Madrid forward Robinho opted to go to Manchester City on deadline day, for a fee of around €40 million.Dani Alves made his competitive and European debuts for Barcelona against Wisła Kraków in the 3rd round qualifiers of the 2008 UEFA Champions League on 13 August 2008.[14] He made his La Liga debut in the season-opener away to CD Numancia on 31 August 2008.[15] Dani Alves missed the 2009 UEFA Champions League Final due to a yellow-card suspension; Barcelona beat Manchester United 2-0 and thus completed The Treble.
