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Birthdate:
24.09.1979
Birthplace: São Carlos, Brazil
Other clubs: São Paolo, Valencia
Bought from: Valencia
Signed for LFC: £Bosman 05.07.2006
Liverpool debut:
13.08.2006
Last appearance: 28.02.2010
Debut goal: 02.03.2008
Last goal: 14.04.2009
Contract expiry: 01.07.2010
LFC league games/goals: 71 / 3
Total LFC games/goals: 110 / 4
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Player Notes:
Aurélio started his career with São Paolo in Brazil in 1997. He joined Valencia in the summer of 2000 after featuring for Brazil's U-23 team in the Sidney Olympics. A certain Rafa Benítez took over as coach of Valencia and Aurélio twice celebrated the Spanish championship in 2002 and 2004 as well as winning the UEFA Cup. However Aurélio didn't make as many appearances as he would have liked because of injuries, only managing 2 appearances in the successful 2003-2004 season after starring for Valencia on the left flank in the previous season, playing 35 games and scoring 10 goals.
Aurélio's injuries unfortunately did not desert him when he arrived at Liverpool. Just when he had started to hit form he ruptured his achilles vs. PSV Eindhoven in the 1st leg of the Champions League quarter-final in the 2006/2007 season. Because of the long time it took to recover from the serious injury it wasn't a major surprise that he was not a regular first-teamer in the 2007-08 season. Thirteen of his twenty-nine appearances came in cup matches and Benítez seemed particularly keen to use him in the Champions league, where he played in both matches against Marseille, Inter Milan and Arsenal. In domestic games he was most unlucky to be credited with an own-goal when Aston Villa came to Anfield but balanced that out a few weeks later against Bolton Wanderers when his sweet strike from the edge of the penalty-area took Liverpool into a three-goal and unassailable lead.
Aurélio had his best season so far with Liverpool in the 2008/9 season, making 27 starts and making 5 substitute appearances despite being six weeks on the sidelines with injury from November through January. Aurélio, who had only scored one goal so far for Liverpool, showed quick thinking when he scored from a wonderful free-kick vs Chelsea in the second leg of the Champions League quarter-final at Stamford Bridge similar to Gary McAllister's injury-time winner vs Everton in April 2001. He also scored from a wonderful free kick which was the highlight of Liverpool's tremendous 4-1 win over Manchester United at Old Trafford. He seemed to have finally won a regular spot in the Liverpool line-up, but injured his knee in a freak accident playing with his son in the garden in the summer and missed the first month of the 2009/10 season.
2009-2010 was on the whole a disappointment for the Brazilian who celebrated his 30th birthday a month after the season started. However, Aurelio had little else to celebrate, making just 14 League and 9 cup appearances during the season. Emiliano Insúa became first-choice left-back. Even the sale of Andrea Dossena to Napoli in January, 2010 did not significantly improve Aurelio's chances of regular first-team football because the manager, who had a surfeit of central defenders to try and keep happy, decided to use Daniel Agger as his left-back on occasion. Aurélio injured his thigh vs Blackburn Rovers on 28th of February which ended his season. By the end of his 4th full season at Anfield, Aurelio had played in a hundred and ten competitive matches for Liverpool, in which he had scored four times. Aurelio's contract was due to run out in the summer of 2010 and due to his frequent injuries, Liverpool were only ready to offer him a pay-as-you-play deal, but Aurélio wanted more security and refused the offer. |
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