Football Player's Biography 7: Thiago Motta

Full name	Thiago Motta Santon Olivares
Date of birth	28 August 1982 (1982-08-28) (age 28)
Place of birth	São Bernardo do Campo, Brazil
Height	1.87 m (6 ft 1¹⁄₂ in)
Playing position	Midfielder

Thiago Motta Santon Olivares (born 28 August 1982) is a Brazilian-born Italian footballer who plays for F.C. Internazionale Milano in Serie A, as a central midfielder.
Having spent his early career at FC Barcelona, his main traits are physical presence, good passing, and a powerful mid-range shot, but he is also known to be injury-prone.

Club career

Spain

Born in São Bernardo do Campo, São Paulo, Motta signed with FC Barcelona in 1999 at age 17, from local Clube Atlético Juventus, initially being assigned to the B side. He eventually graduated to the senior team in 2001, making his first team debut on 3 October against RCD Mallorca (3–0 home win).
In the 2001–02 UEFA Champions League, Motta made seven appearances and helped his team to the semi-finals. Competition for places in an already congested midfield meant that he was unable to hold down a regular place in the centre. In the 2002–03 season in La Liga, he appeared in a career-best 21 games (with three goals), but Barça could only finish in sixth position, and also played an important part in the following season's long UEFA Cup run, which was eventually ended by Celtic; in the first leg, a 0–1 loss in Glasgow (0–1 on aggregate), he was sent off during half-time after hitting out at opposing goalkeeper Robert Douglas, who was also shown the red card, in an incident that happened in the tunnel.^[2]
Motta was also dogged by several injuries, particularly one suffered on 11 September 2004 against Sevilla FC, which sidelined him for seven months,^[3] during his time at Barcelona. He would eventually need surgery to rebuild the anterior cruciate and lateral ligaments in his left knee, but was able to make a swift recovery and made an emotional comeback, taking to the field to rapturous applause as eventual league champions defeated Getafe CF 2–0, on 17 April.
In late August 2007, Motta signed a one-year contract with Atlético Madrid, for an undisclosed fee.^[4] Once again, he began the season on the sidelines, injured. In the Spanish Cup quarterfinal match against Valencia CF, he was sent off after only 25 minutes. Atlético lost the match 1–0 and subsequently the tie.
Due to injury to regular starter Raúl García and the departure of Maniche in January 2008, Motta's opportunities increased. In March however, the recurrent knee problems reappeared, and his season was over, followed by a successful surgery and rehabilitation in the United States.^[5] Following his release, he trialed with Premier League side Portsmouth, but did not sign for the club.^[6]

Italy

In September 2008, Motta joined Genoa C.F.C. on a free transfer, after passing a medical.^[7] During his first campaign, he performed consistently well and was a regular in the starting eleven, under coach Gian Piero Gasperini.
On 11 April 2009, he scored two goals (one of them in the first half's injury time) in a final 3–2 home win over Juventus FC. He finished the year with a career-best six goals, and his club qualified for the Europa League.
On 20 May 2009, La Gazzetta dello Sport confirmed that Motta, alongside teammate Diego Milito were transferred to F.C. Internazionale Milano, for an undisclosed sum.^[8] As part of the deal, Genoa received five Inter players: Riccardo Meggiorini, Robert Acquafresca, Leonardo Bonucci, Francesco Bolzoni^[9] and Ivan Fatic.^[10] His agent Dario Canovi later revealed that his contract with the club included a buy-out fee of €10 million.^[11]
Motta's debut came in the 2009–10 season's opener, a 1–1 home draw against A.S. Bari, and his first goal came the next round, as he opened the scoresheet in the Derby della Madonnina after an assist by Milito, as Inter defeated A.C. Milan 4–0. Having been in and out of the team all season, he scored his first brace for Inter in a 3–0 win against Bologna F.C. 1909, on 3 April 2010. He also appeared in eight games during the club's victorious Champions League campaign, including the 0–1 loss at former side Barcelona for the semifinals (3–2 aggregate win). During that match, he was sent off after striking Sergio Busquets in the face with his hand. The incident gathered attention due to Busquets' apparent feigning of injury.^[12]^[13]

International career

Motta made his debut for Brazil as invitee in the 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup, as part of the de facto U-23 team. He went on to collect two international caps in the tournament, and previously represented the nation at the 1999 South American Under-17 Football Championship.
Motta missed the 2004 CONMEBOL Men Pre-Olympic Tournament due to injuries,^[14] but appeared for the U23 team in November 2003 against Santos FC.^[15] Subsequently, reported claims that he wanted to be called up for Italy and possibly to the 2010 FIFA World Cup, as he possessed dual nationality – both grandparents from his mother and father's side being Italian.^[16] FIFA granted players to have one chance to change their representing nation if they had dual nationality, but not for players who have already played in a competitive "A" match (non-friendly).^[17]
On 6 February 2011, Motta received his first call-up from Italy, for a friendly against Germany, but an official statement from the Italian Football Federation declared it subject to FIFA clearance,^[18] which was granted two days later.^[19] He was replaced in the 63rd minute of the 1–1 draw by Alberto Aquilani.
On 25 March 2011, in only his second international, a UEFA Euro 2012 qualifier in Slovenia, Motta scored the game's only goal, following a 73rd-minute combination with Federico Balzaretti