Rise and Fall of Alexandre Pato | Real Story of the Fallen Golden Boy

From being a sensational teenager at Milan and the future of Brazil to becoming one of the biggest underachievers in the game, here is the tragic story of Alexander Pato’s career as a footballer. Pato had arguably one of the biggest talents in football but his strange career has left fans wondering where it all went wrong for the Brazilian, so we’ll be going back in time and to the very beginning where we would reveal the shocking highs and lows of the White Duck, as he loved to call himself. Pato isn’t the first and certainly won’t be the

last footballer to not live up to his potential but his unique case comes with a lot of unanswered questions, which true fans of the game would be eager to find answers to. Was it the injuries, poor management, a careless lifestyle, or a simple lack of desire that ruined Pato’s career? Let’s get an insider look Born on September 2, 1989 Pato grew up in an average Brazilian neighborhood in Pato Branco, a city in the southwestern state of Paraná. Like most other boys, he started playing football at an early age. But at the age of 10, an

incident would happen that would change his life forever. Pato broke his left arm but that’s just putting things lightly. It got so bad that the

doctors even considered amputation saying that they found some tumors in it following an X-ray. According to the Brazilian, he was 24 hours away from losing his arm but luckily for him, surgery alone was enough to correct it. Shortly after this incident, young Pato got picked up by Sport Club Internacional and was integrated into their youth setup. On the night before his trial at Internacional, having driven 9 hours from his hometown

to Porto Alegre, Pato recalled sleeping in a room with a tiny bed in a sex motel with his father because they could not afford to pay for a proper hotel. Pato’s rise was as dramatic as his fall. Following a successful trial, the Brazilian kickstarted his youth career as a footballer and in 2006 at the age of 16, he had done enough to earn a call-up to play in the Brasileiro Sub-20 competition. Despite playing against opponents up to 4 years older than him, Pato would emerge as the top goalscorer with 7 goals in 8 games even

winning the player of the tournament award. Pato was then included in the Internacional squad for the 2006 FIFA Club World Cup and after scoring a goal in the semi-finals, he broke Pele’s record of being the youngest goalscorer at a senior men’s FIFA tournament, which he did at the age of 17 years and 102 days, about 137 days earlier than Pele. Pato won the 2006 FIFA club world cup but his biggest highlight with the club was in the following year when he helped the club win their first-ever Copa Sudamericana trophy, a competition where he scored a

few goals home and away. By now, a flurry of European teams were battling it out for the talented Brazilian. Chelsea, Real Madrid, AC Milan, and a few others. Pato eventually moved to the then European champions, AC Milan for a staggering 24 million Euros at that time. Pato joined the Milan side and linked up with fellow Brazilians, Cafu, Ronaldinho, Dida, and Kaka in a star-studded squad, so it wasn’t surprising that he adapted to life quickly in Italy. He got off to a quick start in Milan with a debut goal against Napoli on 13 January 2008. A

total of 57 goals in all competitions before the age of 22 and in his first four years with Milan didn’t do justice to some of the memorable performances he brought during matches bearing in mind that he struggled with a couple of injuries. During this 2007-2011 spell, Pato won the Serie A Young Footballer of the Year award in 2009 becoming the first Brazilian to do so and also guided the club to its first Serie A trophy in 7 years in 2011. Despite these impressive achievements, cracks were beginning to form in the Serie A winner’s life even

off the pitch. A string of poor decisions seemed to be taking away his love for football. He had an off-and-on relationship with Brazilian actress Sthefany Brito just after arriving at Milan, which ended in a messy divorce in 2010 with the actress stating that his party boy escapades alongside Ronaldinho and Robinho were the primary cause of the divorce. Romance with Miss Brazil 2010’s Débora Lyra shortly after and a fling with the club owner’s daughter, Barbara Berlusconi would follow before his stint at AC Milan took a final blow. In his last 2 seasons at the club, Pato

scored only 6 goals for AC Milan. His remarkable decline on the pitch was quite difficult to watch. He was plagued by constant injuries and even lost confidence in his body. He was finally shipped off to Corinthians for 15 million Euros in 2013 after winning the 2012 Bidone d’oro, a satirical prize given to the worst Serie A player in a particular season. Although he scored with his first touch on his debut at Corinthians, a string of poor misses saw him criticized by fans all season. But they had it up to their necks when Pato made a

poor attempt at a Panenka in a penalty shootout against Grêmio at the Copa do Brasil. His side ultimately got knocked out of the tournament after his former teammate Dida made the save. A few months later, Pato was on his way out of the club. He was loaned to Sao Paulo in February 2014, hoping to make a fresh start. After scoring a total of 38 goals in the two years he spent there, it looked like he could make a comeback to the biggest stages. So, in 2016 he was loaned to Chelsea. As he has done for

most of his clubs, Pato scored on his debut coming in as a substitute but made only two appearances all season. Chelsea opted against signing him. Eventually, he was sold to La Liga side Villareal for about 3 million euros. He garnered 6 goals in 24 appearances in his few months at the club. By January 2017, Pato moved to the Chinese club Tianjin Quanjian in an 18 million euros transfer and cashed in on the Chinese Super League’s ridiculously high wages claiming that he wanted to help grow the name of Chinese football. Again, he didn’t have a great

time in China. His coach and Italian legend Fabio Cannavaro put immense faith in him alongside Axel Witsel and many thought that they could lead the club to greatness. On his debut, Pato missed numerous chances and his team ultimately lost the game. He also missed a penalty in the game after. Pato ended up scoring 36 goals in 60 appearances at the club but it soon ran into legal troubles, which made his future uncertain. In March 2019, Pato forked out 2.5 million Euros from his pocket in order to terminate his contract at the club, harboring dreams of

returning to Europe. An uneventful return to Sao Paulo followed and Pato soon discovered that he couldn’t even get into the first team. Following a mutual agreement, he terminated his contract with the club in August 2020. Six months later, he arrived as a free agent at the MLS side Orlando City. After only 1 appearance, he had to undergo knee surgery and was out for 6 months. At the beginning of the 2022 season, he signed another one-year contract with the club. Pato said in an interview, “I was unstoppable when I was living in the present. But my

head got stuck in the future.” He also admitted to feeling lonely and singled out too many times. The Brazilian also said he tried to cover up his injuries just to avoid letting the team down. But where did it all go wrong for the former Nike poster boy? Recurrent injuries made Pato lose his place in the Brazil squad for the 2010 World cup at his peak and it never got any better after that. But apart from the injuries, pressure from hefty transfer fees might have gotten the better of him as well. But that’s not all. Pato

might have had poor fitness coaches as suggested by fans. When he was leaving AC Milan, he was no longer the skinny teenager who ran awkwardly. He now looked more like a bodybuilder not perfectly suited for his role on the pitch. But there was also an apparent lack of desire from the Brazilian. He was often criticized for not putting in enough effort and not having the willpower to cope with football at the highest level. Pato seemed to have the world at his feet at such a young age and he was expected to win the Ballon D’or

and become the future of Brazil but it just never happened. Injuries, poor choices, and ill-luck were enough to make the striker lose his way. Despite attempts to ply his trade in Brazil and make a comeback in Europe, Pato’s best days were long behind him and it was a matter of disappointments and unfulfilled promises. In his 30s and still an active footballer, Alexandre Pato now hopes to revive whatever little he has left with Orlando City in the MLS.

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