New fitness coach for Pato

According to a report in the Gazzetta dello Sport, Pato has changed his fitness coach in order to prepare as better as possible for the Olymic games in London 2012.

His new coach is Marcelo Costa who would have corrected some errors from the previous setting and rearranged muscle trainings. The number 7 has reduced weight and added a lot of aerobic work, reducing training on shorter distances and speed.

Costa has prepared a customized program that Pato will have to follow while on vacation, and could continue its work next season too.

The training methods could soon change also Milanello: Daniel Tognaccini may in fact be replaced by Simon Folletti.

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MILAN MUST WAIT FOR PATO

For most, Pato’s 14^th injury since the start of 2010 and last game of the 2011/2012 season has to be the final straw. “Milan must get rid of him in the summer to pave way for other attackers in their wish list.” But he is not just another injury-ravaged youngster.

Alexandre Rodrigues da Silva also known as Pato was signed by Brazilian club Internacional at the age of sixteen. His byname Pato was culled from his place of birth Pato Branco. His career with the Brazilian club began smoothly as he emerged the top scorer of the Brazilian U-20 Championship he was enrolled in. In his debut for the Internacional first team the same year, he scored in the first minute and gave two assists to help Internacional pummel Palmeiras by four goals to one. He had transcended expectations. Internacional had no choice but to include him in the squad that won the 2006 FIFA Club World Cup. At the age of 17 years and 102 days he broke Pele’s record as the youngest player ever to score in a FIFA organised competition. Internacional went on to win the final against European giants Barcelona, a game which he saw 61 minutes of playing time. Pato’s  major feat with the Colorado was playing an influential part in their 2008 Recopa Sudamericana win, scoring in the final.

His football prowess with Internacional was enough incentive for Milan who acquired him on August 2007 for about 24 million euros but was not given the go-ahead to grace the pitch in official competitions until January 3 2008 due to restrictions regarding non-EU minors. Available for just the 2^nd half of the 2007/2008 season, he achieved a tally of 9 goals in 18 appearances in the league at the age of 18, coming in as a substitute in 5. In his last relatively full season at Milan (2008/2009), he scored 18 goals across all competitions. 15 of the 18 goals were scored in 36 Serie A appearances, 27 starts attained.  With just 23 appearances in the 2009/2010 ascribable to injury, he scored 12 goals. ‘The Duck’ produced 14 goals in 25 appearances in the 2010/2011 also plagued by injuries. The 2011/2012 season has seen a sharp decline in Pato’s injury fortunes, starting only 7 Serie A games so far. We reeled out these stats to make his prolificness in front of goal discernible despite the injuries.  Pato’s talent is not open to question.

Spanish giants Barcelona signed Lionel Messi at the age of thirteen amidst a growth hormone deficiency which was threatening to end his career. Barcelona never yielded to his early growth problems as they knew what the future held for the young enigma. Messi first exploded in the European scene with eye-catching performances in the 2005/2006 season under Frank Rijkaard.  He suffered no fewer than seven significant muscle injuries thereafter, keeping him out of action for more than 240 days. An interesting fact about Messi’s early injuries is that all of them weren’t born of a heavy challenge, a characteristic similar to Pato’s. Lionel Messi rose above the challenges and is what he is today.

In a situation akin to Messi’s, Pato has suffered these injuries at a young age, increasing his chances of recovering fully from them which is almost certain. Pato’s pace, vision and all-round brilliance can’t be laid to waste. Against Barcelona at the San Siro in the group stage of this season’s UEFA Champions league he scored a goal distinctive of a ‘congenital champion.’ In just 24 seconds into the game, Pato received the ball just inside the Barcelona half, outwitted the defence with his pace before coolly slotted the ball home past Valdes. After the game, Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola couldn’t hide his amazement. “Not even Usain Bolt could have stopped him,” he said. That is just one of Pato’s incredible goals in a Milan shirt. The player himself has reiterated his desire to stay at Milan. Personally, I dream of a Pato-Balotelli attack someday. Pato if sold or not will conquer his injury problems soon and when he does, he will shatter records on his way to glory. We want that to be at Milan.

Originally posted at milandiavolo.host56.com

 

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Agent reignites PSG talk for AC Milan striker Pato

The agent of Alexandre Pato has talked up PSG’s interest in the AC Milan striker.

PSG coach Carlo Ancelotti is a big fan of Pato and tried to sign him in January.

“Ancelotti is a great Coach, we’d be happy if he were to call us,” Gilmar Veloz told Tuttomercatoweb. “With the Coach, Alexandre has always has a great relationship, his esteem is cause for satisfaction. Let’s see what happens…

“Alexandre is fine at Milan, in addition to having a contract with the club.

“But, Ancelotti is a great Coach and we valued it when he said that my client is a target, we were very pleased.

“The transfer market will be discussed in due course.”

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Pato-Milan Pato-Brazil

During the last injury, Pato went to the
U.S. to carry out some tests in order to make a good recovery. The young Brazilian believes that all that work has played a role, despite the return to the field has been interrupted by another injury: “The decision to play in Barcelona was taken by everyone, including myself.”

Now, the goal is the Seleção. And on his relationship with Mano Menezes: “The only way I have to talk to him is the work in the field. I try to do my best.”

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Alexandre Pato aims London 2012

A gold medal is the one title that has so far evaded the Brazilian men’s football team, and Alexandre Pato is wishing that he is the man to re-write history this summer.

The 22-year-old forward has endured a difficult season for his club side, AC Milan, and is hopeful that he can let his frustrations out on the pitch at the Olympics.

This campaign he made only 11 appearances and netted a solitary goal in Serie A for the Rossoneri, for whom he signed for €24 million from Internacional as a 17 year-old in 2007.

Pato, who has scored six goals in 18 international games, has suffered a succession of muscular injuries this term and is determined to play for Brazil at this summer’s Games.

Speaking on popular Brazilian show Esporte Espetacular the pacy attacker said he us hoping to be included in Mano Menezes’s Brazil squad:

“I’m working well for a long time, Ever since the Coppa America my mind was at the Olympics. I’m 22 years old, and I hope that Menezes will call me, then I’ll think about the WC. I want to return to play and prove my worth.”

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Report: Pato still PSG’s target, Ancelotti ready to believe in him

The Milan’s transfer market mainly concerns the situation of Pato. It is now clear that the Brazilian is the turning point in the transfer market of Milan team, which market in the summer transfer will be required to get stronger. To sell ??means cashing Pato, and therefore to have the means to mobilize the availability of some new attacking edge. Milan already had a deal that it didn’t go aheat in January, leaving a bitter taste for the purchase of Tevez missed. Then it was directly the President Silvio Berlusconi to block the deal, giving confidence to the young player. Now, at the end of the championship, we talk again about a possible sale of the Duck.

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50 things that you didn’t know about Pato

#1: In 2008, Pato told his cousin, who was driving the car, to speed up because he had to take the driver’s license test in Novara. Half an hour later they were heading towards Bologna. His cousin had taken the wrong turn on the freeway so Pato had to wait another month to get his driver’s license.

#2: Now Pato has a driver from Bari who drives him to training at Milanello.

When Pato was 10 he broke his arm after he fell off the couch. When doing the X-ray, the doctors found a rare disease which could potentially turn into to a malicious tumor. An operation was needed immediately, but Pato’s family didn’t have the money to pay for it. Luckily, one of their friends was a doctor, and he performed the surgery on Pato for free. His arm, and maybe his life too, was saved.

#4: Pato is the youngest goalscorer in a FIFA competition. He scored the first goal when he was 17 years and 102 days old. Pelé held the record before him.

#5: Pato’s first friend in Italy was Cafu’s son. Pato played on the pitch with Cafu and in the backyard at home with Cafu’s son.

#6: When Pato was a kid, he always played with Italy/Juventus on the Playstation, because of Del Piero. Del Piero was his favorite player.

#7: Pato once bought a book about Obama because he was fascinated by him, due to other Milan-players constantly speaking about him Pato fell asleep 10 minutes after opening the book about Obama.

#8: Pato likes to listen to Usher, Rihanna, Jovanotti, Eminem, Tiziano Ferro and Eros Ramazotti. But Pato’s favorite song is “Sweet Dreams” by Beyoncé.

#9: Pato’s first closet in the changing room was right next to Maldini. Pato copied everything he did Pato even copied Maldini’s way of tying his boots. Pato managed to dribble past Maldini in his first training session with Milan.

#10: There’s a restaurant in Yokohama, where all the walls are completely plastered with photos of Pato.

#11: The first thing Pato ate in Italy was a sandwich at a service station on a freeway.

#12: His first lunch at Milanello consisted of pasta with tomatoes, pasta with pesto and pasta with zucchini. Ancelotti then approached Pato, looked him deep into his eyes and talked with him for 2 hours about Italian food.

#13: Pato eats Spaghetti Carbonara four times a week. Needless to say that it’s his favorite dish.

#14: Pato is crazy about ice cream. He eats it twice before every training session and match.

#15: Pato has grown 8 centimetres and gained 8 kilos in weight since moving to Italy.

#16: Pato married Stephany Brito at the Copacabana Palace in Rio de Janeiro. Every guest had his/her own hotel room (worth €600) and their own private car and driver.

#17: Pato is friends with Mario Balotelli. They often call each other and also send each other text messages.

#18: During Pato’s first 2 days in Italy, he went to Verona and he spent a lot of time watching the famous balcony of Romeo and Juliet. Pato was completely mesmerized by it.

#19: Before he went to La Scala with Barbara Berlusconi, he bought books about the opera, because he knew nothing beforehand.

#20: Pato’s dream is to buy an island.

#21: Pato’s ideal goal: A cross which he stops with his back facing the goal, and then he puts it into the top corner with a bicycle kick. Pato once told it to a journalist, who then published a drawing of it in the newspaper the next day. Pato didn’t like that and said: “You don’t sell or publish private dreams in the newspaper”.

#22: When Pato got his first salary, he immediately bought a new house and a new car for his parents.

#23: Pato has an obsession with punctuality.

#24: Pato doesn’t have any tattoos.

#25: Pato has a passion for bowling. He has a good aim, but his power is weak.

#26: Pato is obsessed with his iPad, but he doesn’t use any social networks (so all the Pato-accounts on Twitter are fake).

#27: When Milan travel on away games, Pato always sits on the left side of the plane, right next to a window Pato then puts on his headphones and watches a dvd on his laptop.

#28: Pato loves action movies – especially movies with Bruce Willis or Will Smith.

#29: Pato is a horrible dancer, and his teammates make fun of him because of it. They say that he’s the only Brazilian without any rhythm.

#30: Pato once said that “Fabiano Santacroce is the best defender that I’ve ever faced in Italy”.

#31: After winning the Scudetto last year, Pato said: “This is the best day of my life”.

#32: After scoring against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu, Pato said: “This is the best day of my life”.

#33: After scoring against FC Barcelona at the Camp Nou, Pato said: “This is the best day of my life”.

#34: Pato is very absent-mínded. He once forgot his passport at home when Milan was playing an away match in the Champions League.

#35: Pato has a bike and he likes to ride it on the sidewalks of Via Vincenzo Monti, which is close to where he lives.

#36: Pato really likes children, especially his teammates’ children. and Pato has special connection with one of Antonini’s daughters. She often makes drawings for him.

#37: Pato didn’t even know that Formula 1 existed before he came to Italy. He started liking it after he saw the Monza GP live. Before that Pato hadn’t even seen a GP, not even on tv.

#38: Pato bought a Ferrari in lucid black, but 6 months later he had the color changed to opaque black. Pato had the color changed because it’s the same color as the Ferrari that an American style icon has (the name wasn’t revealed).

#39: Pato once got a fine when he was driving on the freeway, because the windows of his car were too dark.

#40: After Pato’s first training with Milan, Ancelotti said: “This kid is fantastic. He will win the Ballon d’Or one day”.

#41: After playing with Kakà, Pato said: “It’s a dream come true to play with him”.

#42: After playing with Ronaldo, Pato said: “It’s a dream come true to play with him”.

#43: After playing with Ronaldinho, Pato said: “It’s a dream come true to play with him”.

#44: Gianni Di Marzio spotted Pato when he was only 15 years old. Back then, Gianni Di Marzio was working for Juventus.

#45: Despite scoring 2 goals vs. Viktoria Plzen, Pato didn’t say a word to anyone on the way back to Milano. Reason? Because Allegri had a furious outburst after the match, where he criticized Pato for all the mistakes that he had made.

#46: Pato is considered to be the most fashion-aware amongst the Brazilian players at Milan. It’s because of the particular way that Pato chooses what to wear.

#47: Pato got his first real injury in his career vs. Fiorentina in 2008. Even though it was just a sprained ankle Pato kept on crying afterwards in the changing room. All his teammates tried to cheer him up, but he was completely inconsolable.

#48: After Beckham’s first training with Milan in Dubai, Pato said: “I’ve never seen anyone like him before”.

#49: Pato decided not to join PSG and stay at Milan, while he was at Milanello getting ready to clear out his closet. Pato then called Galliani immediately.

#50: Pato often gets teased because of his rich and unruly hair. Once, Gattuso said to Pato when he arrived at Milanello: “Did you comb your hair whilst standing in a wind tunnel?”

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Corinthians chasing AC Milan striker Pato

Rio de Janeiro, April 25 (IANS) Brazilian soccer club Corinthians has revealed its interest in signing AC Milan striker Alexandre Pato.

Pato has endured an injury-plagued season with the Serie A club, managing just 18 appearances this season.

His left thigh strain suffered earlier this month was the Brazil international’s 14th muscle-related injury since January 2010, reports Xinhua.

But Corinthians director of football Duilio Alves said the club was willing to sign the 22-year-old.

“I have followed his situation closely. He is a great player and our doors are open for him to come here and recover,” Alves told Lancenet.

Corinthians are on the lookout for another striker after the departure of Adriano last month. The ex-Inter Milan and Roma forward was released by the Sao Paulo club following reports of disciplinary problems and a lack of commitment from the former Brazil star.

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A Brasilian physio working with Pato

The physiotherapist for the Brazilian U20 team is in Milano. He is currently helping Pato out during his personal work-out at Milanello.

Source: Milanello/Twitter

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Barbara Berlusoni for Vanity Fair Magazine [Photos]

These photos of Pato’s girlfriend are taken in August 2011

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