Introducing the Portuguese Football Visionary — Deco

Let’s welcome the newest member of the Lympo Athletes Pool — Anderson Luís de Souza, better known as Deco

The now-retired Portuguese footballer is regarded as one of the best players of his generation. He has received several awards and honors during his professional career, including the Ballon D’or Silver Ball in 2004 and the UEFA Club Footballer of the Year award for the 2003–2004 season. Now, he’s joining the Lympo Athlete family and looking for new frontiers to conquer in the metaverse.

Lympo is entering an exclusive 2-year partnership with Deco. We’re honored to have this opportunity to celebrate Deco’s admirable career with a collection of Lympo-exclusive Deco NFTs.

Deco’s Career

Anderson’s career started off in his home place São Bernardo do Campo, Brazil where he played for Corinthians in the Copa São Paulo de Futebol Júnior. In 1997, he signed on to play for the CSA but in June 1997, Benfica purchased his rights from CSA. Deco was immediately sent on loan to their farm team, Alverca, where he helped the team win promotion to the top tier.

In 1998, Anderson left Benfica to play for Salgueiros. He only made a few appearances for the team due to his injuries and in March 1999, Deco was purchased by Porto in time to win the league title. And in his first season, Anderson scored a goal after just 30.08 seconds in a win against Molde.

During his time with Porto, Deco was given the role of a leader. He was one of the main players in Porto’s UEFA Cup final win, and during the 2003–2004 season, he helped the team win a national title as well as the 2004 UEFA Champions League title.

For his impeccable performance that season, Deco has received the UEFA Club Footballer of the Year award as well as the award for the best midfielder.

In 2004, after a long time of negotiation between a few top-tier teams, Deco signed a four-year deal with Barcelona the day after the Euro 2004 final. With Deco on their roster, Barcelona won their 17th La Liga title and the second UEFA Champions League trophy.

For his achievements with Barcelona, Deco was named Barcelona’s player of the 2005–2006 season, awarded the Golden Ball at the FIFA Club World Cup, and the Man of the Match award.

He has also won his second UEFA Best Midfielder Award, becoming a member of the exclusive group of players that have won the same award more than once with different teams.

In 2008, Chelsea signed Anderson from Barcelona for a three-year contract. During his Premier League and Chelsea debut, Deco scored a 30-yard goal in a victory over Portsmouth. He followed up by scoring a curling free-kick in his second game for Chelsea. For these performances, he was named the Premier League Player of the Month in August. During his time with Chelsea, Anderson won his first Premier League title and made his 100th UEFA Champions League appearance, making him one of only 13 players to have achieved as many appearances.

In 2010, Deco moved on to play for a Brazilian club Fluminense where he played for three years until his retirement in 2013. At Fluminense, he won two Brazilian Championships.

Although Deco has never been called up to play for Brazil, he was one of the highlights of the Portugal national team. After having been living in Portugal for 6 years, he was able to get Portuguese citizenship and play for their national team.

He made his first international debut coincidentally against Brazil, where he scored a free-kick which allowed Portugal to secure a first win over Brazil since the 1966 FIFA World Cup. After that, he became a regular on the team until his retirement from the National Team in 2010.

During his professional career, Deco was known for being a versatile, tactical, and intelligent footballer with exemplary field vision and technical abilities.

He had good stamina and impeccable ball control and dribbling skills, which made him one of the best players of his generation. After a prominent career, he opened D20 Sports — a sports agency that specializes in managing professional football careers.

Career

• 1995–1996 — Nacional (SP)
• 1996–1997 — Corinthians
• 1997 — CSA
• 1997–1998 — Benfica
• 1997–1998 — Alverca (loan)
• 1998–1999 — Salgueiros
• 1999–2004 — Porto
• 2004–2008 — Barcelona
• 2008–2010 — Chelsea
• 2010–2013 — Fluminense
• 2003–2010 — Portuguese National Team

Honors

• Primeira Divisão/Liga: 1998–99, 2002–03, 2003–04
• Taça de Portugal: 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2002–03
• Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira: 2001, 2003
• UEFA Champions League: 2003–04
• UEFA Cup: 2002–03
• La Liga: 2004–05, 2005–06
• Supercopa de España: 2005, 2006
• UEFA Champions League: 2005–06
• Premier League: 2009–10
• FA Cup: 2008–09, 2009–10
• FA Community Shield: 2009
• Campeonato Brasileiro Série A: 2010, 2012
• Campeonato Carioca: 2012
• Ballon D’or Silver Ball: 2004
• UEFA Club Footballer of the Year: 2003–04
• UEFA Club Midfielder of the Year: 2003–04, 2005–06
• 2004 UEFA Champions League Final: Man of the Match
• ESM Team of the Year: 2004–05
• FIFA Club World Cup Golden Ball: 2006
• Portuguese League Footballer of the Year: 2003–04
• CNID Best Portuguese Athlete Abroad: 2006
• Premier League Player of the Month: August 2008
• Campeonato Carioca Best Player: 2012
• Campeonato Carioca Best Midfielder: 2012
• Globe Soccer Awards Player Career Award: 2013
• Golden Foot: 2016, as football legend
• Medal of Merit, Order of the Immaculate Conception of Vila Viçosa (House of Braganza)

Lympo NFTs

The Lympo Athlete NFT Pool includes real-life athlete collectible cards of various rarity levels: Common, Uncommon, Rare, Epic, and Legendary. The higher the level, the more valuable that particular card will be. There will also be an auction where you’ll be able to get a one and only GOAT (Greatest Of All Time Card) card.

Users can get these NFT sports cards by staking their SPORT tokens and earning credits.

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