page_title: Alex (footballer, born 1982)
section_title: Paris Saint-Germain
hierarchical_section_title: Alex (footballer, born 1982) / Club career / Paris Saint-Germain
caption_attribution_description: English: Alex Rodrigo Dias da Costa (PSG)
context_page_description: Alex Rodrigo Dias da Costa, better known as Alex, is a retired Brazilian footballer who played as a central defender. He was known for his physical strength and the power of his shot, which has gained him the nicknames of "The Tank" and Canhão da Vila.
  Having been bought by the Premier League club Chelsea in 2004, he was loaned to Dutch team PSV and he won 3 Eredivisie titles with them. Alex finally joined the Chelsea squad in the summer of 2007 after three years in the Netherlands. In his time at Chelsea, he won the FA Cup in 2009 and a league and FA Cup "double" in 2010, as well as reaching the 2008 UEFA Champions League Final. He joined Paris Saint-Germain for £4.2 million in January 2012 and won Ligue 1 twice with the club, moving to Milan on the expiration of his contract in 2014 and retiring two years later.
  Alex earned 17 caps for Brazil between 2003 and 2008, winning the 2007 Copa América and finishing as runner-up at the 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
context_section_description: On 27 January 2012, Alex joined Paris Saint-Germain for £4.2 million to reunite with his former manager Carlo Ancelotti. On his move, he publicly stated that the reason for it was that Chelsea manager André Villas-Boas had not given him enough playing time at the club. He was given the number 13 shirt, free since the departure of Sammy Traoré.
  On 12 February 2012, Alex made his debut for PSG in a 0–0 draw against Nice, where he made his first start before coming off for Christophe Jallet at half-time. The following week, on 19 February 2012, Alex scored a 30-yard goal from a lay-off free kick, his first goal for PSG, against Montpellier on a free-kick combination with compatriot Nenê, which the result was 2–2. On 8 April 2012, Alex scored the winning goal in the 61st minute in a 2–1 win over Olympique de Marseille. On 6 November 2012, in a Champions League match against Dinamo Zagreb, Alex scored the first goal of the match, a half-volley that evaded the reach of Dinamo goalkeeper Ivan Kelava after 16 minutes.
  On 3 August 2013, Alex scored the game-winning goal with the last kick of the game in PSG's 2–1 defeat of Bordeaux in the Trophée des Champions at the Stade d'Angondjé in Libreville, Gabon.
caption: Alex warming up with Paris Saint-Germain
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "", "Image Make": "SONY", "Image Model": "DSC-HX9V", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "QuickTime 7.6.6", "Image DateTime": "2012:08:05 20:29:30", "Image HostComputer": "Mac OS X 10.5.8", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "300", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "13296", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "4035", "Thumbnail YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/125", "EXIF FNumber": "59/10", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "800", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2012:08:04 20:31:41", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2012:08:04 20:31:41", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "2", "EXIF BrightnessValue": "2041/640", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "55/16", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash fired, auto mode, return light not detected", "EXIF FocalLength": "1712/25", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "4608", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "3456", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal"}