page_title: Alex (footballer, born 1982)
section_title: PSV (loan)
hierarchical_section_title: Alex (footballer, born 1982) / Club career / PSV (loan)
caption_attribution_description: Alex Rodrigo Dias da Costa
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: Alex was signed by English Premier League club Chelsea in 2004 on the recommendation of famed PSV and Chelsea scout Piet de Visser, but because of potential problems in attaining a work permit, he was loaned out to Dutch Eredivisie club PSV.
  The joint contract of Chelsea and PSV loaned Alex to the latter, with Chelsea having a €1 million buy-out clause. Alex eventually played three years at PSV, donning the number 4 jersey for the Eindhoven club. While playing for PSV, he earned himself the nickname "The Tank" due to his cannonball-like free kicks and his strong physical stature.
  He formally joined PSV in the 2004–05 season, helping the club win a domestic double of both the Eredivisie championship and Dutch Cup that year. In the Champions League, Alex played a key role in the PSV team that was eliminated in the semi-finals against Milan on away goals (PSV won their home game 3–1 but had previously lost 0–2 at the San Siro). The team eliminated AS Monaco and Olympique Lyonnais on their way to the semi-finals.
  Alex won a second straight Dutch league championship in the 2005–06 season with PSV. Chelsea did not recall Alex, even though Piet de Visser and Chelsea Head of Scouting Frank Arnesen recommended that Alex be brought over to solve the club's defensive problems. Instead, Chelsea manager José Mourinho insisted on the signing of Khalid Boulahrouz in place of Alex. Therefore, Alex stayed a third season at PSV on loan in 2006–07. He won a third straight Eredivisie title with PSV, after a dramatic final-day finish to the season in which PSV sensationally trumped both AFC Ajax and AZ. Alex scored in a UEFA Champions League first knockout round against Arsenal for both teams in the second half, turning in an own goal past his own goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes, but compensating for it with a storming headed goal with eight minutes left to play to redeem himself and in the process ensure PSV a place in the quarter-finals. He was later injured, however, and played no part in PSV's UEFA Champions League quarter-final against Liverpool, which PSV lost 4–0 on aggregate.
caption: Alex with Phillip Cocu (behind) at PSV.
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