Alex Meschini
Alex Raphael Meschini (born 25 March 1982 in Cornélio Procópio) is a Brazilian footballer who plays as a midfielder. Early career. Meschini was born on 25 March 1982 in the town of Cornélio Procópio. His family are Italian descents when his grandmother on his father side came to Brazil. By the time he was one year old, his family had relocated to Itambé, and relocated again to Santa Amélia when he was seven. He has two brothers, who work in banking and agronomy respectively. At Santa Amélia, Meschini spent much of his childhood playing football; he played for  Atlético Pirassunungense at age nine. His family once again relocated to Campinas, São Paulo. When he was sixteen, he signed for Primavera (where he was signed by his cousin). Meschini went on a trial to his future club Corinthians, only to be rejected. He was determined not to give up his football career. Football career. Guarani. Meschini joined Guarani in 2001 and played his first match in a youth match against Capivari. Upon joining Guarani, he recalled "We did not have enough to eat and ended up at a club partner of Guarani in disrepair." In 2003, he made his  debut in the first team match against União Barbarense. At Guarani, he quickly became a team regular, spent two seasons at 54 games and scored 7 goals. He also played left wing and was the main corner taker and as well, free kicks. Internacional. Meschini joined Internacional from Guarani on 11 March 2004 for a fee of 450,000 euro, signing a four-year deal. Shortly after his move, he said, "It is an honour to play at a club with four Brazilian bonds and the largest crowd of the Rio Grande". However, in August, his debut was delayed after suffering  an ankle injury, resulting in being out for three months. Between 2004 and 2005, he was unable to establish himself in the first team. The following season, Meschini was in hospital due to injury, and by the end of the season, the club won the title of Campeonato Gaúcho. In February, he suffered an injury to his right knee, keeping him out for four months. During a match in Libertadores Cup, he suffered an injury on his pubis. While in the first team, he played in the positions of left midfielder and second striker. After recovering from the pubis injury , Meschini returned in a 1–0 win over Esporte Clube Novo Hamburgo on 18 March 2006. After the match, he was voted the man of the match by the club's official website. In the second round of Libertadores, he played as a starter in a 2–1 win over Nacional. Since then, Meschini has established himself as a starter and key player under coach Abel Braga. In the semi-final of Libertadores in the second leg after a 0–0 draw in the first leg, Meschini scored and helped the club, ending a long-awaited place in the final of the Libertadores  against São Paulo. The club won the title 4–3 on aggregate. Because of the club's winning the Copa Libertadores, the club participated in the FIFA Club World Cup. Meschini suffered an injury, but eventually recovered and played an important role in the final as Internacional beat Barcelona 1–0. After the tournament, he was linked with a move to Russian club CSKA Moscow after being recommended by Paulo Paixão, but the move never happened. The next season, Meschini suffered an injury to his muscles of both hips, resulting him out for two months. He recovered from the injury and was  an important member of the team as he led the club winning the Recopa Sudamericana after beating Pachuca 5–2 on aggregate, which he scored on the penalty in the second leg. In the summer transfer of 2007, he was linked with an 8 million move to German side Wolfsburg, but it never happened. Among those interested was Barcelona, but they signed someone instead. Once again in December, Meschini suffered a pubis injury caused by an inguinal hernia. In his final season, he chose the number 10 shirt. Manager Braga began to put Meschini at the center of the field. In  the Copa Sudamericana, he become a top scorer with 13 goals, along with Nilmar, and was voted the best player in the tournament. In the final of Copa Sudamericana Finals against Estudiantes, Meschini scored in the penalty, giving the only goal in the game in the first-leg. In the second-leg, the club won the Copa Sudamericana again after a 1–1 draw. On 6 July 2008, Meschini scored a hat-trick in a 3–0 win over Coritiba. In the summer transfer of 2008, he was in the transfer spotlight when he was linked with a move to Spartak Moscow  worth 14 million. However, the potential buyers has not been reached. FC Spartak Moscow. He joined Spartak Moscow in February 2009 for worth 5 million and keeping him there, until 2013. After leaving Brazil for Russia, Meschini explained his departure, stating the time had come for him to play in Europe and against his wishes to stay for the rest of his career at Internacional. On 2 March 2009, he was presented by the club and was given the number 12 shirt. Meschini made his debut for the club, where he made his first start and played 90 minutes, in  a 1–1 draw against Zenit Saint Petersburg on the opening game of the season. Two weeks after the opening game of the season, he scored his first goal in a 2–0 win over Spartak Nalchik when he scored in a free-kick. On 23 May 2009, he scored a brace in a 5–1 win over Amkar Perm. In his first season, he had an optimal season, with the club second place, missing out to become first place behind Rubin Kazan, who won the title for the second time, as Meschini made 29 appearances, scoring 12 goals and providing 9 assists . In a match against Amkar Perm, Meschini was given a captaincy and made a double assist in a 2–1 win. The following season, Meschini did not make a bright start, as in the previous last season. In a match against Spartak Nalchik on 25 April 2010, he received a second bookable offence in a 0–0 draw. Due to lack of his performance earlier in the season, Manager Valery Karpin spoke out about Meschini, claiming he had a problem with psychology. On 21 July 2010, Meschini made a fourth assist in a 5–3 win over Sibir Novosibirsk. With the departure of  Martin Jiránek to Birmingham City in August, Meschini was named the new captain of Spartak after just one and a half seasons with the club. During a match against Alania Vladikavkaz on 15 October 2010, he scored in a penalty spot but suffered an injury on the muscles of his right thigh. By 7 November, he made his return in a 1–1 draw against Rubin Kazan (which turned out to be the last league appearance of the season). In the Champions League campaign, he made his debut in a 1–0 win over Marseille on the opening game of the Group  Stage. In the first game against MŠK Žilina, he set up a goal for Ari in a 3–0 win. In the second game, he scored and set up a goal for Ibson in a 2–1 win in the final game of the Group Stage, resulting in the club going to the Europa League. At the end of the season, Meschini had made 27 games and scored 5 goals. The following season, Meschini made a few appearance until his move back to Brazil. He played his first match in the Europa League where he made a double assist in a 3–2  win over Basel in the first leg. The club advanced to the next round after a 1–1 draw in the second leg. Against Ajax, he scored twice in each leg and the club won both games against Ajax before losing to Porto in both leg 10–3 on aggregate. In the semi-final of the Russian Cup, he made his last appearance in a 5–4 loss against CSKA Moscow. In April 2011, he announced his intention to leave Spartak Moscow. This was later explained as his wife was seven months pregnant and feared a miscarriage. However, his son was born prematurely  and he needed to support his wife. Meschini was also struggling with the freezing weather as another reason he wanted to leave despite being content on the pitch. After leaving the club, he made his final interview and apologised to Spartak's fans. Corinthians. On 13 May 2011, Spartak agreed the transfer of Meschini to Corinthians for 6 million and signed until 2014. Four days later, on 17 May, he was presented by the club in São Paulo. One month since joining Corinthians on 30 June 2011, he made his debut in a 1–0 win over Bahia. 38 days later , he scored his first goal in a 1–1 draw against Atlético Paranaense. After scoring his first goal, he scored three more in three games. During a match against Santos on 18 September in a 3–1 loss, Meschini collapsed on the field and was immediately taken to Hospital São Luiz. Despite serious concerns, he was released after no injuries were found by a CT scan. At the end of the season, the club won their first league title in six years and also won the Copa Libertadores Finals. In the final, Meschini played in attacking midfield in both legs. For Corinthians , Ahelex played 56 games and scored nine goals. Al-Gharafa. For €6M, on 17 July 2012, Meschini left Corinthians and was transferred to Qatari side Al-Gharafa, where he joined his Brazilian compatriots Diego Tardelli and Afonso Alves. Two months after signing for the club, Meschini made his debut in a 2–0 loss against Al-Wakrah. On 21 October 2012, he scored his first goal in a 2–0 win over El Jaish. In January 2013, Nenê was recruited by Al-Gharafa from Paris Saint-Germain, meaning that Meschini had to leave the club as the foreign players' quota  was reached, as announced on the Qatar Stars League official website. However, the departure of Diego Tardelli a week later led to the reinstatement of Meschini, who would continue with Al-Gharafa until the end of the season. Return to Internacional. On 20 July 2013, just one day after joining Al-Gharafa the previous year, Meschini made a return to Internacional for worth €3 million and signed a deal with them, until 2015. International career. On 12 October 2008, Meschini replaced Kaká in 70th minute in the match against Venezuela to make his international debut. Personal life. Meschini is  married to Anna Paula, and has two sons: Lucas (born in 2006), and another (born in 2011).