Ânderson Corrêa Polga (born 9 February 1979) is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. He spent most of his professional career with Sporting in Portugal, appearing in 327 official games (four goals) and winning four major titles. He started playing for Grêmio. Polga represented the Brazil national team at the

2002 World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

, winning the competition.

Club career

Groomed at Grêmio Foot-Ball Porto Alegrense, Polga was born in Santiago, Rio Grande do Sul, being an important defensive unit from early on and helping the club to two trophies in 2001: the

Rio Grande do Sul State Championship Rio or Río is the Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Maltese word for "river". When spoken on its own, the word often means Rio de Janeiro, a major city in Brazil. Rio or Río may also refer to: Geography Brazil * Rio de Janeiro * Rio do Sul, a ...

and the Brazilian Cup. He moved to

Sporting Clube de Portugal Sporting Clube de Portugal, founded Sporting Club de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP, often known abroad as Sporting Lisbon , is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Lisbon. It is best known for the professional fo ...

in 2003, becoming the first World Cup champion ever to play in

the country ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

. Polga quickly became a defensive stalwart for the

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

-based side, helping them to the UEFA Cup final in his third year – after a run-in with coach José Peseiro, he was an unused substitute in the decisive game, a 3–1 defeat against PFC CSKA Moscow– as well as to four consecutive

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal, ...

runner-up finishes. Not prone to score, Polga netted his first two goals for the ''Lions'' in the

2007–08 UEFA Champions League The 2007–08 UEFA Champions League was the 16th season of UEFA's premier European club football tournament, the UEFA Champions League, since it was rebranded in 1992, and the 53rd tournament overall. The final was played on 21 May 2008 at the L ...

, in both group stage matches against

FC Dynamo Kyiv Football Club Dynamo Kyiv (, ) is a Ukrainian professional football club based in Kyiv. Founded in 1927 as a Kyivan football team of republican branch of the bigger Soviet Dynamo Sports Society, the club as a separate business entity was offici ...

. He played in 43 games in all competitions during the season and, in 2009–10, as Sporting could only finish fourth, he lost his starting position to

Tonel António Leonel Vilar Nogueira Sousa (; born 13 April 1980), known as Tonel, is a Portuguese former professional footballer who played as a central defender, and a manager. Over ten seasons, he amassed Primeira Liga totals of 224 games and 15 g ...

– who previously had lost his to youth graduate Daniel Carriço – but still managed to appear in 25 official matches (1,983 minutes). He left in June 2012 at the age of 33, and returned to Brazil. On 5 September 2012, Polga signed for

Sport Club Corinthians Paulista Sport Club Corinthians Paulista () is a Brazilian sports club based in the Tatuapé district of São Paulo. Although competing in a number of different sports, Corinthians is mostly known for its professional association football team that plays ...

who had just sold Leandro Castán and loaned Marquinhos, both to A.S. Roma. At the end of the campaign, the club decided against renewing his contract.

International career

Polga made his debut for Brazil in 2002 against

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

, being subsequently summoned for that year's FIFA World Cup. He made two complete group stage appearances for the eventual champions. After 2003, although he displayed good club form in several seasons, Polga was not recalled again.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Brazil's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Polga goal''.

Honours

Grêmio * Campeonato Gaúcho: 1999, 2001 * Copa do Brasil:

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

Sporting * Taça de Portugal: 2006–07, 2007–08; Runner-up 2011–12 * Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira:

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

Taça da Liga The Taça da Liga (), known outside Portugal as Portuguese League Cup, is an annual football club competition organised by the Liga Portuguesa de Futebol Profissional (LPFP) for teams competing in the Primeira Liga and LigaPro, the top two tier ...

: Runner-up 2007–08, 2008–09 * UEFA Cup: Runner-up 2004–05 Corinthians *

FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The competition was first contested in 200 ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

Brazil * FIFA World Cup:

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

Individual *

: Player of the Month May 2007

References

External links

*
PortuGOAL profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Polga, Anderson 1979 births Living people Sportspeople from Rio Grande do Sul Brazilian people of Portuguese descent Brazilian footballers Association football defenders Brazil international footballers FIFA World Cup-winning players 2002 FIFA World Cup players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Grêmio Foot-Ball Porto Alegrense players Sport Club Corinthians Paulista players Primeira Liga players Sporting CP footballers Brazilian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Portugal Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal People from Santiago, Rio Grande do Sul