Juliano Belletti

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Juliano Belletti : biography

20 June 1976 –

Juliano Haus Belletti (born 20 June 1976) is a retired Brazilian footballer who mostly played as a right-back. He was awarded the Silver Ball by Placar for his consistently great performances for Atlético Mineiro during the 1999 Brazilian Série A.

Club career

Born in Cascavel, Belletti started his career playing as a central midfielder in Brazil for the youth team of Cruzeiro in 1992. His professional debut happened in November 1994. In March 1996, he was involved in a deal that sent him and Serginho to São Paulo FC in exchange for five players: Aílton, Donizete, Gilmar, Palhinha and Vitor. Playing for São Paulo, he eventually became a right-back.

In 1999, he was loaned to Atlético Mineiro. Playing as an attacking-midfielder, Belletti helped the club to finish second in the Brazilian League and managed to win a Silver Ball, award handed by Placar Magazine to the players nominated to the Brazilian League Squad of The Year (except for the best one, who takes a Golden Ball).

After returning to São Paulo, he became a regular in the Brazilian national team by playing in the right-back once again. Rumours linked him with a move to Spanish La Liga side Valencia CF in 2001, but the move fell apart at the last minute. In 2002, he finally moved to Europe with Villarreal CF. In 2004, after a successful spell at Villarreal, he signed for FC Barcelona where he became the first-choice right back and a key set-piece taker in the squad.

Barcelona

After winning the Spanish La Liga title in his first season, Belletti gradually fell out of favor both in Barcelona and in the national team. From being a regular in the 2004–05 season, he faced tough competition from the Catalan Oleguer Presas and spent his second season in-and-out of the first team.

Belletti’s first and only goal with Barcelona was the winner in the 2006 UEFA Champions League Final. On 17 May 2006 at the Stade de France in Paris, Barcelona played English club Arsenal in the 2006 UEFA Champions League Final. Oleguer was preferred to start rather than Belletti, and he had to make do with a place on the substitute bench. But when manager Frank Rijkaard brought him on for Oleguer, he scored the second goal in a 2–1 come-from-behind win which gave them the 2006 Champions League crown.

His third season was marked by injuries, and competition from new rival Gianluca Zambrotta proved too much for him. He played very little in Barcelona’s season that ended without silverware.

Chelsea

On 23 August 2007, Chelsea officially announced that Belletti had signed a three-year contract after the player agreed personal terms and passed a medical. He made his Premier League debut for Chelsea on 25 August when he came on as a substitute for John Obi Mikel in the 64th minute of their home game against Portsmouth, the game ending 4–0 to Chelsea.

He made his first start for Chelsea against Aston Villa at Villa Park. Despite a strong debut, Chelsea lost the game 2–0. Following the departure of José Mourinho, Belletti became a regular starter in the right-back position for Premier League, Champions League, and League Cup games, facing competition from Paulo Ferreira and Michael Essien for his place in the team. In his first season at Chelsea, Belletti scored two goals, both shots from long-range, the first away at Wigan Athletic in November 2007 and the second at Stamford Bridge against Tottenham Hotspur in January 2008. The latter was eventually voted by Chelsea supporters as "Chelsea Goal of the Season" in 2007–08. On 21 May 2008, in the UEFA Champions League final against Manchester United held at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Belletti came on for Claude Makalele who had been booked on 120 minutes just before penalties. During the penalty shootout, Belletti scored Chelsea’s second spot kick with his first touch in the game, but captain John Terry missed when he slipped on his backside and although his shot sent Edwin Van der Sar the wrong way it ended up hitting the outside of the post and therefore Manchester United went on to win the trophy.