Full name: Alexis Alejandro Sánchez Sánchez
Date of birth: December 19, 1988 (age 22)
Place of birth: Tocopilla, Chile
Height: 1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Playing position: Striker
Alexis Alejandro Sánchez Sánchez (born 19 December 1988 in Tocopilla, Antofagasta Region) is a Chilean footballer, he is commonly used as a striker, but can also operate as an attacking midfielder or a right winger.
Known for his pace and technical ability, Sánchez is nicknamed El Niño Maravilla. He was named by World Football as one of the 50 most exciting teenagers in the world game in 2007.
So far, he has represented Chile during the 2007 U-20 World Cup and 2010 FIFA World Cup.
Early career
Alexis Sánchez joined Cobreloa in 2004 and eventually made his first-team debut one year later at the age of 16 on 12 February 2005 in a 5–4 win against Deportes Temuco. In his second professional game, he set a Copa Libertadores record by becoming the youngest player to debut in the South American Club Championship. In the next season, Sánchez concentrated on his goal scoring for the Torneo Apertura 2006, netting six goals in 12 appearances. On 21 July, Cobreloa sold Sánchez to the Italian side Udinese for $3 million.
In July 2006, he was loaned to one of Chile's biggest teams, Colo-Colo on a season-long deal. His loan was due to a maturation project that Udinese implemented with youth players. After a notable season in the Cacique, and winning two league titles, it was assumed that Sánchez would return to Italy. He was loaned out again, however, this time to Argentina's River Plate.
Udinese
After a successful season in Argentina, in July 2008, Sánchez left South America to officially join Udinese, where he would suit up with Chilean compatriot Mauricio Isla. Sánchez made his non-competitive debut in a 3–0 win over Bassano and was named the man of match. On 14 September, he played his first game in Serie A in a 1–0 loss with Juventus and four days later, he made his Europe debut against Borussia Dortmund. On 19 October 2008, Sánchez scored his first league goal against Lecce. After this first goal, Sánchez got into a minor slump, in which he took much criticism. He kicked the ball in the goal with his foot and smiled when he did it. The criticism ended after scoring the winning goal in the 90th minute against Bologna in a 1–0 win, being named the man of match.
In the following season, Sánchez played an important role for Udinese at Coppa Italia 2009–10, being a key player in the team that eliminated AC Milan, assisting Gökhan Inler for the winning goal. In the semi-final second leg, Sánchez was the man of match after playing a successful game against Roma, including scoring his first Coppa Italia goal in the 81st minute. It was not enough, however, as the aggregate score was 2–1 in favor of Roma. By the end of this year, Sánchez scored a total of five goals (four at the end of tournament) in 32 appearances.
2010–11 season
After his regular participation in the FIFA World Cup 2010, Sánchez received an offer from Turkish club Galatasaray for a fee of €20 million, but shortly after, the club's owner, Giampaolo Pozzo, said that he will not be sold, because "he had yet to reach full potential at Udinese."
During the season, Sánchez has thrived within the club, with many standout games in the league. His performances for Udinese have drawn comparisons to the Portuguese star winger Cristiano Ronaldo. He scored his first goal in the season in a 2–0 win over Bari. After many games without a goal, he again scored in a 3–2 loss against Lazio. After his goal against Lazio, he was on a streak and clubs including Manchester City, Liverpool, Manchester United, and Internazionale have made their interest known, but club owner Pozzo declared Sánchez untransferable until July 2011.
At the end of January, he scored the winning goal against Juventus, after a beautiful play with the Colombian defender Cristián Zapata. On 27 February 2011, Sánchez scored four goals for Udinese in a 7–0 rout of Palermo in the 27th week of the Serie A. Sánchez and Antonio Di Natale have become one the most successful striking partnerships with 35 goals in total, exceeding the Diego Maradona–Careca duo, being only five goals off the Alessandro Del Piero–David Trezeguet duo that completed 41 goals in the 2007–08 Serie A season.
International career
Sánchez made his first appearance for the Chilean national team in a 1–0 win against New Zealand on 27 April 2006. Coming off the bench in the 58th minute, he replaced forward Juan Gonzalo Lorca and thus became the youngest player ever to play on the Chilean national football team, at only 17 years, four months, and eight days. Prior to the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Chile embarked on an exhibition tour to Europe, playing against Ireland, Côte d'Ivoire, and Sweden. Against Sweden, Sánchez played a notable game, impressively deking Mikael Nilsson with a rabona and a bicycle kick. Some media claimed that "Sánchez broke Mikael Nilsson's waist." This play alone attracted the attention of many clubs.
Sánchez represented the Chilean U-20 National Team at the 2007 U-20 World Cup in Canada. Sánchez played four games and scored one goal against the Democratic Republic of Congo in the 49th minute in Chile's 3–0 victory. On 19 July 2007, Sánchez came off the bench in the 76th minute in a 3–0 loss against Argentina in the semi-finals. After the game, Sánchez was one of several players involved in a minor scuffle between the Chilean national U-20 team and the City of Toronto's Police corps. Chile eventually finished the tournament in third place, after a 1–0 win against Austria in the third place final.
He scored his first international goal against Switzerland on 7 September 2007, under the tutelage of Argentine coach Marcelo Bielsa. He missed the first four games of the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification, because of an injury caused by Argentinian defender Juan Carlos Blengio, that left Sánchez sidelined for two months. He fully recovered from his injury, however, and made his debut in the 2010 World Cup Qualification campaign against Bolivia on 15 June 2008.
During the 2009 qualifying rounds, Sánchez played a notable game against Bolivia, scoring two goals for his team. His final tally was three goals in 12 games in the South American WCQ as Chile placed second in CONMEBOL and thus qualified for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
In the FIFA World Cup 2010, Sánchez played the opening game of Group H against Honduras in Chile's 1–0 victory. In the next game of the group, Sánchez scored a goal against Switzerland, but the goal was disallowed, because a Chilean player was offside. In the end, however, Chile won 1–0. On 25 June 2010, Sánchez played in Chile's 2–1 loss against Spain; in this game, Sánchez assisted Rodrigo Millar's goal in the 47th minute. Chile qualified for the Round of 16 against Brazil, but Chile was subsequently eliminated in a 3–0 loss to the five-time world champions.
Style of play
Sánchez's style of play has been compared to Cristiano Ronaldo, both obtaining exceptional dribbling ability, sublime ball control, quick pace, and pinpoint crossing. Also like Ronaldo, Sánchez often plays as a winger or striker.
With such revered technical abilities, Sánchez has been declared by Udinese as "untransferable" for the moment. Current clubs who reportedly are interested in Sánchez include FC Barcelona, Chelsea, Galatasaray, Internazionale, Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester City, and Juventus.
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