Fábio (footballer, born 1990)

Fábio (footballer, born 1990)

Fábio Pereira da Silva (born 9 July 1990) is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a full-back for French club Nantes. He and his twin brother Rafael began their careers with Fluminense in their native Brazil before being signed by Manchester United in February 2007. He struggled to hold down a place in the Manchester United first team, and after a loan spell with Queens Park Rangers in 2012–13, he made a permanent move to Cardiff City in January 2014. He has played for Brazil twice at senior international level, both appearances coming in 2011.

About Fábio (footballer, born 1990) in brief

Summary Fábio (footballer, born 1990)Fábio Pereira da Silva (born 9 July 1990) is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a full-back for French club Nantes. He and his twin brother Rafael began their careers with Fluminense in their native Brazil before being signed by English club Manchester United in February 2007. He struggled to hold down a place in the Manchester United first team, and after a loan spell with Queens Park Rangers in 2012–13, he made a permanent move to Cardiff City in January 2014. He has played for Brazil twice at senior international level, both appearances coming in 2011, the same year he played for Man United in the UEFA Champions League Final against Barcelona. He is the brother of Brazilian international footballer and international team-mate Rafael da Silva. He was born in Petrópolis, approximately one hour’s drive from Rio de Janeiro in Rio de Rio state, and began playing football from age five. He moved to Manchester in January 2008 without ever having played for the FluminENSE first team. He made his first appearance for Manchester United on 4 August 2008, coming on as a half-time substitute for Patrice Evra in a 2–0 friendly win away to Peterborough United.

He started in the Champions League debut against CSKA Moscow on 21 October, but came off with an injury shortly before the end of the match. On 1 April 2010, he signed a contract extension with Manchester United until at least June 2014, transferring the card of his brother Rafael to the club. He also played in eight matches for the club’s reserve team, scoring five goals – including a hat-trick against Rochdale in the Lancashire Senior Cup on 16 March 2009 – and was named on the bench for United’s second Premier League match of the season against Portsmouth on 25 August 2008. He finally made his debut on 24 January 2009, in the 2–1 FA Cup Fourth Round win over Tottenham Hotspur, but he incurred an injury to his calf shortly into the second half and had to be replaced by fellow debutant Richard Eckersley. On 27 October, FáBio was booked for a foul on Barnsley’s Michael Kightly. The Football Association agreed it was a case of mistaken identity, and the case was settled out of court.