Profile Edinson Cavani

Personal information

Full name : Edinson Roberto Cavani Gómez

Date of birth : February 14, 1987

Place of birth : Salto, Uruguay

Height : 1.84 m (6 ft 1⁄2 in)

Playing position : Striker

Current club : Napoli

Number : 7

Youth career :

2000–2006 Danubio

Senior career :

2006–2007 Danubio

2007– Palermo

2010– → Napoli (loan)

National team :

2006–2007 Uruguay U-20 14 (10)

2008– Uruguay

Club career

Danubio

Cavani moved to Montevideo when he was 12 years old, and came through the youth system at Danubio F.C. to make his debut for the first team in 2006. He was part of the Apertura 2006 championship winning squad, scoring nine goals in his debut season.

Palermo

After his breakthrough at the 2007 South American Youth Championship, several teams were suggested to have interest in signing Cavani, including Juventus and AC Milan. However, on January 29, 2007, Palermo chairman Maurizio Zamparini announced the signing of the promising Uruguayan footballer . The bid was officially confirmed on January 31.

Cavani made his debut on March 11, 2007 in a home league match against Fiorentina, coming on in the 55th minute with his team 0–1 down and scoring an impressive equaliser only fifteen minutes later, a goal hailed as reminiscent of Marco van Basten's strike in the 1988 UEFA European Football Championship final. In his second season with the rosanero, Cavani found himself fighting for a first team place with Fabrizio Miccoli and Amauri.

After Amauri's departure to Juventus in June 2008, Cavani took his place in the starting lineup, forming a striking partnership with Fabrizio Miccoli and scoring a total 14 goals in the 2008–09 season. He was confirmed also for the 2009–10 season under new boss Walter Zenga, and still played regularly also under successor Delio Rossi, being instrumental in the team's successful run in the Serie A which led Palermo to European qualification, and potential qualification to the UEFA Champions League with two games remaining. On April 2010, he penned a new contract with Palermo valid until June 2014.

Napoli

In July 2010 Cavani signed a contract for Palermo's Serie A rivals Napoli, in a loan bid. Cavani scored twice in his first start, as Napoli beat Elfsborg in the Europa League as Napoli won 2-0 and qualified to the main tournament. He then started off his Napoli Serie A career in spectacular fashion, scoring a controversial goal on Fiorentina after just seven minutes, with replays showing the ball hardly crossing the line. Cavani also scored on his home debut against Bari, before adding a late winner against Sampdoria, which rendered he had scored in his first four competitive matches with Napoli. On the 26 September 2010, Cavani came in as a late replacement with 30 minutes left in a game against Cesena which Napoli were losing 1-0. After assisting the equalizing goal, he went on to scoring two more. The final score was 4-1. That meant Cavani shared the lead in the scoring charts of the entire series with Samuel Eto'o. On 15 December 2010, Cavani netted a 90+2 minute goal against FC Steaua Bucureşti to help his team to a 1-0 win and enable it to progress beyond the group stage of the UEFA Europa League. On first match in Romania, he scored a equalizer goal in minute 90+7.

International career

In January 2007, Cavani was selected to join the Uruguay national football team Under-20 squad to play in the 2007 South American Youth Championship in Paraguay. Cavani finished the tournament as top scorer with seven goals in nine games, helping Uruguay to finish in 3rd place, earning them a place in the World Youth Championship.

On February 6, 2008, Cavani made his first senior appearance for the Uruguay national team, and immediately scored a goal in his debut with the Celeste, a 2–2 tie with Colombia. On 11 July 2010, he scored against Germany in the 3rd place match in the 2010 FIFA World Cup making the game 1-1, Germany went on to win 2-3. On July 27, 2010 he played in a friendly match against Angola in Lisboa. He scored a late goal in the match in a 2-0 win for Uruguay. On October 8, 2010 he scored his first career hat-trick in a friendly match against Indonesia.