50 Things you did not know about Alexandre Pato !

Presenting, ’50 things that you did not know about The duck’

1. In 2008, Pato told his cousin, who was driving the car, to speed up because he had to take the driver’s license test in Novara. Half an hour later they were heading towards Bologna. His cousin had taken the wrong turn on the freeway so Pato had to wait another month to get his driver’s license.

2. Now Pato has a driver from Bari who drives him to training at Milanello.

3. When Pato was 10, he broke his arm after he fell off the couch. When doing the X-ray, the doctors found a rare disease which could potentially turn into to a malicious tumor. An operation was needed immediately, but Pato’s family didn’t have the money to pay for it. Luckily, one of their friends was a doctor, and he performed the surgery on Pato for free. His arm and maybe his life too, was saved.

4. Pato is the youngest goalscorer in a FIFA competition. He scored the first goal when he was 17 years and 102 days old. Pelé held the record before him.

5. Pato’s first friend in Italy was Cafu’s son. Pato played on the pitch with Cafu and in the backyard at home with Cafu’s son.

6. When Pato was a kid, he always played with Italy/Juventus on the Playstation, because of Del Piero. Del Piero was his favorite player.

7. Pato once bought a book about Obama because he was fascinated by him, due to other Milan-players constantly speaking about him. Pato fell asleep 10 minutes after opening the book

8. Pato likes to listen to Usher, Rihanna, Jovanotti, Eminem, Tiziano Ferro and Eros Ramazotti. Pato’s favorite song is “Sweet Dreams” by Beyoncé.

9. Pato’s first closet in the changing room was right next to Maldini. Pato copied everything he did. Pato even copied Maldini’s way of tying his boots. Pato managed to dribble past Maldini in his first training session with Milan.

10. There’s a restaurant in Yokohama, where all the walls are completely plastered with photos of Pato.

11. The first thing Pato ate in Italy was a sandwich at a service station on a freeway.

12. His first lunch at Milanello consisted of pasta with tomatoes, pasta with pesto and pasta with zucchini. Ancelotti then approached Pato, looked him deep into his eyes and talked with him for 2 hours about Italian food.

13. Pato eats Spaghetti Carbonara four times a week. Needless to say that it’s his favorite dish.

14. Pato is crazy about ice cream. He eats it twice before every training session and match.

15. Pato has grown 8 centimetres and gained 8 kilos in weight since moving to Italy.

16. Pato married Stephany Brito at the Copacabana Palace in Rio de Janeiro. Every guest had his/her own hotel room (worth €600) and their own private car and driver.

17. Pato is friends with Mario Balotelli. They often call each other and also send each other text messages.

18. During Pato’s first 2 days in Italy, he went to Verona and spent a lot of time watching the famous balcony of Romeo and Juliet. Pato was completely mesmerized by it.

19. Before he went to La Scala with Barbara Berlusconi, he bought books about the opera, because he knew nothing beforehand.

20. Pato’s dream is to buy an island.

21. Pato’s ideal goal. A cross which he stops with his back facing the goal, and then he puts it into the top corner with a bicycle kick. Pato once told it to a journalist, who then published a drawing of it in the newspaper the next day. Pato didn’t like that and said. “You don’t sell or publish private dreams in the newspaper”.

22. When Pato got his first salary, he immediately bought a new house and a new car for his parents.

23. Pato has an obsession with punctuality.

24. Pato doesn’t have any tattoos.

25. Pato has a passion for bowling. He has a good aim, but his power is weak.

26. Pato is obsessed with his iPad, but he doesn’t use any social networks

27. When Milan travel on away games, Pato always sits on the left side of the plane, right next to a window. Pato then puts on his headphones and watches a dvd on his laptop.

28. Pato loves action movies – especially movies with Bruce Willis or Will Smith.

29. Pato is a horrible dancer, and his teammates make fun of him because of it. They say that he’s the only Brazilian without any rhythm.

30. Pato once said that “Fabiano Santacroce is the best defender that I’ve faced in Italy”.

31. After winning the Scudetto last year, Pato said. “This is the best day of my life”.

32. After scoring against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu, Pato said. “This is the best day of my life”.

33. After scoring against FC Barcelona at the Camp Nou, Pato said. “This is the best day of my life”.

34. Pato is very absent-mínded. He once forgot his passport at home when Milan was playing an away match in the Champions League.

35. Pato has a bike and he likes to ride it on the sidewalks of Via Vincenzo Monti, which is close to where he lives.

36. Pato really likes children, especially his teammates’ children. Pato has special connection with one of Antonini’s daughters. She often makes drawings for him.

37. Pato didn’t even know that Formula 1 existed before he came to Italy. He started liking it after he saw the Monza GP live. Before that Pato hadn’t even seen a GP, not even on tv.

38. Pato bought a Ferrari in lucid black, but 6 months later he had the color changed to opaque black. Pato had the color changed because it’s the same color as the Ferrari that an American style icon has

39. Pato once got a fine when he was driving on the freeway, because the windows of his car were too dark.

40. After Pato’s first training with Milan, Ancelotti said. “This kid is fantastic. He will win the Ballon d’Or one day”.

41. After playing with Kakà, Pato said. “It’s a dream come true to play with him”.

42. After playing with Ronaldo, Pato said. “It’s a dream come true to play with him”.

43. After playing with Ronaldinho, Pato said. “It’s a dream come true to play with him”.

44. Gianni Di Marzio spotted Pato when he was only 15 years old. Back then, Gianni Di Marzio was working for Juventus.

45. Despite scoring 2 goals vs. Viktoria Plzen, Pato didn’t say a word to anyone on the way back to Milano. Reason? Because Allegri had a furious outburst after the match, where he criticized Pato for all the mistakes that he had made.

46. Pato is considered to be the most fashion-aware amongst the Brazilian players at Milan. It’s because of the particular way that Pato chooses what to wear.

47. Pato got his first real injury in his career vs. Fiorentina in 2008. Even though it was just a sprained ankle Pato kept on crying afterwards in the changing room. All his teammates tried to cheer him up, but he was completely inconsolable.

48. After Beckham’s first training with Milan in Dubai, Pato said. “I’ve never seen anyone like him before”.

49. Pato decided not to join PSG and stay at Milan, while he was at Milanello getting ready to clear out his closet. Pato then called Galliani immediately.

50. Pato often gets teased because of his rich and unruly hair. Once, Gattuso said to Pato when he arrived at Milanello. “Did you comb your hair whilst standing in a wind tunnel?”

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