Who is he?
Bernard Anício Caldeira Duarte was born in Belo Horizonte, on the 8th of September in 1992. He is a winger who plays his trade in Ukraine for Shakhtar Donetsk. The 21 year old already has 13 caps and 1 goal to his name for his native country Brazil. When used for Brazil he is often brought on as a sub for an extra injection of pace into the game. He is often compared to the Argentinian captain Lionel Messi. Mainly due to his extremely close dribbling which allows him to beat players with ease. At times it looks as though he is gliding over the fine cut grass.
As with most Brazilians, Bernard played Football from a young age. In 1997, A 5-year-old Bernard joined local club Comercial EC do Barreiro, where he would play for 9 years. After showing that he had enough promise and quality, Bernard joined the youth academy of his local club – Atletico Mineiro – in 2006, at the age of 14. Due to his small stature, the youngster was sent away by Atletico on 2 occasions, but the club realised their mistake and asked him to return. Interestingly this is where the Messi links come in, Bernard had to receive growth hormone treatment during his childhood, to treat his diminutive size.
Style of Play –
Bernard could be said to be the typical winger who has an abundance of pace and extremely good and tight ball control. However Bernard will give you something extra. Unlike the majority of wingers, Bernard has a lot of energy so doesn’t get tired easily. This allows him to continue making persistent runs at the opposition.
He does not just have pace, energy and good control, he also has the ability to put in a good cross. This allows him to get the odd assist which unfortunately due to a lack of game time he did not pick up last season. However he did manage to score 2 goals for his club.
What does his future hold?
Well Bernard has only been at the Donbass Arena for one season and he is contracted there until 2018 so there is no chance of him moving any time soon. However he may be wanting to leave Ukraine in the next few years, maybe due to popular demand or maybe due to the domestic violence. I could see him moving to PSG, following in fellow Brazilian Lucas Moura’s footsteps. I could also seem him moving to Chelsea as they often like to buy in bulk for depth.
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