Anderson Luiz de Sousa (born 27 August 1977 in São Bernardo do Campo, Brazil) is a professional footballer widely known as Deco (pron. IPA: /'dɛ.ku/). He plays internationally for Portugal.
Deco arrived to Portugal in 1997 at the age of 19 from Brazilian club Corinthians Alagoano to play for Lisbon side SL Benfica, along with fellow brazilian player Cajú. Despite good showings in training, Benfica decided to loan the player to the Portuguese Liga de Honra side Alverca. Deco performed very well and was close to renew his contract with Benfica and join the main squad. However, the Lisbon club and the player's representant did not reach an agreement and the player moved to the Porto side Salgueiros, playing in the Portuguese Superliga at the time. He played there for a season before being traded to Porto side Salgueiros in the 98-99 season, playing 12 games and scoring two goals by December. His performances caught the eye of FC Porto's staff, and during the winter transfer window he was sold to Porto, where he played six more games that season.
