Corpus Christi Hooks and Vágner Love: Difference between pages

Revision as of 22:57, 2 August 2006

Revision as of 18:36, 28 May 2007

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{{Football player infobox

{{MLB Astros franchise}}

| playername = Vágner Love

[[Image:CCHooks.jpg|left|]]

| fullname = Vágner Silva de Souza

The '''[[Corpus Christi, Texas|Corpus Christi]] Hooks''' are a [[minor league baseball]] team that plays in the [[Texas League]] as the Class AA affiliate of the [[Houston Astros]]. The team's ownership group is headed by [[Baseball Hall of Fame]]r [[Nolan Ryan]]; the team's CEO, [[Reid Ryan]], is Nolan's oldest son. The team's president is [[J.J. Gottsch]].

| nickname = Vágner Love

| height = 171 cm / 5' 7" |

| weight = 72 kg

| dateofbirth = {{birth date and age|1984|6|11}}

| cityofbirth = [[Rio de Janeiro]]

| countryofbirth = [[Brazil]]

| currentclub = [[PFC CSKA Moscow|CSKA Moscow]]

| clubnumber = 9

| position = [[Striker]] |

| years = 2002-2004<br/>2004-present

| clubs = [[Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras|Palmeiras]]<br/>[[PFC CSKA Moscow|CSKA Moscow]]

| caps(goals) = 20 (11)<br/>67 (30)

| nationalyears = 2003-present

| nationalteam = [[Brazilian national football team|Brazil]]

| nationalcaps(goals) = 6 (2)

| pcupdate = [[28 May]] [[2007]]

| ntupdate = [[28 March]] [[2007]]

}}

'''Vágner Love''', real name '''Vágner Silva de Souza''', (born [[June 11]], [[1984]] in [[Rio de Janeiro]]) is a [[Brazil]]ian [[football (soccer)]] [[striker]] who currently plays for [[PFC CSKA Moskva|CSKA Moscow]].

Before the [[2005]] season, the Hooks played in [[Round Rock, Texas]] as the [[Round Rock Express]]. The Express name was taken over by the club formerly known as the [[Edmonton Trappers]], a Class AAA team in the [[Pacific Coast League]] also owned by the Ryans' group. The Hooks play at [[Whataburger Field]], a new ballpark on Corpus Christi's waterfront that opened in 2005.

==Club Career==

The franchise began as the '''Memphis Blues''' in [[1968]], and was affiliated with the [[New York Mets]]. In [[1974]], the team moved to [[Texas]] for the first time, playing in [[Victoria, Texas|Victoria]] as the '''Victoria Toros'''. The following year, the team moved yet again, this time to [[Jackson, Mississippi]], and took the name '''Jackson Mets'''. In [[1991]], at the same time that the team's major-league affiliation changed to the Astros, the team became the '''Jackson Generals'''. While the team has moved twice since then, to Round Rock in [[2000]] and now to Corpus Christi, its affiliation has remained with the Astros.

Vágner started his career with [[Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras|Palmeiras]], he was a great aid in the 2003 season to help them return to the [[Campeonato Brasileiro Série A|Brazilian Série A]], the national first division (premier league). He was bought by [[PFC CSKA Moskva|CSKA Moscow]] in the summer of 2004, prior to their [[UEFA Champions League|Champions League]] Campaign, for an estimated 8 million dollars.

The team's colors are deep blue and light blue, representing the ocean and sky of the popular South Texas fishing area.

For over a year after his arrival at CSKA, rumors kept appearing that he did not want to stay in Moscow, and a transfer to [[Sport Club Corinthians Paulista|Corinthians]] in particular was hinted at numerous times. However these rumors have now subsided and Vágner has mentioned a number of times that he is fully committed to his contract and is looking forward to completing its full tenure. As of April 17th, he has scored 29 goals in 73 games, 17 of them in 38 [[Russian Premier League|Russian Premiership]] games. He scored the final goal that sealed CSKA's 3-1 victory in the [[2005]] [[UEFA Cup]] final over [[Sporting Clube de Portugal|Sporting Lisbon]] on [[Estádio José Alvalade|Sporting's home ground]] in [[Lisbon]]. Additionally to this [[UEFA Cup]] final, he has gone on to win the [[Russian Premier League]] title and [[Russian Cup]] in 2005, and the [[Russian Super Cup]] in 2006.

A number of Hooks players have been called up to the major leagues in the two years the team has been in Corpus Christi. These include outfielder Charlton Jimerson and pitchers Matt Albers, Fernando Nieve, Chris Sampson, and Philip Barzilla.

Since in the background it is known that [[Roman Abramovich]]`s money brought him to Moscow, rumors are circulating claiming Vágner will sign for [[Chelsea F.C.|Chelsea]] in the near future.

One of the most exciting moments in the team's history was an appearance by future hall-of-famer ""Roger Clemens"" on [[June 11]], [[2006]], as the legend prepared for his return to the Astros. Clemens' start attracted nationwide attention and a record crowd of 9,022 (in honor of Clemens' jersey number. Clemens did not disappoint, striking out 11 batters in just six innings on his way to the victory.

However after CSKA's Championship title in 2005 they are qualified for the UEFA Champions League

and will probably stay at the [[Dynamo Stadium (Moscow)|Dynamo Stadium]], due to the fact that Manager [[Valery Gazzaev]] will have him in the starting squad alongside [[Jô]] or [[Ivica Olic]]. This because he is very fast and is considered as one of the most agile players in the world.

==International Career==

The concession stands there are run by a company called eagle concessions who sell, lemonade ($3.00) cotton candy ($3.00) funnel cakes ($4.00), pickles ($2.00), and snow cones ($3.00).

Vágner was part of the [[Brazil National Football Team|Brazil]] squad that won the [[Copa America]] in [[Peru]] in 2004. but saw very little action for Brazil under coach [[Carlos Alberto Parreira]]. However, he was called up for the [[Seleção]] by the new manager [[Carlos Dunga]] together with his teammates [[Daniel Carvalho da Silva|Daniel Carvalho]] and [[Dudu Cearense]]. In his fourth game for the national team, against Wales, he scored his first goal. He has recently returned to [[Carlos Dunga]] [[Seleção]] after his impressive start to the season with [[PFC CSKA Moscow|CSKA Moscow]].

The team store is called the Hook, Line, and Sinker.

The team mascots are Sammy the Seagull and Rusty Hook.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vagner Love}}

[[Category:1984 births]]

[[Category:Afro-Brazilians]]

[[Category:Living people]]

[[Category:Brazilian footballers]]

[[Category:CSKA Moscow footballers]]

[[Category:Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras players]]

[[Category:Football (soccer) strikers]]

[[Category:Brazil international footballers]]

{{CSKA Moscow Squad}}

{{Brazil-footy-striker-stub}}

==External links==

*[http://www.cchooks.com Official site]

*[http://www.texas-league.com/ Texas League website]

[[de:Vagner Love]]

{{Texas League}}

[[fr:Vagner Love]]

[[nl:Vágner Love]]

[[Category:Minor league baseball teams]]

[[ja:ヴァグネル・ラヴ]]

[[Category:Sports in Corpus Christi]]

[[pl:Vagner Love]]

[[pt:Vágner Silva Nascimento]]

[[ru:Вагнер Лав]]