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Santos signs Paraguayan defender Manzur
Paraguay defender Julio Manzur reached a deal to play for two-time Brazilian champion Santos this season.
- Indo-Asian News Service
- Updated: February 25, 2007 10:39 AM IST
Read Time:2 min
Sao Paulo:
Paraguay defender Julio Manzur reached a deal to play for two-time Brazilian champion Santos this season. Manzur, 24, was loaned from Paraguay's Guarany until the end of the year, Santos said on its Web site. The Brazilian club has an option to acquire the player after the loan ends. Manzur is a regular in Paraguay's national team, and was in the squad that won a silver medal in the 2004 Athens Olympics. "I had a goal to one day play in the Brazilian soccer,'' Manzur told sports daily Lance. "It's a giant step in my career to play for Santos and to work for (coach Vanderlei) Luxemburgo.'' Santos, which hired Luxemburgo last month after he was fired by Spain's Real Madrid, is trying to recuperate from a disappointing 2005 season. It won the national league in 2002 and '04, but was 10th in last year's tournament. On January 12, the club will compete in the Sao Paulo state championship, which it hasn't won in 22 years. Santos also has signed goalkeeper Fabio Costa, a former Santos player who helped Corinthians win its fourth national title last year, and Chilean midfielder Claudio Maldonado, a regular in his country's national squad. Manzur's signing came only a few days after defender Avalos injured a shoulder that will sideline him for about two months. Manzur will be the first Paraguayan to play with Santos since striker Edgar Baez's brief stint in 1996. (AP)Topics mentioned in this article
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