dante bonfim Costa (Salvador de Bahia, Brazil, 1983) a second youth is living in Nice. to their 39 yearsthe Brazilian central defender is a key player in Didier Digard’s scheme and one of the best-performing defenders in the French League.
Anyone could have thought in 2016, when the Rio de Janeiro international left Wolfsburg to join Nice, that he was going to France to speed up his career. Nothing more far from reality. In Nice, the former Bayern player adds, with this, his seventh season and, despite his age, he has become indisputable in the French team based on performance. In five of the seven seasons that he has played in the city, he has exceeded 30 games. However, this Dante course is highlighting especially.
So far this year, according to data provided by olocip (company that uses artificial intelligence to analyze the performance of soccer players), The former Bayern player is not only the best player on his team, something he already achieved last season, but also the sixth best-performing center-back of the five major leagues. Last Friday, against Ajaccio, he took an active part in Nice’s victory (3-0) with the goal that opened the scoring and produced a great performance. So much so that was included by the application in the ideal eleven of the five most powerful European leagues (English, Spanish, Italian, French and German).
Although it is true that the Brazilian made history in Bayern, with whom he was proclaimed European champion in his first year (12/13), in Nice he has regained his confidence and his best version after a season at Wolfsburg (15/16) and a last season in Munich (14/15) in which he was flagged on more than one occasion for specific errors. With everything, Dante had been especially scarred the previous summer after the defeat (1-7) of Brazil against Germany at the 2014 World Cupthe only game that Salvador de Bahía played throughout the championship.
With a robust physique and great understanding of the game, the central defender has always performed more easily in ordered teams. It is difficult for him to defend in the open field and he is grateful that the team is together. The great moment of Nice, which has four consecutive victories and six games without losingenhances his great form and places him among the best central defenders in Ligue 1. The red and black are seventh in the French tournament and aim for Europe, currently four points behind.