HUNK OF THE DAY!!! + Photo Manip of the Day (Wednesday, March 25, 2009)

Hello my fellow hunk lovers. First off, I would like to say THANK YOU! for making my last post (about the engagement ring) a featured post. You guys are amazing, so thank you. Secondly, I want to thank the couple of people who have found, and watched me on deviantArt. Thank you and your support is amazing! :)

So, to the hunk of the day. Today, I am going a tad older with the hunk, but when I found the first couple of pics, I was thinking to myself, "WOW! He has to be hunk of the day!" So, let me intorduce to you the latest addition to the hunky brotherhood, Fernando Meira!!

WOW! All I have to say is WOW! ;)

They make SUCH a cute couple, don't they!? ;)

This is Fernando Meira!! According to our friends at Wikipedia:

Fernando José da Silva Freitas Meira, known as Fernando Meira, (born 5 June 1978 in Guimarães), is a Portuguese football player who currently plays for Russian club Zenit.

He has won numerous caps for the Portugal national football team and is a regular in the national side's defence. After being left out of the squad for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, he earned a recall under new coach Luiz Felipe Scolari.

He began his career with Vitória Guimarães in 1995–96 and spent two further seasons there before moving to second division Felgueiras on loan. In 1998–99 Meira played 33 league games as Felgueiras narrowly missed out on promotion, finishing fifth, before returning to Vitória Guimarães for another fine season in which he scored his first goal in league football.

VfB Stuttgart

2000-2002

In 2000, Benfica paid 4 million euros (€) (plus a player) for him in summer 2000 and the defender did not disappoint, earning the club captaincy and bolstering his reputation to the point that VfB Stuttgart paid 7.5 million euros (€) for his skills in January 2002. Stuttgart's general manager, Rolf Rüssmann, described the player as a "trophy" signing.

2002-2003

In the 2002-03 season, Stuttgart coach Felix Magath fielded Fernando Meira in 31 Bundesliga matches, and only a suspension prevented him from featuring in all 34 as the club finished second (behind FC Bayern Munich) to clinch a place in the group stage of the UEFA Champions League. He missed two UEFA Cup matches, including the home defeat by Celtic, and scored 1 goal in the second round match against Ferencváros (second leg).

2006-2008

In 2006, Meira became the captain of Stuttgart, making him the first Portuguese captain in the Bundesliga. It was one of the highest moments in his career. In 2006-07, Stuttgart won the Bundesliga trophy, making it the first time the team won it in 15 years and the first domestic league title for the captain Meira in his entire career, and, he also was DFB Pokal finalist in the same season. Meira played 24 games, including the 2006-07 DFB Pokal final, and scored 3 goals in that season.

Fernando Meira made 173 league appearances and scored 11 goals, in his Stuttgart campaign, one of the best club defenders ever.

Galatasaray

On 20 July 2008, at the end of the 2007–08 season, VfB Stuttgart removed Meira of the team captaincy and announced their intention to sell the player. Shortly afterwards, on 22 July 2008, Meira signed with Turkish club Galatasaray for 4.5 million euros (€) a four year contract. Meira made 38 appearances in all competitions, and he won the 2008 Turkish Super Cup.

Zenit St. Petersburg

Zenit have found an agreement for Meira's transfer to the Russian club. The Portuguese player, previously tracked by Juventus and Liverpool, will wear number 3 when previously belonged to Martin Skrtel. Meira made his league debut on March 15th in a 1-1 draw against Spartak Moscow.

International career

Meira made his international debut in 2000 but failed to secure a regular position until the 2006 World Cup. The defender played in all of Portugal's seven games in the tournament, finishing fourth overall. The player continued to be a regular fixture in the UEFA Euro 2008 tournament in Austria and Switzerland, appearing in all of Portugal's group stage games. However he did not feature in their quarter final match against Germany. Portugal lost the game and Germany went on to the final of the tournament.

****Photo Manip of the Day****

For today's manip, I decided to go with the Madrid theme I have had recently and show you this little work of art. :)

Enjoy! Anyway, off to bed to dream about a certain Spainard who is having a baby girl. Ta-ta.