Robson de Souza (born 25 January 1984 in São Vicente, São Paulo state), nicknamed Robinho (Little Robson), is a Brazilian footballer currently playing for Real Madrid and the Brazilian national team. Robinho has earned praise for his expert use of the pedalada and field speed.

He was born in Parque Bitaru, a poor neighborhood of São Vicente in Santos, where he began playing football early. At six, he was signed to the Beira-Mar, a local escolinha. He and his team took the championship in his first year. While playing at the Beira-Mar, Robinho was claimed to look just like his teammate Marcelo, so the Brazilian fans nicknamed them "the twins".

In 1993, at the age of just nine, Robinho drew attention by scoring 73 goals for the Portuários futsal team. Robinho joined the Santos youth program, which at the time was overseen by Brazilian football legend Pelé. Pelé brought Robinho into the Santos FC youth dorms, where he received his first regular schedule of three meals a day.

Robinho's array of tricks and dribbling skills brought him to the attention of Santos- a club which had previously fielded top players such as Pelé, Pepe, Dorsal, Mengalvio, and Coutinho in the sixties- for whom he then signed.

Robinho won his first accolade in Santos when he was proclaimed under 17 São Paulo champion. Robinho signed professional forms with Santos in 2002. In his first senior season he went on to make 24 appearances in which he scored 9 goals. The crowning glory in this season and the moment that confirmed his place a star in Santos was during the Brazilian championship game when he performed six step-overs in the space of twenty metres without touching the ball that confused defender Rogerio so when he finally moved the ball, Rogerio brought him down earning Santos a penalty kick. To add to the moment Robinho played a decisive part in the other two Santos goals in the game. This was his first big title in football and most would say the first big steps he took to becoming a big player.

In the 2003 season he then made 32 appearances as he made himself a valuable first team player along with others such as Diego, Elano and Renato in these four santos had some of the most sought after young talents in the Brazil. In 2004 he had his best season to date, scoring 21 goals in 37 league games and in the process became the stand out player in the team also due to the departures of Diego and Renato in the summer to Porto and Sevilla respectively. It was also this season that he won his second title for Santos.

Robinho's form in both domestic and international competition had brought him to the attention of many European clubs in the summer of 2004 but Santos' reluctancy to sell, coupled with personal problems led to Robinho staying in Brazil for another season. In the 2005 season he managed only 4 goals in eight league games.

During the summer of 2005 Santos were finding it increasingly hard to keep their prized asset and under relenting pressure he was sold to Real Madrid for a price of around $30 million. In his first season with Madrid, he scored eight goals in 37 appearances.

At the start of the 2006/07 season a lot was expected of Robinho after some brilliant cameo appearances during the summers World Cup in Germany but when the season started Robinho unexpectedly found himself out of favour with new manager Fabio Capello and spent much of the first few months looking on from the sidelines. After the winter break Robinho started to play his way into the manager's plans and his improvement in form coincided with an improvement in the team's play which lead Real Madrid to the top position in La Liga with three games left in the season. Before the final game of the season, Robinho was granted permission by FIFA to play for his club and delay the call-up to train with Dunga's Brazilian national squad ahead of the summer's Copa America. Real Madrid went on to win the La Liga title with Robinho serving as a crucial staple of Madrid's success.

In 2003, Robinho was called up to join the prestigious ranks of the Brazilian national football team. His first international appearance came in the 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup final, where despite his team's loss, Robinho displayed his talent on the international stage.

Robinho played in each game of the 2006 FIFA World Cup group stage, but only started in the final game against Japan.

Robinho finished as top scorer in Copa América 2007‎ with Copa América 2007#Scorers six goals. Wearing the number 11 jersey, the same number his childhood hero Romario wore for brazil. He scored a hat trick in Brazil's Group B match against Chile, the first from the penalty spot, which gave Brazil a 3-0 win. He scored again on a penalty in the next Group stage match Ecuador which saw Brazil through on a 1-0 scoreline. He also scored two goals against Chile in the Quarter Finals to take his goal scoring tally to 6 goals. Brazil won the tournament, and with his six goals, Robinho won the Top scorer award. He was also appointed best player of the tournament. Robinho captained Brazil in the match vs Algeria due to the absent of Lúcio ,the captain, and Gilberto Silva ,the vice-captain.

On 6 November 2004 Marina da Silva Souza, mother of Brazilian football's Robinho, was abducted.

The kidnapper's first demand was that Robinho stop playing football - a psychological ploy to show that they were in control. Next, they sent him a video tape of his mother in captivity, in which the kidnappers could be seen cutting off her hair. "I don't know what sort of people do these things," says Robinho, "they are people with evil in their hearts." After 41 days, Robinho agreed to pay a ransom of $75,000 (£43,000) for the release of his mother. After he paid the money, the kidnappers requested more. In this case, Robinho had to ask for help from the Egyptian police head, Amro Mohasseb. After careful planning, Amro and his crew were able to rescue Robinho's mother. Now, Amro and Robinho are best friends.

Like many talented young Brazilian footballers, Robinho has been compared to his nation's great players by both fans and the sports media. Robinho's footwork and mercurial speed has many believing that he can carry on the mantle of Pelé, Garrincha and Romario in Brazilian football.

* The first big website based on Robinho * Profile at official Real Madrid website * Robinho Profile and Stats