Born March 2, 1983 in São Paulo, Brazil, Paulo Nagamura began his professional career with the youth ranks of hometown club São Paulo FC. In 2001, Nagamura was sold to Arsenal FC of the English Premier League, where he made an immediate impact with the club’s youth and reserve sides, including helping lead Arsenal to an England U-19 club championship in 2002.

In 2005, Nagamura joined Major League Soccer’s Los Angeles Galaxy, where he won an MLS Cup championship in his first season, while playing 25 regular-season games (24 starts), registering 2 assists in 2005. He would also play 4 postseason matches for the Galaxy, going the full 120 minutes in the MLS Cup final. On November 17, 2006, Nagamura was selected by Toronto FC in the 2006 MLS Expansion Draft. He has started all four of Toronto FC’s games so far in 2007.

CHIVAS USA

2007: Regular season: Played 22 regular-season games for Chivas USA (starting 20), logging 1818 minutes, registering 2 goals and 2 assists. Played 4 regular-season games for Toronto FC, registering 354 minutes. Playoffs: Played 2 postseason games for Chivas USA (starting 2), logging 180 minutes. 2006: Played 29 regular-season games for Los Angeles Galaxy (starting 26), logging 2372 minutes and registering 4 assists. 2005: Regular season: Played 25 games for the Los Angeles Galaxy (starting 24), resistering 2 assists in 2028 minutes. Playoffs: Played in 4 games (starting 3) and logged 369 minutes on his way to an MLS Cup Championship.

IN HIS OWN WORDS

Family: Married to Monique, son of Jorge and Celia. I have a sister, Renata.
Idol: Ayrton Senna, former Formula One driver. I liked the way he worked; he was always trying to improve.
Favorite movie: City of God, because it’s Brazilian.
For fun: Go to the beach and to the movies.