Alves picture perfect at Videoton

Seeing his daughter for the first time has possibly eclipsed the joy of a great start to the season with FC Videoton for Brazilian striker André Alves, who is hoping his family's arrival in Hungary will further improve his form in front of goal.

Personal cost
Having readopted the name under which they reached the 1984/85 UEFA Cup final – losing 3-1 on aggregate to Real Madrid CF – the former FC Fehérvár top the Hungarian standings after eight games, with Alves having already scored six league goals. But the player signed from Kaposvári Rákóczi FC in the winter conceded that success on the field has come at the expense of a normal family life this season.

First sight
The one-time Budapest Honvéd FC player, who spent part of the 2008 season on loan with Russian side FC Luch-Energia Vladivostok, had to leave his family behind in Brazil when he returned to Szekesfehervar in the summer, and was at the airport awaiting a big reunion as he spoke to uefa.com: "I returned for the preparation session in mid-summer and my second kid was born after that so this will be the first time when I will actually see my daughter Jasmine."

Ferencváros fixture
The arrival of his nearest and dearest will, Alves hopes, only serve to further improve his form. "I would be happy to celebrate the arrival of my family with goals in our next important match against Ferencváros," said the 25-year-old as he looked ahead to an emotive league meeting with the Budapest side on Friday. "We play a much more attacking game than we did before and that obviously suits my game."

Marvellous Mezey
The credit for that change of style goes to coach György Mezey, with the man who led Hungary to the 1986 FIFA World Cup finals having brought a hailstorm of goals – 22 in eight games – and renewed confidence to the Sóstói Stadium. "György Mezey is a really good coach, maybe the best I have worked with, and the team-play reflects his philosophy," said Alves. "It is no accident that we have scored the most goals this season."