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FILIPE LUIS KASMIRSKI
Squad Number 07/08: 3
Date of Birth: 9 August, 1985
Nationality: Brazil/Italy
Contract: 2006 - 2013
Transfer: €2 million (2008, from Rentistas) (there was loan deals for Filipe between 2006 and 2008)
Previous Clubs: Deportivo (2006-now), Real Madrid Castilla (2005-2006), Ajax Amsterdam (2004-2005), Figueirense (2000-2004)
Buy-out Clause: None
Height: 182 cm
Weight: 70 kg
Position: Defender/Midfielder (Left)
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 FILIPE has been mainly occupying Depor’s left defensive spot since Capdevila’s departure in the summer of 2007. His spectacular performances at the wing, together with Guardado, silenced the critics who claimed that the squad needed priority reinforcement for that spot. With the way the Brazilian has been developing himself, the choice for Deportivo to buy him in 2008 should be easy. Is another era of Brazilian influence emerging in Riazor?
When coach Caparrós needed someone for the left after the goodbye of legendary defender Romero in 2006, which only left Capdevila, Filipe was contracted on a loan deal. Not much was known about him at the time, only that he had played in the youth teams of both Ajax Amsterdam and Real Madrid. Described as a technical player who possesses good offensive skills, he had started his career in Brazil at Figueirense in the year 2000. In 2004 he signed at Dutch side Ajax Amsterdam after his participation with Brazil in the U-20 World Cup. During his year in The Netherlands, the Brazilian obtained an Italian passport thanks to his mother's ancestry. Filipe was called up for a Champions League match of Ajax Amsterdam against Bayern Munich, but he didn’t enter that match.
In 2005 he attracted the interest of Real Madrid who arranged a loan spell for one year. The idea was that in Madrid’s B-team (Real Madrid Castilla) he would be shaped into Roberto Carlos' successor, something which gave him hope. Filipe said about this: “I would love to become his successor, but there are at least twenty left defenders in Brazil. Maybe I have an advantage because I am in Madrid already. But when Roberto Carlos retires, I would like to become his substitute”.
Filipe did pretty well at Real Madrid Castilla during the season 2005/2006. After defender Arbeloa, who would move with him to Deportivo, he was their second player with most Liga minutes. His offensive skills and passing capacity were the main characteristics that he demonstrated. He trained a couple of times with the first squad, but the Brazilian was ready for more. Real Madrid tried to sign a new contract with him, but they were only offering another season at Real Madrid B. This offer was rejected by Filipe because he wanted to play in Primera.
 He returned to Brazil and continued training with Figueirense, his former team. Big clubs in Brazil were interested in him: Cruzeiro, Sao Paulo and Gremio. But suddenly, at the end of August 2006, there was the interest of Primera club Deportivo and Filipe didn’t think twice. Fifty percent of his transfer rights belong to his agent, Juan Figger, and the other half to Figueirense. His value was arranged at €2 million and Deportivo obtained the option to buy him for this amount until 15 May 2007. He would play the season 2006/2007 on a loan deal. Filipe explained to Spanish sportspaper AS why he had picked Deportivo: “It’s a dream coming true because Deportivo is a club which I always have admired. My idol has played there: Bebeto. Besides, my friend Arbeloa is at he club and they have one of the best coaches in Spain”. Filipe rejected an offer of Recreativo.
Filipe, who arrived just a few days before the season started, wasn’t used in the first match of the season but entered the matches against Mallorca, Villarreal and Levante. On 1 October 2006 he started his first match in Primera during a 2-0 home win against Real Sociedad. He repeated this during the away match at Betis Sevilla (1-1) when he was sent off for receiving two yellow cards. He then entered the match against Atlético as a substitute and started during the 2-0 defeat at Getafe. Felipe now had played in seven of Deportivo’s eigth Liga matches and started three of them.
But the next months would be harsher to him. Between that Getafe match at the end of October 2006 and a 1-0 win against Osasuna on 22 April 2007 he played just 364 Liga minutes in five months. These included the horrible defeats of Deportivo at Osasuna (4-1), Valencia (4-0) and Sevilla (4-0) at the end of the year. Felipe started all these matches, and might have become a scapegoat for this. It seemed that Felipe wasn’t a left winger or defensive enough to be a left defender. Still, Felipe said at the time that “my game has grown since I arrived at Deportivo. And with some continuity I am sure than I can improve more. I feel like a Primera player now and each time I am committing fewer mistakes. Until now I am happy with the minutes I have been given”. When asked whether he preferred the left wing or left defender position, he said: “I don’t mind, as long as I play. But I always have been a left defender”. At the end of the season he figured in six of the final eight matches including three starting places. He scored one goal that season: on 28 February 2007 at Valladolid (1-1) in the Copa del Rey tournament.
There was a nice anecdote that season before the home match against Sevilla (1-2) in which Bodipo scored a great volley. Bodipo told after this match that it was Filipe who had predicted that he would cross to Bodipo who would score a goal... Exactly as it happened. “Later we could laugh about it”, Bodipo said. Those weeks he also made some tough statements in the media about Real Madrid and Celta de Vigo. Before the match at Real Madrid he said that he wanted to “take away the title from them, especially now that I am an anti-Madridista”. About Celta he said that “the first joy of the season would be to see them relegated”.
 At the end of the season the question of a possible extended time at Deportivo came up. His loan period ended in June 2007 and Filipe had his mind set on Deportivo: “I want to stay. I am happy here because Deportivo has given me a lot. And imagine if we can keep this young group together. We could be a great team in two years. Nevertheless, Deportivo remains a big club. To talk in Brazil about Deportivo is like talking about one of the greatest teams in the world. I want to stay at the club and to achieve big things, as many Brazilians have done. I am happy here and so is my family”. At the same time, Filipe explained his surname. “My name comes from several generations back. But I am more related to Italy than to Poland. Anyway, I am a Brazilian from the heart. I never would accept a call from the Polish national team. I even don’t have a passport of that country. Someday I hope to play for Brazil”.
But his renewal at Deportivo became difficult and at first Felipe was pessimistic about the situation although new coach Lotina quickly indicated that he liked his qualities. It wasn’t until the end of July 2007 that a deal was finally clinched after Deportivo had found out how difficult it was to find a better player for less money. Deportivo paid €200.000 for Felipe’s loan in the season 2007/2008 at the club and the clause to buy him remains at €2 million.
Even though Filipe returned to Deportivo the search for a (more defensive) left defender continued because the Brazilian wasn’t really seen as Capdevila’s replacement in this aspect. Lotina said that “Filipe has good qualities among which a good technique and he delivers fine crosses. But he has to improve in some defensive and tactical aspects. In Spain, the side defenders should defend first and then attack. Filipe described himself as “more mature” compared to one year before. “And I know the importance of defending as well”. But during the pre-season Lotina used Manuel Pablo, who had covered Depor’s right side since 1998, as left defender with Barragán at the right. When the season started, Filipe and Barragán received special defensive sessions of second coach Ribera. Meanwhile, Lotina kept praising him: “I like him. He’s fine with the ball, knows how to move and how to deliver good crosses. We do have a few problems with him, but he is much focused. He should continue in the same line”.
 The match at Espanyol on 30 September was lost (1-0), but it marked a change in the season. Defender Adrián López (20) made his Liga debut as central defender, striker Xisco (21) started his first match of the season and Filipe (22) occupied Depor’s left wing. They did pretty well and all of them continued in the team in the months after, including Filipe. With this, a tandem at the left was born with Filipe/Guardado which inspired supporters of Deportivo to think about Nando/Fran and Romero/Fran of the nineties and first years of this century. Filipe labelled Guardado to be ‘sensational’. “You provide him with an average pass and he transforms it into a good pass. He's a great player”. Filipe also finally silenced the critics of his defensive game when Barcelona’s Messi was not seen in the Nou Camp match of early December. Every week his regular performances made him one of the best players of the team.
Deportivo now seem to have found their left defender. A young, Brazilian one who is dedicated to the club and who has shown to be able to defend and to have a great technique. President Lendoiro had expressed in the summer his desire not to spend (millions) on a new left defender. When after a week weeks in the season the press reported that Deportivo were close to signing Argentinean left defender Pablo Sebastián Alvarez for €3 million, Lotina said: “Filipe and Manuel Pablo are showing a tremendous level. And for three million you won't find anything better, neither here or in Argentina”. The left spot remains to leak cover though with only Filipe available and Manuel Pablo having a great season at the right wing. It seems that the club will gamble on Filipe’s fitness and progress for the left wing, and in case of emergency to have Manuel Pablo to cover the left and Barragán at the right. These arguments should be enough to complete the deal for Filipe at the end of the season for €2 million.
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