Middlesbrough striker Afonso Alves is relishing the prospect of finishing top scorer in Europe this season, following his remarkable strike against Stoke City last weekend. The Brazilian hit a wonderful freekick to mark his first goal with Boro this term, and vows to keep the goals flowing. "The goal I scored against Stoke City on Saturday was my first in this season, that's just the start. I'm setting my targets high," he told his official website Alvesofficial.com. "I will be fighting to win the Golden Shoe this season. I almost won it when I played in Holland. Alves, who amassed a superb 34 goals in 31 Eredivisie games with Heerenveen, missed out on the European Golden Shoe in 2007 as he trailed Francesco Totti by a single point. "The only reason I missed out was that Uefa doesn't rank goals scored in the Dutch Eredivisie as highly as those scored in some other European leagues," he added. "My goals are worth more here in England, and I feel I can snatch the prize this season.
Mido plays second fiddle to Alves "The fact is that in the 2006/07 season, I scored 34 goals in 31 matches for SC Heerenveen. "That was even better than Ronaldo and Romario managed when they played in Holland. And nobody else in Europe scored more than that." Full Season Alves joined Boro for a club record fee in January, but is now willing to take advantage of starting the season with the Yorkshire club. "Now I have the chance to play a full season with Boro for the first time, I truly believe I can finish as top scorer in the Premier League - and in Europe too," he added. Alves' signing has given Egypt forward Mido a difficult time to retain his place in Gareth Southgate's starting eleven, with the latter preferring a lone striker upfront. Mido replaced Alves in Boro's three Premiership games so far this season as the duo is yet to play alongside each other.
