Roberto Carlos (footballer)

Roberto Carlos da Silva (Garça, São Paulo, April 10, 1973) is a Brazilian nationalized Spanish ex-soccer player and coach, considered one of the best defenders in history. He was international absolute with the Brazilian team, where he is one of the footballers belonging to the "FIFA Club 100" having played a total of 125 games. Among his record with the Rio de Janeiro team, the 2002 World Cup, a Confederations Cup in 1997 and the 1997 and 1999 Copa América stand out. He stood out for his great technique, speed and power, as well as for his free kicks. His name is a tribute to the famous Brazilian singer-songwriter Roberto Carlos, by his father.

Historical player for Real Madrid Club de Fútbol, entity in which he developed most of his career and to which he owes his greatest achievements and recognitions. He remained there for eleven seasons in which he won four League Championships, three Champions Leagues, two Intercontinental Cups and one European Super Cup as the most notable titles, and became the foreigner who played the most games in his entire history with 527, up to who was surpassed in 2020 by Karim Benzema.

On December 14, 2020, he was included as a left-back in the second historic Ballon d'Or Dream Team.

Since 2016 he has been part of the infrastructure of the Madrid club, where he began as an ambassador of the club's image and as a trainer for its lower categories, to later join Real Madrid Televisión as a commentator and analyst, a position he currently holds.

Trajectory as a footballer

Beginnings in Brazil and arrival in Europe

His first steps in soccer were in 1989 in Araras, a city in the State of São Paulo. The team where he started was called União São João. At the age of 14 he reached the first team and at 16 he participated in the Brazilian Under-20 team, being noted as one of the promises of Rio de Janeiro soccer.

In August 1992, at the age of 19, Roberto Carlos was taken to join a tour of Europe with Atlético Mineiro. The Galo traveled with a “B” team to compete in European soil, since priority was given to playing the first Conmebol Cup. The tour served as a test for many players, and an opportunity to definitely join the main team. Roberto Carlos did not participate in the first two games, in Italy, against Lazio and Torino. The first match for the Galo was in Lérida (Spain) on August 27, in a match valid for the Ciutat de Lleida Trophy against Lleida, with Roberto Carlos playing in the 90 minutes. In the following two matches, which were held in Logroño, the full-back also played 90 minutes: on August 29 against Logroñés, and the following day against Athletic Club; the games were valid for the City of Logroño Trophy. Before retiring from football, Roberto Carlos thanked Atlético Mineiro for the opportunity:

“I am pleased with all the clubs I have worked with, even my little União São João Esporte Clube de Araras, because we should never forget our origins. But I owe my arrival in Spain to the Clube Atlético Mineiro, which gave me the opportunity to belong to the team in 1992, on a tour to Spain. So I make a paragraph to make it clear and thank this important club for opening the doors here in Europe.”

Roberto Carlos' statements about his career in Europe.

His performances caught the attention of the big Brazilian clubs and in 1993 he was hired by Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras, who, backed by joint management with the multinational Parmalat, hired some of the best emerging players in the country to end a drought of sixteen years without titles. He was one of the most outstanding players of a team that managed to win the Paulista Championship, the Rio-São Paulo Tournament and the Brazilian Championship. In them he scored a total of six goals in 65 games together with players like Mazinho, César Sampaio, Edílson da Silva, Edmundo de Souza or Zinho de Oliveira. The successes were repeated the following year, where he was champion again of the Paulista Championship and of the Brazilian Championship retaining the title and which helped the club to become the most successful team in the highest Brazilian tournament ahead of the six titles of Santos Futebol Clube. In the Roberto Carlos course he played 60 games in which he scored three goals and Flávio Conceição, Cléber Conceição and Rivaldo Ferreira ended up in it. It should be noted that the main coach in that period was Vanderlei Luxemburgo, who years later returned to direct the player in the Real Madrid Soccer Club of Spain. 1994 was also the year of his debut in international competition, as champions of Brazil, in the Copa Libertadores de América. His debut took place on March 2 against Cruzeiro Esporte Clube by Dida and Ronaldo Nazário in a match that ended in a 2-0 victory.

The new season, third with the "alviverde" team, he played 36 games in which he scored 7 goals until mid-year, stopping the competitions as usual in the country for the winter. At that time, the Brazilian clubs attended the numerous European summer tournaments organized by the clubs of the old continent, and which served as an international showcase for the players from Rio de Janeiro. The player, with 161 appearances and 16 goals for Palmeiras —187 and 17 adding friendly matches—, and having already made his debut with the Brazilian national team, was followed by several teams. The Milanese Football Club Internazionale was one of the most interested in hiring him and so, in August 1995, he joined the interista club for the 1995-96 season. In his first game with the Italian club Roberto Carlos scored the winning goal for 1-0 against Vicenza Calcio.

Career at Real Madrid C.F.

Roberto Carlos in 2007.

One year after his arrival in Italy, he joined the discipline of Real Madrid Club de Fútbol in the 1996-97 season under the guidance of Fabio Capello. The Brazilian arrived in the capital of Spain in the transfer that brought Iván Zamorano, a Real Madrid striker, to FC Internazionale.

Roberto Carlos played 11 seasons at the white club, becoming the player not born in Spain with the most games played for Real Madrid. He was part of the legendary squad that won the long-awaited "Seventh" European Cup in 1998, repeating the title in 2000 and 2002. In that same year, he became one of the few players to have won the European Cup and the World Cup. world in the same year. During the year 2002, teams like Manchester United and Inter Milan were interested in signing him, although Real Madrid refused to negotiate a possible transfer. Instead, Roberto Carlos extends his contract with Real Madrid until 2007.

Since his arrival at Real Madrid, he has surprised people with his great offensive capacity and ability to score goals, averaging six per season in all official competitions. Some of these goals were key to the titles won by Real Madrid. For example, in 2002, he was chosen as the best player in the final of the European Super Cup, in which he scored a goal and caused another own goal for his rival, Feyenoord. In the league championship, on the last day of the 2002/03 season, with a 1-1 score against Athletic Club, he converted a free-kick just before the break, giving his team the lead, which needed victory to win the championship. The same thing happened in the game in Huelva against Recreativo in the 2006/07 season, a goal of his in discount, his last goal both from him and from Real Madrid, was worth the victory and maintaining the leadership of the League, which is no longer would escape That 2006/07 season, which concluded with the club's thirtieth league title, was the last of his eleven seasons at Real Madrid, which began in 1996/97 also with the league title and under the same coach, Fabio Capello.

In 2004, after a season without titles, the Brazilian rejected Real Madrid's renewal offer. he in Palmeiras. After a year, Luxemburgo is dismissed, something that Roberto Carlos publicly criticizes and definitively distances him from president Florentino Pérez.At the end of that season he experiences his worst moments as a Real Madrid player. Three years without titles and his break with the team's management, was added to one of his worst games with Real Madrid on a visit to FC Barcelona. In the match, which ended 1-1, Roberto Carlos committed a penalty on Mark van Bommel and was sent off for insulting the referee and an assistant. After this, Real Madrid ignored Roberto Carlos' requests to extend his contract, albeit that he only has one year left, and the player is put up for sale by the management commission that leads the team after the resignation of Florentino Pérez and Fernando Martín Álvarez. Despite this, the player continues with Real Madrid, rejecting the new presidency of Ramón Calderón the offer of the Turkish Fenerbahce.

He became a Spanish national on August 2, 2005, thus freeing up a non-EU place in the white squad, allowing the club to incorporate another non-European player.

On March 8, 2007, one day after Real Madrid were eliminated from the Champions League, Roberto Carlos announced that he would leave the team at the end of that season. After winning the League on the last day, he left for Fenerbahce, the club that was interested in his signing the previous season. His record with Real Madrid was four Leagues, three Champions Leagues, three Spanish Super Cups, one European Super Cup and two Intercontinental Cups.

Post-Real Madrid

After winning his last title with Real Madrid, on June 19, 2007, he signed for three seasons with Turkish Fenerbahçe, where he finally stayed until December 17, 2009. He returned to his country to play with Corinthians, where he was presented on January 4, 2010. In his second season and after his team's elimination from the Copa Libertadores in February 2011, Roberto Carlos received threats from a sector of fans. As a result of this fact, he opted to make a friendly termination with the club, announcing his departure on February 11, to sign a day later for two seasons with Russian FC Anzhi, his last club as an active player..

Anzhi Makhachkala

Roberto Carlos in August 2011.

On February 12, 2011, Roberto Carlos signed a €10 million contract for two years and the rest of that season, with the Russian First Division club FC Anzhi Makhachkala, also giving him the team captaincy.

On April 25, he scored his first goal for Anzhi, in a 2-2 draw against Dynamo Moscow, converting a penalty after 58 minutes. In his first season at Anzhi he made 28 appearances and scored five goals.

On September 30, 2011, Roberto Carlos became Anzhi's interim manager after the dismissal of Gadzhi Gadzhiyev. On February 12, 2012, the day he was presented with a trophy and took the honor kick-off at the Santiago Bernabéu, Roberto Carlos announced in Spain, on the sports program "Punto Pelota", his retirement from the end the 2012/13 season, playing his last game on March 9, 2012.

In 2015 it was announced that he would be the coach/player of the Delhi Dynamos Football Club where he played 3 official matches, after that he retired permanently from soccer, dedicating himself only to coaching the Indian club.

National team

Between 1992 and 2006, Roberto Carlos played 125 matches with the Brazilian soccer team. He is the second player with the most appearances in a Brazilian jersey, being surpassed only by Cafú, who holds the record with 142 games played.

He made his debut with the Brazilian national team on May 17, 1992 against England at Wembley. He participated in three World Cups, France 1998 (runner-up), Korea-Japan 2002 (champion) and Germany 2006 (quarterfinalist). In the latter he was highly criticized by the Brazilian soccer players for being responsible for the goal that eliminated Brazil in the quarterfinals against France, because he did not correctly mark Thierry Henry, author of the only goal of the match, but Roberto Carlos denies having failed in Henry's goal and believes it was a collective error. And then the player decided to respond to the criticism."In the selection my story ended. I want to open space for a renovation. I hope he can deliver this number six to someone who continues the victorious story of Brazil," the player wrote in a statement online entitled "He left the national team, but he did not leave his love for Brazil."

Of his 11 goals with "La Canarinha", it is worth highlighting the spectacular free-kick goal that he scored from a distance of 33.13 m, considered one of the best goals of the 90s, which he scored for the French team in the 1997 France Tournament, on June 3, 1997, at the Stade Gerland in Lyon.

In January 2010, the Brazilian offered to return to the 2010 World Cup squad alongside Ronaldo, but was not called up by Dunga, who was his teammate at the 1998 World Cup.

Participations in final phases

Competition	Headquarters	Outcome	Parties	Goles
Copa America 1993	EcuadorEcuador	Final rooms	4	0
Copa America 1995	Uruguay Uruguay	Subfield	6	0
Copa América 1997	BoliviaBolivia	Champion	5	0
Confederations Cup 1997	Saudi ArabiaSaudi Arabia	Champion	4	0
1998 Football World Cup	France	Subfield	7	1
Copa America 1999	Paraguay Paraguay	Champion	6	0
2002 Football World Cup	South KoreaSouth Korea and JapanJapan	Champion	6	1
2006 Football World Cup	GermanyGermany	Final rooms	4	0

Style of Play

The goal of Roberto Carlos to the French in 1997.

He played in the left-back position. He had a great offensive vocation and, thanks to his speed and his resistance, it was common to see him running continuously for his band during the 90 minutes. This is how he joined his team's attacking plays and reached the rival area, or shot from afar, with shots with spectacular trajectories that reached 150 km/h. He averaged more than 5 goals per season, an extraordinary figure for a defender. He also excelled at free kicks. His ritual consisted of putting the ball with the valve down, which gave the shot more spin. He would start a run from about 20m out, starting on his toes, and ending with long strides before unleashing his powerful shot with his left foot.

His athletic abilities allowed him to always be one of the most outstanding players in the championships he played. During his time at Real Madrid, he filled the front pages of newspapers that highlighted him as the best left-back in the League, the fastest footballer in the race and the one who hit the ball with the most power. FIFA referred to him as "perhaps, the best left-back in the history of football".

Statistics

Clubs

Updated to end of sports career. High seasons in quality of assignment.

Club	Season (1)	Div.	League			Regional (2)			Cups (3)			International (4)			Total (5)			Media Shotgun
			Part.	Goles	Assist.	Part.	Goles	Assist.	Part.	Goles	Assist.	Part.	Goles	Assist.	Part.	Goles	Assist.
União São João E. C.	1990	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	-	-	-	?	?	?	?
	1991		?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	-	-	-	?	?	?	?
	1992		?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	-	-	-	?	?	?	?
Atletico Mineiro	1992	1. a	3	-	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	35	9	?	0.26
Total União São João E. C.			33	10	?	Unknown breakdown									90	15	?	0.17
S. E. Palmeiras	1993	1. a	20	1	?	40	5	?	5	-	?	-	-	-	65	6	?	0.09
	1994		24	2	?	27	-	?	3	-	?	6	1	?	60	3	?	0.05
	1995		-	-	-	23	3	?	4	1	?	10	3	?	37	7	?	0.19
Total S. E. Palmeiras			44	3	?	90	8	?	12	1	?	16	4	?	162	16	?	0.10
F. C. Internazionale	1995-96	1. a	30	5	5	Non-existent			2	1	0	2	1	0	34	7	5	0.21
Real Madrid C. F.	1996-97	1. a	37	5	2	Non-existent			5	-	-	-	-	-	42	5	2	0.12
	1997-98		35	4	8	Non-existent			3	1	-	9	2	4	47	7	12	0.15
	1998-99		35	5	10	Non-existent			4	-	-	13	-	1	52	5	11	0.10
	1999-00		35	4	8	Non-existent			3	-	-	17	4	5	55	8	13	0.15
	2000-01		36	5	7	Non-existent			1	-	-	15	5	3	52	10	10	0.19
	2001-02		31	3	5	Non-existent			8	1	-	13	2	4	52	6	9	0.12
	2002-03		37	5	7	Non-existent			1	-	-	17	2	4	55	7	11	0.13
	2003-04		32	5	5	Non-existent			9	1	-	8	2	1	49	8	6	0.16
	2004-05		34	3	5	Non-existent			2	-	-	10	1	-	46	4	5	0.11
	2005-06		35	5	6	Non-existent			3	1	-	7	-	-	45	6	6	0.13
	2006-07		23	3	2	Non-existent			1	-	-	8	-	1	32	3	3	0.09
Total Real Madrid C. F.			370	47	63	Non-existent			39	4	0	118	18	23	527	69	86	0.21
Fenerbahçe S. K.	2007-08	1. a	22	2	2	Non-existent			4	-	-	9	-	-	35	2	2	0.06
	2008-09		32	4	9	Non-existent			8	2	-	10	1	1	50	7	10	0.14
	2009-10		11	-	-	Non-existent			-	-	-	8	1	1	19	1	1	0.05
Total Fenerbahçe S. K.			65	6	11	0	0	0	12	2	0	27	2	2	104	10	13	0.10
S. C. Corinthians	2010	1. a	35	1	7	14	3	0	-	-	-	8	-	1	57	4	0	0.02
	2011		-	-	-	3	1	0	-	-	-	1	-	-	4	1	0	0.25
F. K. Anzhí	2011	1. a	25	4	4	Non-existent			3	1	-	-	-	-	28	5	4	0.18
Delhi Dynamos F. C.	2015	1. a	3	0	-	Non-existent			-	-	-	-	-	-	3	0	-	0
Total S. C. Corinthians			35	1	7	17	4	?	0	0	0	9	0	1	61	5	?	0.08
Total career			608	76	85+	107+	12+	0+	68+	9+	0+	172	25	26+	1044	136	103+	0.13
(1) The seasons proclaimed by Balón de Plata were highlighted. (2) It includes data from Rio-São Paulo Tournament (1993); Paulista Championship (1993-95, 2010-11). (3) Includes Copa Italia (1995-96) / Copa del Rey, Supercopa de España (1996-07) / Türkiye Kupası, Türkiye Süper Kupası (2007-09) / Kubok Rossii (2011). (4) It includes data from Copa Libertadores (1994-95, 2010-11) / Copa UEFA (1995-96), Liga Europa (2009); Liga de Campeones de la UEFA (1996-09); Supercopa de Europa, Mundial de Clubes (1998-02). (5) It does not include data from friendly parties.

Selection

Selection	Year	Friendly			Copa America			Confederations Cup			World			Elimination World			Total
		PJ	G	A	PJ	G	A	PJ	G	A	PJ	G	A	PJ	G	A	PJ	G	A
BrazilBrazil
	1992	0	0	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	7	0	0
	1993	0	0	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	5	0	0
	1994	0	0	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	7	0	0
	1995	1	0	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	13	1	1
	1996	0	0	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4	0	0
	1997	4	0	0	-	-	-	4	0	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	18	2	0
	1998	2	0	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	7	0	0	-	-	-	10	0	1
	1999	4	1	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	13	2	0
	2000	2	0	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	7	0	0	9	0	0
	2001	0	0	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	5	0	0	5	0	0
	2002	1	0	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	6	1	0	-	-	-	7	1	0
	2003	1	0	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	0	0	3	0	0
	2004	4	0	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	7	0	0	11	0	0
	2005	0	0	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	6	2	0	6	2	0
	2006	2	0	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	4	0	0	-	-	-	6	0	1
Total		21	1	3	-	-	-	4	0	0	17	1	0	27	2	0	125	11	3

Clubs as a coach

Club	Country	Year
Anzhi Makhachkala	Russia Russia	2012
Sivasspor	TurkeyTurkey	2013 - 2014
Akhisar Belediyespor		2015
Al-Arabi	Qatar	2015
Delhi Dynamos	India	2015

Honours of Prizes

Regional Titles

Title	Club	Country	Year
Rio-São Paulo Tournament	S.E. Palmeiras	BrazilBrazil	1993
Paulist Championship			1993
Paulist Championship			1994

Local titles

Title	Club	Country	Year
Brazilian League	S. E. Palmeiras	BrazilBrazil	1993
Brazilian League			1994
League Championship	Real Madrid C. F.	SpainSpain	1997
Supercopa			1997
League Championship			2001
Supercopa			2001
League Championship			2003
Supercopa			2003
League Championship			2007
Turkish Super Cup	Fenerbahçe S. K	TurkeyTurkey	2007
Turkish Super Cup			2009

International Titles

Title	Club	Country	Year
South American Preolympic	Olympic Selection of Brazil	Argentina	1996
Olympic Games		United States	1996
Copa America	Selection of Brazil	BoliviaBolivia	1997
FIFA Confederations Cup		Saudi ArabiaSaudi Arabia	1997
UEFA Champions League	Real Madrid C. F.	NetherlandsNetherlands	1997-98
Intercontinental Cup		JapanJapan	1998
Copa America	Selection of Brazil	Paraguay Paraguay	1999
UEFA Champions League	Real Madrid C. F.	France	1999-00
UEFA Champions League		ScotlandScotland	2001-02
World Cup Soccer	Selection of Brazil	South KoreaSouth Korea JapanJapan	2002
European Super Cup	Real Madrid C. F.	Monaco	2002
Intercontinental Cup		JapanJapan	2002

Individual awards