Roberto Carlos da Silva Rocha (born 10 April 1973
in Garça, São Paulo, Brazil), more commonly known simply
as Roberto Carlos, is a player/manager who currently plays as
a defensive midfielder for Russian Premier League
club Anzhi Makhachkala, where he is also club
captain. Carlos has spent most of his career as a left wingback
but started his career in Brazil as a forward. He started playing for
Brazil in 1992 and was a member of the Brazil national team in
three World Cups, helping the team reach the final
in 1998 and win the2002 tournament. He is also known for his
running speed and trademark free kicks with power and curve. Roberto
Carlos was born in the city of Garça, São Paulo. Raised with no luxury, he
had a poor childhood and used to spend his time between helping his parents in
farm works, and playing with his friends after his all works were over. In
1981, Roberto Carlos with his family moved to Cordeirópolis.
He previously played for Spanish La
Liga club Real Madrid for 11 years, making over 500 appearances
and winning four leagues, three UEFA Champions League trophies, and
two Intercontinental Cups. Roberto Carlos is also one of only fifteen
players to have played more than 100 matches in the Champions League. He
finished second to countryman Ronaldo in the 1997 FIFA World
Player of the Year award poll and was named as one of the top 125
greatest living footballers by Pelé in March 2004. On 24 June
2005, Carlos was robbed by two gunmen while doing a live radio interview.
However, the thieves did not harm him, merely taking his watch and the
interviewer’s cellular phone.
On 2 August 2005, Carlos received dual Spanish and Brazilian
citizenship. This proved important for Real Madrid, as it meant that he now
counted as a European Union player, opening up one of the club’s allowed three
slots for non-EU players and enabling Real to sign fellow Brazilian star
Robinho. For his 38th birthday, it was reported that Anzhi Makhachkala
owner, Suleyman Kerimov, bought him a Bugatti Veyron. Roberto
Carlos played at Real Madrid for 11 seasons, playing a total of 584
matches and scoring 71 goals in all competitions. 370 of them were league
matches, in which he scored 46 goals from his left-back position. He famously
set up Zinedine Zidane to score the winner for Real Madrid to win
the Champions League in 2002. His consistently high standard and dynamic
displays saw him voted into the uefa.com users’ UEFA Team of the
Year in 2002 and 2003.
On 2 August 2005, he received dual Spanish and
Brazilian citizenship. This proved important for Real Madrid, as it meant that
he now counted as a European Union player. In January 2006, he set a
club record for the most league matches played by a non-Spanish born player by
making his 330th appearance for Madrid. He broke the previous mark of 329 held
by Alfredo di Stéfano.
Having played 30 or more league matches for ten consecutive
seasons and being one of the most consistent players in the squad, he was
heavily criticized for conceding the ball early during the second leg of the
Champions League Round of 16 against Bayern Munich, which led
to Roy Makaay’s goal, the quickest goal in the tournament’s history. On 9
March 2007, he announced his decision to not renew his contract with Real
Madrid. In the dying seconds of one of the last few games of the season
against Recreativo de Huelva, Fernando Gago played a beautiful
pass and Roberto Carlos slotted it home. As a result, Real Madrid were on
course for their 30th La Liga championship. He was linked with a move
to Chelsea in the summer of 2006.
On 19 June 2007, Roberto Carlos signed a two-year contract
and one year optional with the Turkish Super League champions
Fenerbahçe at the stadium in front of thousands of fans. In the
first official match he played with the team, Fenerbahçe won the Turkish
Super Cup against Beşiktaş by a score of two goals to one.
During a league match against Sivasspor, he scored his first goal for
Fenerbahçe on 25 August 2007 on a diving header, which was only the third
headed goal of his career. After 15 years away from Brazil, Roberto Carlos
returned to his country in 2010 to play for Corinthians. He joined his
friend and former Real Madrid and Internazionale teammate Ronaldo. On 4
June 2010, Roberto Carlos scored a goal against Internacional and helped
Corinthians to move to the top of the Brazilian Championship table.
The Timão won the game with the score of 2–0. On 16 January
2011, Roberto Carlos scored an impressive goal directly from a corner kick
against Portuguesa. Concerned with his safety after being threatened by fans
after the Copa Libertadores da América defeat to Tolima,
Roberto Carlos requested his release by the club, and was promptly released by
Corinthians.
On 12 February 2011, Roberto Carlos signed a two-and-a-half
year contract with Russian Premier League club Anzhi
Makhachkala, worth approximately €10 million. Roberto Carlos amassed
125 caps, scoring 11 goals for the Brazilian national team. At
the 1998 World Cup, he played seven matches, including the final
loss to France. After a qualifying game for the 2002 World
Cup, Paraguay goalkeeper José Luis Chilavert spat on
Roberto Carlos, an action which caused FIFA to give Chilavert a
three-match suspension and forced him to watch the first game of the World Cup
from the stands. Roberto Carlos also played seven matches in the finals,
scoring a goal from a free kick against China. He also was a starter in
the final against Germany, with Brazil winning 2–0. After the
tournament Carlos was also included in the World Cup’s All Star team.
He is especially famous for a free kick against
France in the inaugural match of Tournoi de France 1997 on 3 June
1997. He shot from 35 m (115 ft) from the centre-right channel, and
scored. The ball curved so much that the ball boy 10 yards to the
right ducked instinctively, thinking that the ball would hit him. Instead, it
eventually curled back on target, much to the surprise of
goalkeeper Fabien Barthez, who just stood in place. In 2010, a team of
French scientists produced a paper explaining the trajectory of the ball.
Roberto Carlos’ next international tournament was 2006 World Cup. In
July 2006, after Brazil’s 1–0 defeat to France in the World Cup
quarter-finals, Roberto Carlos announced his retirement from the national team,
saying, “I’ve stopped with the national team. It was my last game. “He said he
no longer wanted to play for Brazil because of the criticism he faced from fans
and Brazilian media for his failure to mark goalscorer Thierry
Henry on France’s winning goal.
Upon signing with Corinthians in January 2010,
Roberto Carlos told TV Globo that he hoped to play at the 2010
World Cup and believed his return to Brazilian football may help him
return to the national team, as manager Dunga had yet to settle on a
left back. However, he was left off the 30-man provisional squad that was
submitted to FIFA on 11 May 2010, along with Ronaldinho
and Ronaldo. Despite his deep desire to do so, Roberto Carlos
was not named in Coach Dunga’s final squad of 23 for the Brazilian squad in South
Africa for the 2010 World Cup. Instead, Brazil newcomer Michel Bastos
earned a spot for the left wingback position.