FIFA World Cup™ Germany 2006 player's profile

With his cannon-like left-foot strike and incredible lung capacity, Roberto Carlos is a physical phenomenon, capable of spending the entire game tearing up the flank to support the attack without neglecting his defensive duties. There can be little doubt that the flying left-back is one of Brazil’s greatest-ever players.
Roberto Carlos da Silva was born on 10 April 1973 in the town of Garcas, situated inland of Sao Paulo, on a coffee plantation. The youngster was given his first ball at the age of three, and just five years later he was already playing men’s football in his father’s team. In 1981, having moved to Cordeiropolis with his family, Roberto Carlos was invited to join city side Jogos Abertos do Interior.

His professional career began in 1988 for Uniao Sao Joao de Araras, where he would spend four years in their second-team, having swiftly come up through the youth ranks. In 1990, Roberto Carlos was selected for Brazil’s junior side, under the watchful eye of Ernesto Paulo, and was part of the team that took second place at the FIFA World Youth Championship in 1991. He was also involved in the Brazil side that failed to qualify for the Olympic Games in Barcelona 1992.

On the back of his performances for the Seleção, he made the left-back role in the Uniao first-team his own in 1992, before being sold to Palmeiras that same year.

Italian move
Roberto Carlos’s quest for honours would begin in earnest at O Verdão (The Greens), where he helped his side to two Brazilian titles, two Paulista championships and one Rio-Sao Paulo Cup. In 1995, the full-back earned a transfer to big-spending Serie A side Inter Milan, although he would be on the move again less than a year later as Spanish giants Real Madrid secured for his signature. In a trophy-laden spell at the Bernabeu, where he still plays, Roberto Carlos has won three UEFA Champions League titles (1998, 2000 and 2002) and two Toyota Intercontinental Cups (1998 and 2002), among a host of other honours.

His debut for the full Brazilian national team came in 1993 under Carlos Alberto Parreira, but the young defender missed out on a place at USA 94, where the Auriverde claimed their fourth FIFA World Cup™ crown. Things were quite different four years later, as the left-back played a starring role alongside Ronaldo and Rivaldo at France 98.

Having survived the backlash that followed the final defeat on French soil, Roberto Carlos remained the undisputed number one in his position at the 2002 FIFA World Cup in Korea/Japan, playing a key role in Brazil’s fifth FIFA World Cup win.

Roberto Carlos’s career has also been replete with individual awards. In 1997 he was voted the second-best player in the world by FIFA, and a year later he won the eighth edition of the EFE Trophy, awarded by the Spanish news agency to the Ibero-American player of the year.

The samba star’s fabled left-foot has left an indelible mark on football history. Capable of thunderous attempts on goal reaching speeds of more than 110 km/h, one particular free-kick will live long in the memory. During an international tournament in France in 1997, Carlos let fly with a set-piece from well outside the box, which proceeded to curve like a boomerang before nestling in the back of Fabien Barthez’s net. This feat provoked such universal amazement that it became the subject of investigation by scientists across the globe.

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UEFA Champions League 2005-06 player's profile

The world's foremost left-back, Roberto Carlos' pace, attacking verve and devastating skills from set-pieces have combined to make the Brazilian a titan of world football.

National team
He made his Brazil debut against the United States in 1992, yet only became a regular following his omission from the 1994 FIFA World Cup squad. Beaten finalists at France '98, Brazil were triumphant in Korea/Japan and Roberto Carlos was named in the team of the tournament. His strike against France in 1997 is remembered as one of the all-time great free-kicks and he remained a regular in the team bidding for the 2006 World Cup.

Club
Born in São Paulo in 1973, he began his career as a teenager with his local club, União São João EC, before moving on to SE Palmeiras in 1993. Three seasons at the club built his reputation until eventually he was drawn to Europe.

1995: Signed by FC Internazionale Milano in 1995 for €6.7m, big things were expected of Roberto Carlos in Serie A. Although he occasionally lived up to his billing, off-field problems led to his departure for the Santiago Bernabéu.

1996: Roberto Carlos soon settled into Spanish football, Real Madrid CF winning the Primera División in 1997. To that he added another title in 2001 and three UEFA Champions League successes in five years - against Juventus FC in 1998, Valencia CF in 2000 and Bayer 04 Leverkusen in 2002. A Spanish title winner again in 2002/03, his consistently high standards and dynamic displays saw him voted into the uefa.com users' Team of 2002 and 2003.

2004/05: Not a spectacular season, but Roberto Carlos finished with a tally of three goals which included a fine strike against Málaga CF in March.

Did you know?
Roberto Carlos has said that he wants to breed racehorses when he retires.

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