Rivaldo

Rivaldo in Tehran 2009
Personal information
Full name	Rivaldo Vítor Borba Ferreira
Date of birth	(1972-04-19) 19 April 1972 (age 40)
Place of birth	Paulista, Pernambuco, Brazil
Height	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position	Attacking midfielder
Club information
Current club	FK Lokve
Number	9
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1991–1992	Santa Cruz	4	(6)
1992–1994	Mogi Mirim	0	(0)
1993–1994	→ Corinthians (loan)	19	(11)
1994–1996	Palmeiras	45	(21)
1996–1997	Deportivo La Coruña	41	(21)
1997–2002	Barcelona	157	(86)
2002–2004	Milan	22	(5)
2004	Cruzeiro	0	(0)
2004–2007	Olympiacos	70	(36)
2007–2009	AEK Athens	29	(12)
2009–2010	Bunyodkor	53	(33)
2011	São Paulo FC	30	(5)
2012–	FK Lokve	2	(3)
National team‡
1992–1993	Brazil U-20	9	(1)
1996	Olympic	5	(0)
1993–2003	Brazil	74	(34)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 13 January 2012. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 10 April 2008

Rivaldo Vítor Borba Ferreira (born 19 April 1972), commonly known as Rivaldo (Portuguese pronunciation: [ʁiˈvawdu]), is a Brazilian professional footballer for Kabuscorp. He plays as an attacking midfielder and sometimes as a supporting striker.

He most notably played five years with Spanish club FC Barcelona, with whom he won the 1998 and 1999 Spanish La Liga championship and the 1998 Copa del Rey. Between 1993 and 2003, Rivaldo played 74 matches and scored 34 goals for the Brazil national football team and was an integral part of the 2002 FIFA World Cup winning Brazilian team.

In 1999, Rivaldo was honoured as FIFA World Player of the Year, Ballon d'Or winner and European Footballer of the Year. He was named by Pelé as one of the 125 Greatest Living Footballers at a FIFA Awards Ceremony in 2004. He is also the president of Mogi Mirim Esporte Clube in his native Brazil.

Early life[link]

Born in Paulista, Pernambuco, Brazil, Rivaldo had an extremely poor upbringing in the favelas of the port town of Recife. His physical appearance still marks the poverty he experienced in his childhood: malnourishment-caused bowleggedness and the loss of several teeth. Rivaldo began his professional career at the age of 16, when he signed with Paulistano, from Pernambuco, in 1989,^[1] despite the Paulistano coaches believing him too physically weak to succeed.^[2] Rivaldo's father Romildo was killed in a road accident in 1989, but Rivaldo went on to his first professional contract later that year.^[2]

Club career[link]

Santa Cruz, Mogi Mirim and Corinthians[link]

He went on to play for Santa Cruz in 1991. In 1992, he moved south to the state of São Paulo where he played for Mogi Mirim in the second tier of Brazilian football. It was for Mogi Mirim that he made his claim to fame: in a 1993 São Paulo State Championship match against Bauru team Noroeste, as soon as the referee whistled for the beginning of the match, Rivaldo noticed the Noroeste goalkeeper ahead of his position and scored the opening goal by lobbing the ball over the keeper, shooting from the midfield circle.

In 1993, the forward moved to the state capital to play for Corinthians in the first division.

Palmeiras[link]

In the next year, he switched local allegiances and moved to Palmeiras, helping the club successfully defend its league championship in 1994. In both 1993 and 1994, he was honoured by the authoritative publication Placar Magazine with the Bola de Prata for the best player in his field position.

Deportivo[link]

Before the 1996 Olympics, Parma announced that they had signed Rivaldo and his teammate Amaral from Palmeiras.^[3] After the Olympics, there was a dispute, and rather than Italy, Rivaldo moved to Spain as he joined Deportivo La Coruña in La Liga. He only stayed for one season, but nonetheless a very successful one for both him and the club. Rivaldo was the fourth top goal scorer of the season with 21 goals (tied) in 41 matches as Deportivo finished third in the league. Rivaldo moved on to league rivals FC Barcelona in 1997 in a transfer deal securing Deportivo a 4000 million pesetas (around $26 million) transfer fee.^[1]

Barcelona[link]

In his first season at Barcelona, he was the second top goal scorer with 19 goals in 34 matches, as Barcelona won The Double of La Liga championship and Copa del Rey.,^{[citation needed]} In 1999, he won another La Liga title with Barcelona, and once again was the league's second highest scorer with 24 goals.,^{[citation needed]} Individually, he won both the FIFA World Player of the Year and European Footballer of the Year awards. In his third season in Barcelona, Rivaldo fell out with manager Louis van Gaal, when he insisted playing as a playmaker rather than on the left wing.^[4] Even though he had a strained relationship with van Gaal, Rivaldo went on to score 10 goals in the European UEFA Champions League tournament, as the club reached the semi-finals.Van Gaal was fired in June 2000. In the following 2000–01 season, Rivaldo was once again the second highest goal scorer of the league with 23 goals. In the last game of the season, against Valencia CF, Rivaldo scored a hat-trick to win the game 3–2. His third goal was a bicycle kick from the edge of the area in the 89th minute of the game, and is regarded as one of his greatest goals ever in a combination of importance and skill.^[5] The win secured Barcelona a place in the following UEFA Champions League tournament. It was his season best with 36 goals. He scored a total of 130 goals during his time with Barcelona.,^{[citation needed]}

Milan[link]

In June 2002, van Gaal returned to manage Barcelona. Rivaldo was released from his contract, and signed a three-year deal with the Italian Serie A club Milan. With Milan, he won the Italian Cup and the UEFA Champions League in the 2002–03 season. His time in Milan proved a mutually disappointing affair, often playing second fiddle to Rui Costa. He left the club after a season of very few starts, partly due to injury problems.^{[citation needed]} He briefly returned to Brazil, playing for Cruzeiro in Belo Horizonte. On 22 July 2004 he returned to Europe, joining Greek Alpha Ethniki division club Olympiacos after much talk about which club he would join. There was also speculation that he might join English club Bolton Wanderers, with Rivaldo stating that he wanted to help them qualify for Europe for the first time. However, the deal fell apart because Bolton felt that the demands made by Rivaldo's agents were excessive.^[6]

Olympiacos[link]

Rivaldo scored some memorable goals in his first season at Olympiacos, including a fantastic effort in the Greek Cup final with a well placed lob from a difficult position close to the corner flag.^{[citation needed]} Rivaldo also scored two memorable free kicks during the season, the first in the local derby against Panathinaikos and the second against English club Liverpool in the UEFA Champions League.^{[citation needed]} Olympiacos managed to keep the 1–0 lead against their arch-rivals, but Liverpool fought back to score the 3 goals needed to keep Olympiacos from the Final 16, much to Rivaldo's dismay. In the last game of his first season at Olympiacos, the club needed a victory in order to win the Alpha Ethniki championship, with Panathinaikos just one point behind. Olympiacos went on to beat Iraklis 0–1 in an away match in Thessaloniki, by yet another Rivaldo goal,^{[citation needed]} and secured the championship.

Rivaldo continued to score in the UEFA Champions League the following year. He scored a stunning 30 yard strike against Rosenborg BK,^[7] and against old foes Real Madrid as Olympiacos failed to advance from the preliminary Group Phase. In the domestic competitions, he kept the best for the second half of the season. He scored twice in Olympiacos' come-from-behind victory against Panathinaikos, as well as two in his team's 3–0 triumph against second placed AEK Athens, effectively securing another title for Olympiacos. He also put Olympiacos through to the Greek Cup semi-finals, scoring on free-kicks in both quarter-final games against Skoda Xanthi.^{[citation needed]}

Rivaldo renewed his contract with Olympiacos for a third and final year, and promised to give his best, despite having turned 34. He didn't wait long to turn his words into actions: He led Olympiacos to overturn their half-time deficit against Skoda Xanthi, and scored both goals for the dramatic 2–1 victory in the first game of the season, winning him the Greek SuperLeague's first-ever Player of the Week and Goal of the Week awards.^{[citation needed]} In July 2006, Rivaldo announced that the 2006–07 season with Olympiacos would be his last in Europe, before returning to Brazil.^[8] However he quicky changed his decision and decided to stay for another year. The 2006–2007 season was arguably his best season at Olympiakos,^{[citation needed]} having scored 17 goals at 27 matches, at the Superleague championship.

AEK Athens[link]

Rivaldo was released by Olympiacos after the chairman of the club decided that he was to old to continue with the club, later that summer he signed on rival Super League club AEK Athens on 29 May 2007, making the signing arguably the best in the team's history. Rivaldo finished his Olympiakos career with 43 goals in 81 games played.

At AEK Athens, Rivaldo played under his former Barcelona manager Llorenç Serra Ferrer. He began his AEK career with a bang, scoring in his first friendly match. European goals soon followed; a penalty kick against Sevilla in AEK's unsuccessful UEFA Champions League qualifier, and a bicycle kick in their UEFA Cup first round thumping of the Austrian side Red Bull Salzburg. Rivaldo's first Super League goal with AEK Athens came through a penalty in their 3–0 win against Panionios. Rivaldo was the Man of the Match^{[citation needed]} against his former team Olympiacos, where he had 3 assists and his team won 4–0 however much speculation followed the game as in almost all goals a friend and fellow Brazilian defender Jilio Cesar Santos Correa was involved (he was soon after released by the club and had to quit European football). At the end of the 2007–2008 season Olympiacos won the championship by finishing 2 points ahead of AEK but AEK tried to obtain the Greek League by appealing against a decision that gave Olympiacos 3 points for the illeagal use of Roman Wallner by Apollon Kalamaria in a game between the two of them, however both UEFA and the Court of Arbitration for Sport declined their appeal.

Bunyodkor[link]

Rivaldo announced on 25 August 2008 to a Greek Sport Radio Station that he agreed to continue his career at Bunyodkor in Uzbekistan, effective immediately, after what he described as an "extremely tempting contract offer".^[9]

Rivaldo signed a two-year contract worth €10.2 million and later signed an extension to extend the contract to 2011.^[10] On his debut for Bunyodkor, Rivaldo scored twice as Bunyodkor recorded a 2–0 win.^[11] Rivaldo earned a record in 2009 which was never achieved by anyone in official matches – Rivaldo scored ten goals in four consecutive matches, in which match by match he increased his goals starting with 1 goal in the first match and 2 goals in the second match against Navbahor. In the third match on 25 June 2009, Rivaldo scored a hat trick against Metallurg, which was beaten 4:0 by Bunyodkor.^[12] In the fourth match Bunyodkor crushed Sogdiana Djizak 5:0 in which Rivaldo scored a poker within 17 minutes.^[13] After Uzbek League's 2009 season Rivaldo won UFF Topscorer award as domestic league's top goalscorer with 20 goals and was runner up for UFF Player of the Year award gathering 193 points. He scored 33 goals for the club.^[14] Rivaldo announced on 11 August 2010 on his Twitter that he has rescinded his contract with Bunyodkor and would continue his career in Europe or back to his home country Brazil.^[15]

Mogi Mirim[link]

On 18 November 2010, he announced he would be returning to Mogi Mirim, the club that had kick-started his career in the early 1990s, through his Social Networking site, saying: "After sorting out a lot of things outside of the country, I have decided to play the Paulista 2011 for Mogi Mirim, of whom I am President." However, he joined São Paulo in January 2011.^{[citation needed]}

São Paulo[link]

On 23 January 2011, Rivaldo joined São Paulo. He scored on his debut for them in the First Division against Linense with a wonderful goal. The ball was sent over from the left hand side of the pitch, before Rivaldo controlled the ball and took it over a defender using his left knee, and finished at the near post. He spent most part of March 2011 tending injury, but came back for following fixtures such as a 1–1 draw with Palmeiras and a 2–1 win over Corinthians.^{[citation needed]}

Rivaldo stated on his twitter account that he would leave São Paulo by the end of the season: "I just want to inform everybody that on Saturday, it's going to be my last training session at Sao Paulo. I've been told by the club's official that this is going to be my last season here." He added: "I'm not saying goodbye to football yet. I still have a lot to accomplish. I just wish I could hang up my boots at the end of 2012."^[16]

Kabuscorp[link]

Rivaldo was unveiled to the Angolan media at a news conference in the capital Luanda on 13 January as Kabuscorp new signing. He will wear the number nine shirt, and said language played a key part in his decision and tweeted that he is 'very happy with this new stage of my career'. However, the arrival of the former Brazil international has been greeted with some scepticism, according to local sports commentator José Cunha. "Rivaldo's hiring by Kabuscorp – which is a very modest club in Angola – has not attracted as much enthusiasm as you might expect," says Cunha, who works for Luanda's LAC radio station. On 18 March, Rivaldo scored a hat-trick against Recreativo Caala.

On 23 March it was reported that English league 1 club Charlton Athletic had turned down the chance to sign Rivaldo on a free transfer.^[17]

International career[link]

In 1993, he debuted for the Brazilian national football team, scoring the only goal in a friendly match against Mexico.^[18]

He was selected to represent Brazil at the 1996 Summer Olympics. The Brazilian team won the bronze medal, but Rivaldo was made the scape-goat for Brazil's semi-final defeat to Nigeria,^{[citation needed]} and was excluded from the Brazilian national team by national team manager Mario Zagallo.^[1]

Rivaldo returned to the Brazilian national team for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, where he scored three goals, including two in the 3–2 quarter-final win against Denmark. Rivaldo had not been a part of the triumphant Brazilian team at the 1997 Copa América tournament, but was a key player in the successful defence of that title at the 1999 Copa América.^{[citation needed]} Rivaldo earned himself the distinction as top scorer of the tournament with five goals, one being the equaliser from a trademark free-kick in a 2–1 win over Argentina in the quarter-finals, and two in the 3–0 victory over Uruguay in the final. He was named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament.^{[citation needed]}

Rivaldo had been the centre of criticism when Brazil did not win tournaments, ever since the 1996 Olympics,^[19] as he was said to be saving his best form for his club team. During the 2002 World Cup qualifying games, Brazil's poor form saw the team being booed by the Brazilian crowds,^{[citation needed]} and in the 1–0 win against Colombia in November 2000, Rivaldo was booed so heavily that he threatened to retire from playing for his country.^[20]

He was at the centre of numerous tugs of war between Barcelona and the Brazilian national team.^{[citation needed]} In one incident in the summer of 2001, Rivaldo had to play an exhibition match for Brazil against Panama, commute to Poland to play a match for Barcelona, and then return to Brazil for a qualifying match against Paraguay, all within ten days.^{[citation needed]}

The zenith of his national team career came at the 2002 FIFA World Cup, hosted in South Korea and Japan. He scored in the first five games for Brazil. Brazilian striker Ronaldo had done so for four matches, allowing journalists to question whether there was any rivalry between the two athletes. Rivaldo denied this, insisting that all he wanted was to be the world champion. His spectacular goal against Belgium in the second round prompted Belgian coach Robert Waseige to name Rivaldo as the deciding factor.^[21] Brazilian midfielder Ronaldinho helped Rivaldo score a crucial goal in the 2–1 win over England in the quarterfinals. Brazil eventually met Germany in the final, and went on to win the tournament with a 2–0 victory in the final. Both Ronaldo goals came from trademark Rivaldo plays, as both Rivaldo and Brazil made amends for the 1998 FIFA World Cup Final loss to France. Rivaldo was named by coach Luiz Felipe Scolari as the best player of the tournament.

His early performance at the tournament was spoiled by his play-acting in the group match against Turkey.^[22] In the closing stages of the match, with the ball out of play, Turkish defender Hakan Ünsal kicked a ball towards Rivaldo, who was waiting at the corner flag. The ball struck his thigh, but Rivaldo fell to the ground clutching his face. The referee sent the Turkish player off with a second yellow card. After a video review, Rivaldo was fined 11,670 Swiss Francs by FIFA, 1,670 of which were for "costs". His last cap was on 19 November 2003 in Curitiba in a 3–3 draw with Uruguay. He played only 11 minutes, coming on as a substitute for Luís Fabiano in the 79th minute. He had scored his last goal just 3 days earlier from the penalty spot in a 1–1 draw with Peru.

Rivaldo never officially retired from International duty, contrary to popular thought. Due to being benched through injury and a fragile relationship with Milan manager, where Rui Costa was constantly preferred, he was deemed unfit and only managed short, cameo appearances for his last few caps. He was then dropped completely, and after moving to Olympiacos in 2004, a return always seemed unlikely. In his time with the Brazilian Squad, he won 50 games, drawing and losing 12. With a win percentage of 75%, he scored 0.47 goals per game.

World Cup goals[link]

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	World Cup	Round
1.	16 June 1998	Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes, France	Morocco	2 – 0	3–0	1998	Group Stage
2.	3 July 1998	Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes, France	Denmark	2 – 1	3–2	1998	Quarter-Final
3.	3 July 1998	Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes, France	Denmark	3 – 2	3–2	1998	Quarter-Final
4.	3 June 2002	Munsu Cup Stadium, Ulsan, Korea Republic	Turkey	2 – 1	2–1	2002	Group Stage
5.	8 June 2002	Jeju World Cup Stadium, Seogwipo, Korea Republic	China PR	2 – 0	4–0	2002	Group Stage
6.	13 June 2002	Suwon World Cup Stadium, Suwon, Korea Republic	Costa Rica	2 – 4	2–5	2002	Group Stage
7.	17 June 2002	Kobe Wing Stadium, Kobe, Japan	Belgium	1 – 0	2–0	2002	Round of 16
8.	21 June 2002	Shizuoka Stadium, Shizuoka, Japan	England	1 – 1	1–2	2002	Quarter-Final

Career statistics[link]

Club[link]

As of 25 March 2012

International[link]

^[23]

Career totals[link]

Honours[link]

Team[link]

Palmeiras:

• Brazilian Série A: 1994
• São Paulo State Championship: 1994, 1996

Barcelona:

• Spanish La Liga: 1998, 1999
• Copa del Rey: 1998
• UEFA Super Cup: 1997

Milan:

• UEFA Champions League: 2003
• Coppa Italia: 2003
• European Super Cup: 2003

Olympiacos:

• Greek Super League: 2005, 2006, 2007
• Greek Cup: 2005, 2006

Bunyodkor:

• Uzbek League: 2008, 2009, 2010

• Uzbekistani Cup: 2008, 2010

Brazil

• FIFA World Cup: 2002
• Copa América: 1999
• Confederations Cup: 1997

Individual[link]

• Brazilian Bola de Prata: 1993, 1994
• FIFA World Player of the Year: 1999
• European Footballer of the Year: 1999
• World Soccer Player of the Year: 1999
• Onze d'Or: 1999
• Ballon d'Or: 1999
• Copa América 1999 Top Scorer
• Copa América 1999 MVP
• Spanish League Footballer of the Year: 1999
• UEFA Champions League Top Scorer: 2000
• IFFHS World's Top Goal Scorer of the Year 2000
• FIFA World Cup All-Star Team: 1998, 2002
• Greek Championship best foreign player: 2006, 2007
• FIFA 100
• Uzbek League 2009 Top Scorer

References[link]

External links[link]

• Rivaldo's official website
• Rivaldo – FIFA competition record
• (Portuguese) CBF profile
• Rivaldo at National-Football-Teams.com

Brazil squads v t e Brazil squad – 1996 Olympic Bronze Medalists 1 Dida 2 Zé Maria 3 Aldair 4 Ronaldo Guiaro 5 Flávio Conceição 6 Roberto Carlos 7 Bebeto 8 Amaral 9 Juninho 10 Rivaldo 11 Sávio 12 Danrlei 13 Narciso 14 André Luiz 15 Zé Elias 16 Marcelinho Paulista 17 Luizão 18 Ronaldo Coach: Zagallo v t e Brazil squad – 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup Winners (1st Title) 1 Dida 2 Cafu 3 Aldair 4 Júnior Baiano 5 Dunga 6 Roberto Carlos 7 Bebeto 8 Flávio Conceição 9 Ronaldo 10 Leonardo 11 Romário 12 Rogério Ceni 13 Zé Maria 14 Gonçalves 15 Zé Roberto 16 César Sampaio 17 Doriva 18 Denílson 19 Juninho 20 Rivaldo 21 Rodrigo 22 Russo Coach: Zagallo v t e Brazil squad – 1998 FIFA World Cup Runners-up 1 Taffarel 2 Cafu 3 Aldair 4 Júnior Baiano 5 César Sampaio 6 Roberto Carlos 7 Giovanni 8 Dunga (c) 9 Ronaldo 10 Rivaldo 11 Emerson 12 Carlos Germano 13 Zé Carlos 14 Gonçalves 15 André Cruz 16 Zé Roberto 17 Doriva 18 Leonardo 19 Denílson 20 Bebeto 21 Edmundo 22 Dida Coach: Zagallo v t e Brazil squad – 1999 Copa América Winners (6th Title) 1 Dida 2 Cafu 3 Odvan 4 Antônio Carlos 5 Emerson 6 Roberto Carlos 7 Amoroso 8 Vampeta 9 Ronaldo 10 Rivaldo 11 Alex 12 Marcos 13 Evanílson 14 César Belli 15 João Carlos 16 Serginho 17 Marcos Paulo 18 Flávio Conceição 19 Beto 20 Christian 21 Ronaldinho 22 Zé Roberto Coach: Luxemburgo v t e Brazil squad – 2002 FIFA World Cup Winners (5th Title) 1 Marcos 2 Cafu (c) 3 Lúcio 4 Roque Júnior 5 Edmílson 6 Roberto Carlos 7 Ricardinho 8 Gilberto Silva 9 Ronaldo 10 Rivaldo 11 Ronaldinho 12 Dida 13 Belletti 14 Ânderson Polga 15 Kléberson 16 Júnior 17 Denílson 18 Vampeta 19 Juninho Paulista 20 Edílson 21 Luizão 22 Rogério Ceni 23 Kaká Coach: Scolari