Rivaldo

Rivaldo
RivaldoEmad-2009-23-08.jpg
Personal information
Full name Rivaldo Vítor Borba Ferreira
Date of birth 19 April 1972 (1972-04-19) (age 38)
Place of birth Paulista, Brazil
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position Attacking midfielder, Second striker
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
1991–1992 Santa Cruz 0 (0)
1992–1993 Mogi Mirim 30 (10)
1993–1994 Corinthians 41 (17)
1994–1996 Palmeiras 44 (21)
1996–1997 Deportivo La Coruña 41 (21)
1997–2002 Barcelona 157 (86)
2002–2004 Milan 22 (5)
2004 Cruzeiro 2 (1)
2004–2007 Olympiacos 70 (36)
2007–2008 AEK Athens 32 (8)
2008–2010 Bunyodkor 53 (33)
National team‡
1992–1993 Brazil U20 9 (1)
1993–2003 Brazil 74 (34)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21 July 2010 (UTC).

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 6 April 2008 (UTC)

Rivaldo Vítor Borba Ferreira (born 19 April 1972 in Paulista, Pernambuco, Brazil), commonly known simply as Rivaldo (Portuguese pronunciation: [ʁiˈvawdu]), is a Brazilian professional footballer who is currently a free agent. Rivaldo announced in August 2010 that he has terminated his contract with Uzbek side Bunyodkor[1]. He more often plays as attacking midfielder but also plays as second 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 a 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.

Contents

Early life

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 Paulista, from Pernambuco, in 1989,[2] despite the Paulista coaches believing him too physically weak to succeed.[3] Rivaldo's father Romildo was killed in a road accident in 1989, but Rivaldo went on to his first professional contract later that year.[3]

Club career

Santa Cruz, Mogi Mirim and Corinthians

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.

SE Palmeiras

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

Before the 1996 Olympics, AC Parma announced that they had signed Rivaldo and his teammate Amaral from Palmeiras.[4] 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.[2]

Barcelona

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. In 1999, he won another La Liga title with Barcelona, and was again the second most scoring player in the league. In 1999, Rivaldo 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 to play as a playmaker, and not on the left wing.[5] 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 best goal scorer of the league. In the last game of the season, against Valencia, 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 90th minute of the game, and is regarded as one of his greatest goals ever in a combination of importance and skill.[6] The win secured Barcelona a place in the following UEFA Champions League tournament.

Milan

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. He briefly returned to Brazil, playing for Cruzeiro in Belo Horizonte. On July 22, 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.[7]

Olympiacos

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. 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. 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, 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,[8] and against old foes Real Madrid, although this was not enough, 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.

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. In July 2006, Rivaldo announced that the 2006-07 season with Olympiacos would be his last in Europe, before returning to Brazil.[9] However he quicky changed his decicion and decided to stay for another year. The 2006-2007 season was arguably his best season at Olympiakos, having scored 17 goals at 27 matches, at the Superleague championship.

AEK Athens

Rivaldo quit Olympiacos after contract negotiations stalled and signed on with rival Super League club AEK Athens on 29 May 2007, making the acquisition 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 against his former team Olympiacos, where he had 3 assists and his team won 4-0. After the end of 2007-2008 season, Rivaldo and AEK initially finished in first place in the Greek League, but after the court case between Apollon Kalamaria and Olympiacos for the illegal usage of a player (Roman Wallner) in the 1-0 Apollon Kalamaria win earlier in the season, Olympiacos were awarded the 3 points in a court hearing, thus finishing 2 points ahead of AEK.

FC Bunyodkor

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".[10]

Rivaldo signed a 2-year contract worth €10.2 million and later signed an extension to extend the contract to 2011. [11] One his debut for Bunyodkor, Rivaldo scored twice as Bunyodkor recorded a 2-0 win.[12] 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.[13] In the fourth match Bunyodkor crushed Sogdiana Djizak 5:0 in which Rivaldo scored a poker within 17 minutes.[14]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.[15] 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.[1]

International career

In 1993, he debuted for the Brazilian national football team, scoring the only goal in a friendly match against Mexico.[16]

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, and was excluded from the Brazilian national team by national team manager Mario Zagallo.[2]

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. 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.

Rivaldo had been the centre of criticism when Brazil did not win tournaments, ever since the 1996 Olympics,[17] 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, 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.[18]

He was at the centre of numerous tugs of war between Barcelona and the Brazilian national team. 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.

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.[19] 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 marred by his play-acting in the group match against Turkey.[20] 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".

World Cup goals

# 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

As of 2010.[21][22][23]

Club Season League Cup Continental Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Mogi Mirim 1992 30 10 - - 30 10
Total 30 10 - - - - 30 10
Corinthians 1993 19 11 - - 19 11
1994 22 6 - - 22 6
Total 41 17 - - - - 41 17
Palmeiras 1994 29 13 - - 29 13
1995 45 17 - ? ? ? ?
1996 30 23 - - 30 23
Total 104 53 - - ? ? ? ?
Deportivo la Coruña 1996-97 41 21 5 1 - 46 22
Total 41 21 5 1 - - 46 22
Barcelona 1997-98 34 19 9 8 8 1 51 28
1998-99 37 24 5 2 6 3 48 29
1999-00 31 12 5 1 14 10 50 23
2000-01 35 23 5 2 13 11 53 36
2001-02 20 8 0 0 13 6 33 14
Total 157 86 24 13 54 31 235 130
Milan 2002-03 22 5 ? ? 13 2 35 7
2003-04 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 22 5 ? ? 13 2 35 7
Cruzeiro 2004 2 1 - - 2 1
Total 2 1 - - - - 2 1
Olympiacos 2004-05 23 12 ? 6 1 ? ?
2005-06 22 7 ? 5 2 ? ?
2006-07 25 17 ? 6 0 ? ?
Total 70 36 ? ? 17 3 ? ?
AEK Athens 2007-08 29 8 ? 2 1 ? ?
Total 29 8 ? ? 2 1 ? ?
Bunyodkor 2008 12 7 ? ? 4 1 ? ?
2009 30 20 ? ? 9 1 ? ?
2010 11 6 ? ? ? 2 ? ?
Total 53 33 ? ? ? 4 ? ?
Career total ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

[24]

Brazil national team
Year Apps Goals
1993 1 1
1994 1 0
1995 5 1
1996 2 2
1997 4 1
1998 12 4
1999 13 8
2000 11 8
2001 8 3
2002 10 5
2003 7 1
Total 74 34

Honours

Brazil Palmeiras:

Spain Barcelona:

Italy Milan:

Greece Olympiacos:

Uzbekistan Bunyodkor:

Brazil Brazil

Individual

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Rivaldo open to European move". FIFA. 12 August 2010. http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/clubfootball/news/newsid=1284627.html. Retrieved 11 August 2010. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Rivaldo: In the name of the father, FIFA, October 10, 2000
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Mike Lee, Overcoming Tragedy to be the Greatest, British Council
  4. ↑ "Sousa for Chelsea". The Independent (Independent News & Media). 1996-06-27. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_19960627/ai_n14046663. Retrieved 2008-02-15. 
  5. ↑ RIVALDO NOT A HAPPY NOU CAMP-ER, 4thegame, December 22, 1999
  6. ↑ A star less bright, The Observer, June 30, 2002
  7. ↑ Bolton Wanderers Hall of Shame: Rivaldo. Manny Road, August 8, 2008
  8. ↑ [1] Rivaldo's goal vs. Rosenborg], Youtube
  9. ↑ Rivaldo to quit at end of season, BBC, July 17, 2006
  10. ↑ Rivaldo quits AEK Athens to head to Uzbekistan, ESPNsoccernet, August 25, 2008
  11. ↑ World in motion Times Online February 3, 2009
  12. ↑ "Veteran Rivaldo nets brace on Bunyodkor debut". ESPN. 12 September 2008. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=571331&cc=4716. Retrieved 11 August 2010. 
  13. ↑ Mike Maguire (26 June 2009). "Uzbekistan: Rivaldo Treble Sees Bunyodkor Past Metallurg". Goal.com. http://www.goal.com/en/news/14/asia/2009/06/26/1347554/uzbekistan-rivaldo-treble-sees-bunyodkor-past-metallurg. Retrieved 11 August 2010. 
  14. ↑ [2]
  15. ↑ [3]
  16. ↑ http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/rivaldo-intlg.html
  17. ↑ Rodrigo Amaral, Rivaldo reflects on wheel of fortune, BBC, June 20, 2002
  18. ↑ Brazil questions Rivaldo's role, BBC, November 19, 2000
  19. ↑ John Chapman, Wilmots tells of ref's apology, BBC, June 17, 2002
  20. ↑ Scolari: Rivaldo did not cheat The Guardian June 04 2002
  21. ↑ http://www.footballdatabase.com/index.php?page=player&Id=1100&b=true&pn=Vítor_Borba_(Rivaldo)_Ferreira
  22. ↑ http://soccernet.espn.go.com/players/stats?id=9312&cc=5739
  23. ↑ http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/football/rivaldo.html
  24. ↑ http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/rivaldo-intlg.html

External links