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.
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