THE LEGENDS

Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite, better known as Kaká, started his professional career in Sao Paulo. He made his debut in February 2001 and during his first season he scored 12 goals in 27 games. He was champion of the Rio-São Paulo Tournament, in which he scored two goals in the final with Botafogo (2-1). In 2002 he was awarded with the Golden Boot for being the best Brasileirão 2002 player. In Sao Paulo he played 152 games, scored 50 goals and generated 32 assists.

The “King of football” played for Santos for 18 years (1956-1974), scoring 643 goals in 656 official matches. His achievements include: 6 Brazilian Championships (1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965 and 1968), 10 Paulista Championships (1958, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969, 197), 2 Libertadores Cups (1962 and 1963), 2 Intercontinental Cups (1962 and 1963) and 1 Intercontinental Recopa (1968). He has been recognized by specialists, former footballers and international fans as the best football player of all times.

He played for Palmeiras between 1993-1995 and was part of one of the most memorable teams in South American football. With 'Verdao' he won 2 Brasileirãos (1993 and 1994), 2 Paulista Championships (1993 and 1994) and 1 Rio-Sao Paulo Cup (1993). Author of impossible goals, owner of a unique kick and an unmistakable style, Roberto Carlos is recognized as one of the best full-backs in football history.

Rivelino pioneered a way of hitting the ball, which would later be inherited by some players like Branco and Roberto Carlos. Rivelino was a key player of the best squad in Fluminense history. That team, known as "The Tricolor Machine", obtained the Rio de Janeiro titles of 1975, 1976 and 1977.

He made his debut in 1971 and played for Flamengo for 18 years. His most important achievements include winning Libertadores and Intercontinental Cups of 1981, and obtaining four National Leagues. Zico is the top scorer of the entire history of the club, with 476 goals.

He played for the club between 2012 and 2014. During 2012 he was elected the best player of Brasileirao, a tournament in which he scored 9 goals and provided 12 assists. He was captain and emblem of the team that won the Copa Libertadores in 2013, for the only time in the history of the institution. He was awarded the prize for the top assist and best player of the competition.

He began his career at the club, making his debut in Brasileirao 1993. Being an important part of the team, Sport Club do Recife won the Pernambuco Championship 1994 and the first Northeast Cup of its history. He quickly became a rising star in Brazilian football.

He played for the club from 1989 to 1992, until he signed for Deportivo La Coruña. For many football experts, Mauro Silva is one of the best defensive midfielders in history, due to his incredible physical condition and intelligence on the field, as well as his professionalism and leadership ability outside of it. With Brazil, he won the World Cup 1994 and the Copa América 1997.

He played 262 games and scored 74 goals. He had an outstanding performance as a football player in obtaining the most important titles in the club's history: the Libertadores and Intercontinental Cups, both disputed in 1983. Since 2016 he has been Gremio’s Head Coach, with which he was champion of the Copa Libertadores 2017, amongst other titles. This allowed him to become the only Brazilian to win it as a player and as a coach.

With 127 goals, he is the club's Second top scorer of its history. Clodoaldo made his debut in Fortaleza and had four periods as a football player. After two years of the announcement of his retirement, in 2016 he returned to the institution at his 39 years old.

He has played 98 games with the Brazilian National team, scoring 62 goals (only surpassed by Pelé). He was world champion in 1994 (EE.UU.) and 2002 (Korea-Japan). After having won two Golden Balls, in 2009 he returned to Brazil to play for Corinthians, his favorite team. That same year, he was champion of the Paulista Championship. He played 69 games with the “Timao”, he scored 35 goals and contributed with 12 assists.

In 1985 he joined Esporte Clube Bahia, where he won 3 Baiano Championships (1986, 1987 and 1988) and 1 Brasileirao in 1988. In the latter, he was the MVP in the remembered final against Internacional de Porto Alegre, scoring 2 goals that allowed Bahia to achieve the Second National title in its history.

Márcio joined Atlético Goianense in 2007 and played 532 games (the footballer with more played matches in the history of the club). He won a great deal of trophies, 4 titles in the Goiano Championship and 1 in Serie C of Brasileirão. He was also a key player in the team who obtained the promotion to Serie A (2009). Even as a goalkeeper, Márcio scored 38 goals in 9 years at Atlético Goianiense.

He began his career as a professional football player at Atlético Paranaense, where he played between 1998 and 2003. He won the Paranaense Championship twice (2000 and 2001), and obtained the only Brasileirao Championship in the history of the club (2001). With the Brazilian National team, he won the World Cup 2002, the Copa América 2004 and the FIFA Confederations Cup 2009.

Mota began his career with Ceará in 1998. In his four periods at the institution (1997-1998; 2002-2003; 2009-2010; 2012-2013) he achieved 4 Cearense Championships (1998, 2002, 2012 and 2013). He played 147 games and scored 87 goals, making him one of the highest-scoring strikers in Ceara's history.

In 2006 he won the two most important titles in the club's history as the captain of the team: the Libertadores Cup, where he was the top scorer, and the FIFA Club World Cup, where Inter de Porto Alegre defeated Barcelona FC 1-0. He also won a Recopa Sudamericana in 2007 and the Gaucho Championship twice (2005 and 2008).

Fernando Ribeiro Fernandes was born on July 16, 1986 in Goiânia. He is the top scorer of the entire history of Cuiabá Esporte Clube, with 55 goals between 2011 and 2013. He has an extensive professional career, playing for several teams: Flamengo, Volta Redonda and Atlético Goianiense, among others.

Lauro Ferreira da Silva (Alegrete, June 20, 1973) played as a midfielder for Esporte Clube Juventude, where he was the captain of the team for many years and an idol for the fans. On May 4, 2008, he completed his game number 500 with the albiverde jersey. He won 3 titles with Juventude: Serie B in 1994, the Gaúcho Championship in 1998 and the Copa do Brasil in 1999. Currently, he is a physical trainer for the club's U17 category.

Gilberto Silva began his football career at América-MG in 1997, where he obtained his first title as a professional player when he was only 21 years old. During his first season for América Mineiro he was considered a key player by the club, where he won the Serie B division, and consequently the promotion to Serie A. As a result of his 2002 World Cup performances, Gilberto garnered a move to the Premier League signing for Arsenal (for £4.5 million). During his six years at the club, Gilberto gained a reputation as one of the best defensive midfielders in the world, and starred in a midfield duo alongside Patrick Vieira.

Marcos Danilo Padilha, known as Danilo, made his debut on November 23, 2013 as goalkeeper for Chapecoense. He played more than 100 games in the club, where in addition to having been promoted to Serie A, he achieved the most important title of the institution's history; the 2016 Copa Sudamericana. Danilo was part of the delegation that was traveling on LaMia flight 2933. The plane crashed in La Unión (Colombia) on November 28, 2016 on the way to play the Copa Sudamericana Final in Medellín. The goalkeeper died at San Vicente Hospital after being rescued from the brutal plane crash.

In his 20 years at the club, Roberto Dinamite stood out for his goalscoring ability and his leadership ability on the pitch. He scored 708 goals in 1,110 games, becoming the top scorer in the club's history and one of the top scorers in Brazilian football. In the 1978 season of the Carioca Championship, Dinamite scored 33 goals in 35 games, which which makes it one of the best goalscoring performances in football history Brazilian in a state tournament. His achievements include 2 Brazilian Championships (1974, 1989) and 5 Carioca Championships (1977, 1982, 1987, 1988, 1992).

He played for Cruzeiro for two seasons and won two titles: 1 Campeonato Mineiro (1994) and 1 Brazil Cup (1993). On November 7, 1993. Cruzeiro would beat Bahia 6-0 with 5 goals and 1 assist from Nazário, who was barely 17 years old. In 1994, the phenomenon was the top scorer youngster in the history of the Campeonato Mineiro scoring 22 goals in 18 games, including a hat-trick in the classic. In 59 games he scored 57 goals. The Brazilian star would return to the club end of 2021, when he became the maximum owner of the institution and was key in the restructuring of the club to return it to the highest category.

Manuel Francisco dos Santos was nicknamed Garrincha by one of his sisters, making allusion to the name of a very common bird in the region where it was born. Mane became the greatest dribbler of all time, earning him the nickname "Angel of the Legs knocked”. At the age of 18, he ended up in Botafogo, where he became an idol of the club. There he obtained the state championships of 1957, 1961 and 1962. He represented Fogão until 1965, with impressive numbers: 245 goals in 612 games.

The forward arrived in Goiás in 1997 where he turned professional. stayed in the club until 2003, scoring 136 goals. In addition to the number of goals scored in his first stage, the striker won many titles with the Verdão shirt: 5 Campeonato Goiano (1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003); 2 Center-West Cup (2001, 2002); 1 Series B Championship (1999). Araújo participated in 391 matches with Goiás and scored 145 goals with the Esmeralda team.

José Roberto Marques played for the club between 1971 and 1974, on 146 occasions and where he got 3 Paranaense Championship (1971/1972/1973) and 1 Torneio do Povo (1973). Ze Roberto scored 72 goals with Verdão, becoming the seventh top scorer in the club's history. Was Coxa's top scorer in the 1971, 1973 and 1974 Brazilian Championships, being the player who scored the most goals in that competition with the alviverde shirt: a total of 34 goals.