What’s up, galera? How are you doing? You must know by now: Brazil loves soccer! Obviously, it’s not so difficult to conclude that we must also love some soccer players, am I right? Well, today you’ll get to know one of them: Rivaldo! Many people consider him one of the best players in his position. Did you know Rivaldo played for the famous Barcelona and AC Milan, and that he also won the 2002 World Cup for Brazil? So, let’s learn Portuguese while also learning about Brazil’s soccer!
Rivaldo Vítor Barbosa Ferreira was born on April 19, 1972. He is known as Rivaldo, and was a professional Brazilian footballer. Rivaldo played mainly as an attacking midfielder, but also as a second striker. He was very successful during his career, playing for and winning titles with some of the biggest and best teams in the world such as FC Barcelona and AC Milan.
Although underestimated by many people in his home country, Rivaldo also had a very good career playing with Brazilian teams, including the National Team scoring goals. He used to make killer passes and even won the World Cup in 2002.
After two winning seasons playing for the Brazilian team Palmeiras, Rivaldo arrived in Spain in 1996 to play for Deportivo La Coruña. He only stayed there for one season, but it proved to be a successful one for both him and the club. Rivaldo was the fourth top goal scorer of the season, with 21 goals from 41 matches, and Deportivo finished third in the league. He then moved to FC Barcelona, where he played for 5 seasons and won the national league 5 times as well as one national cup.
He had great moments in his career in Spain. One of his best matches (or perhaps the best) was playing for Barcelona against Valencia. Rivaldo scored a hat-trick and the third goal was simply amazing. Take a look:
After leaving Barcelona, Rivaldo headed to Italy to play for AC Milan in 2002. With Milan, he won the Coppa Italia and the Champions League in the 2002–03 season. After playing in Italy, he also played in Greece and other clubs in Brazil at the end of his career. Since retiring as a player, he is now the manager of a small Brazilian club that helped him at the beginning of his career.
For many people around the world, Ronaldo was the best player in that tournament. But there are some people who dare say that if Rivaldo wasn’t there, Brazil wouldn’t have been able to win the 2002 World Cup. For these people, he was just the right balance between defense and offense, controlling and passing the ball in the middle field, and taking part in both sequences that resulted in crucial Brazilian goals during the final against Germany. Take a look at the video:
In most of his apparitions in the field, Rivaldo would wear the number 10. Historically, the number 10 is reserved for the best player in the team. During his time at Barcelona, Rivaldo began wearing number 11, and just after World Cup of 2002 (and his victory) he was elevated to number 10! In his stay during AC Milan, however, Rivaldo went back to shirt number 11.
During his participations with the Brazilian team during the World Cup, Rivaldo would always wear jersey number 10! He was our golden star, after all! ⭐❤️
That’s it, my friends! Now you know more about this amazing Brazilian footballer!
See you next time!
Hugs from Rio de Janeiro!
Click on the links below and see more related Dicas
Most Important Football Teams in Rio
Brazilian Ronaldo
Brazilian Football Player Pelé
This post is also available in:
English 
Português (Portuguese) 
Español (Spanish)
Search for Portuguese Dicas
Tell us which Portuguese lesson you would like to learn
Suscribe to A Dica do Dia.
Get free Portuguese lessons. Subscribe to A Dica do Dia and get short, daily lessons in Portuguese completely free.
