Careca

Careca

Personal information
Full name	Antônio de Oliveira Filho
Date of birth	(1960-10-05) 5 October 1960
Place of birth	Araraquara, Brazil
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position	Striker
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1976–1982	Guarani	63	(38)
1983–1987	São Paulo	67	(54)
1987–1993	Napoli	164	(73)
1993–1996	Kashiwa Reysol	60	(31)
1997	Santos	0	(0)
1998–1999	Campinas	?	(?)
1999	São José (RS) (loan)	?	(?)
Total		377	(206)
National team
1982–1993	Brazil	64	(30)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Antônio de Oliveira Filho (born 5 October 1960), better known as Careca (Portuguese pronunciation: [kaˈɾɛkɐ]), is a Brazilian former footballer. During his career Careca played for several clubs, he is most famous for his time with Italian side Napoli and also his contributions to the Brazilian national football team.

Club career

Careca began his footballing career in his home state of São Paulo with local side Guarani in 1978. With his finishing ability and devastating pace quickly established himself as one of his country's best young strikers. With Guarani, he won the Brazilian Championship during his first season and the Brazilian Second Division in 1981.

By 1983 he had been signed by São Paulo, he continued to gather notoriety because of his impressive goals to games ratio and by 1986, Careca led São Paulo to the Brazilian Championship, beating his former club Guarani in the final. He was awarded Bola de Ouro the same year, which is the Brazilian equivalent of Footballer of the Year.

Move to Napoli

In the summer of 1987 Careca moved to Italian Serie A champions Napoli, where he was part of the "Ma-Gi-Ca" forward lineup with Bruno Giordano and Diego Maradona.^[1] Careca's first season at Napoli was an unsuccessful one, despite his 13 goals: the team were knocked out in the first round of the European Cup by Real Madrid. and they lost the title in the final games of the season.

However, his second season was far more successful. The team won the UEFA Cup, with Careca scoring a goal in each leg of the final, one a memorable lobbed goal, and finished second in Serie A. In 1990 Careca finally won the Scudetto with Napoli, in what would prove to be effectively Maradona's final season with the club. Careca would spend a further three years with Napoli, establishing a partnership with Gianfranco Zola, during which Napoli failed to win any silverware.

Later stages of playing career

In 1993 Careca left Italy to play for new Japanese J. League team Kashiwa Reysol. Careca spent three years with the team, during which time he helped them to promotion to the J1 league in 1994. He returned to Brazil in 1997 with Santos, he spent a year with the club before joining the lower-league team São José (RS), where he finished his career in 1999.

Careca retired having played 64 games for Brazil, and scored 30 goals.

Garforth Town owner and manager, Simon Clifford, persuaded Careca to play the majority of a friendly game against Guiseley in the summer of 2005.

Footballing name

The word careca is Portuguese for 'bald'. It was a nickname given to Careca as a child because of his admiration for a famous Brazilian clown of the same name.

International career

Careca first broke into the national side of Brazil during 1982, but was forced to miss the 1982 World Cup in Spain due to an injury. His place in the squad for that tournament was taken by Roberto Dinamite.

It was during the 1986 World Cup, in Mexico, that Careca really established himself in world football. He ended the tournament, during which Brazil were memorably eliminated on penalties by France at the quarter-final stage, with five goals which placed him second in the Golden Boot rankings behind England’s Gary Lineker. In 1990, Careca was part of the Brazilian team that was defeated by Argentina in the second round. He scored two goals in the tournament. His last cap was earned in August 1993.

Club statistics

^[2]

National team statistics

Honours

Club

• Campeonato Brasileiro Série A: 1978, 1986
• Campeonato Brasileiro Série B: 1981
• Campeonato Paulista: 1985, 1987
• UEFA Cup: 1989
• Serie A: 1990
• Supercoppa Italiana: 1991

Individual

• Bola de Prata: 1982, 1985
• Campeonato Paulista Top Scorer: 1985
• Bola de Ouro: 1986
• Campeonato Brasileiro Série A Top Scorer: 1986
• FIFA World Cup Silver Boot: 1986

References

External links

• Careca – FIFA competition record
• Careca at National-Football-Teams.com

Brazil squads v t e Brazil squad – 1983 Copa América Runners-up 1 Leão 2 Leandro 3 Márcio 4 Mozer 5 Andrade 6 Júnior 7 Renato Gaúcho 8 Sócrates 9 Roberto Dinamite 10 Tita 11 Jorginho 12 João Marcos 13 Paulo Roberto 14 Toninho Carlos 15 Wladimir 16 China 17 Renato 18 Careca 19 Éder 20 Leiz 21 João Paulo 22 Acácio 23 Geraldo Coach: Parreira v t e Brazil squad – 1986 FIFA World Cup 1 Carlos 2 Édson 3 Oscar 4 Edinho (c) 5 Falcão 6 Júnior 7 Müller 8 Casagrande 9 Careca 10 Zico 11 Edivaldo 12 Paulo Vitor 13 Josimar 14 Júlio César 15 Alemão 16 Mauro Galvão 17 Branco 18 Sócrates 19 Elzo 20 Silas 21 Valdo 22 Leão Coach: Telê Santana v t e Brazil squad – 1987 Copa América 1 Carlos 2 Josimar 3 Geraldao 4 Ricardo Rocha 5 Douglas 6 Nelsinho 7 Müller 8 Raí 9 Careca 10 Edu Marangon 11 Valdo 12 Zé Carlos 13 Jorginho 14 Ricardo Gomes 15 Júlio César 16 Dunga 17 Edú 18 Paulo Silas 19 Romário 20 Mirandinha 21 Joao Paulo 22 Regis Coach: Carlos Alberto Silva v t e Brazil squad – 1990 FIFA World Cup 1 Taffarel 2 Jorginho 3 Ricardo Gomes (c) 4 Dunga 5 Alemão 6 Branco 7 Bismarck 8 Valdo 9 Careca 10 Silas 11 Romário 12 Acácio 13 Mozer 14 Aldair 15 Müller 16 Bebeto 17 Renato 18 Mazinho 19 Ricardo Rocha 20 Tita 21 Mauro Galvão 22 Zé Carlos Coach: Lazaroni