Paulo Roberto Falcão

Falcão
Personal information
Full namePaulo Roberto Falcão
Date of birth16 October 1953
Place of birthAbelardo Luz, Brazil
Height1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing positionCentral midfielder
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
1972–1980Internacional158(22)
1980–1985Roma107(22)
1985–1986São Paulo10(0)
Total274(43)
National team
1976–1986Brazil28(6)
Teams managed
1990–1991Brazil
1991–1992América
1993Internacional
1994Japan
2011Internacional
2012Bahia
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

Paulo Roberto Falcão (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈpawlu ʁoˈbɛʁtu fawˈkɐ̃w̃]; born 16 October 1953) is a Brazilian head coach and former footballer. He is widely considered one of the best players in Internacional and Roma history, and one of the most talented central midfielders of all time, especially at his peak in the mid-1980s. At one stage, he was the world's highest paid footballer.

For the Brazil national team, Falcão was capped 34 times between February 1976 and June 1986. He appeared at the 1982 FIFA World Cup, playing in midfield alongside Zico, Sócrates and Éder, considered one of the greatest Brazilian national teams ever.[1] He was named by Pelé one of the 125 Greatest Living Footballers at a FIFA Awards ceremony in 2004.[2] His last name, Falcão, was chosen by Radamel García, a retired footballer and father of Radamel Falcao, to name his son as a tribute to him. He usually played as a play-making central midfielder known for his technique, vision, passing and long-range shot.

Club career

Internacional

Falcão began his professional career at Sport Club Internacional of Porto Alegre, in Rio Grande do Sul, where he played from 1973 to 1980, winning three Brazilian National Championships(1975, 1976, 1979) and reaching the finals of the 1980 Copa Libertadores, losing to Nacional. During his time at Sport Club Internacional, he was surprisingly left out of the Brazil squad for the World Cup in Argentina in 1978, though he made the shortlisted pre-tournament 40.

Roma

In 1980, Falcão transferred to Serie A club Roma for £650,000. In his first season in Italy (1980-81), he was able to master the language and had his mother and sister living with him to help settle him in. He played well, scoring 3 goals in his 25 games as Roma finished 2nd in Serie a to Juventus. This was a controversial championship, as Roma had a perfectly good goal ruled out against Juventus during a defining draw in Turin. Consolation came with a Coppa Italia win for Roma, beating Torino in the final on penalties - Falcão himself scored the decisive spot kick.

Although Roma slipped to 3rd in his second season (1981-82), personally for Falcão it was better than the first, with 6 goals in 24 games, rivaling Liam Brady as the most impressive foreign star in Serie A. At the end of this season, he was deservedly called up for the 1982 World Cup finals in Spain.

After the World Cup, Falcão then inspired Roma to win their first league title since the Benito Mussolini years in 1982-83, scoring 7 times in 27 games, and creating countless more. Although Juventus's Michel Platini finished as top scorer in the league, and despite Juventus beating Roma in both league games, he was acknowledged as the star man in Serie a this season, also performing well as Roma won through to the quarter finals of the UEFA Cup. At the end of this season, Falcão had earned the nickname "the 8th King of Rome".

It was tough to live up to that season, but the new campaign in 1983-84 saw Roma almost achieve that. Platini's all conquering Juventus side won the title from Roma who finished 2nd, but it was only won on the final day of the season, Falcão again impressing with 5 goals in his 27 games. Roma's main goal this season, however, was the European Cup, especially as the final was to be played at Roma's own Olympic Stadium. He played every game as Roma swept past IFK Gothenburg, CSKA Sofia and SC Dynamo Berlin to reach the semi finals against Dundee United.

In a previous Serie a game, Falcão injured his knee, so missed the first leg of the semi final, as Roma lost 2-0 in Dundee. He returned for the 2nd leg as Roma won 3-0 to reach the final, but again injured his knee in the process. He was fit enough for the final against Liverpool, but played poorly as Roma were eventually defeated on penalties after a 1-1 draw, with Falcão declining to even take a spot kick. This was a marked turning point in his relationship with the club, and the beginning of the end of his time in Rome. Roma again won the Coppa Italia, but despite nearly winning the treble, the mood around the city was not a happy one.

In season 1984-85, Falcão was more famous for his off field antics than his on field ones. Due to his knee troubles, he only managed 4 games and 1 goal in the league as Roma slumped to an abysmal 8th in the championship. Falcão then flew off to New York for an operation on his knee that was unauthorized by the Roma club doctors, and Roma then terminated his contract. He went back to Brazil after 5 years in Rome.

Falcão then signed a contract with São Paulo,. He retired from professional football after the 1986 World Cup.

He is one of eleven members of Hall of Fame of A.S. Roma.

International career

Falcão starred in the midfield of the fantastic Brazil 1982 team, along with Toninho Cerezo, Zico, Eder and Socrates, generally seen as one of the best teams not to win the World Cup. He started all the games, as Brazil beat Soviet Union 2-1, scoring the last goal as Brazil then beat Scotland 4-1, and with another goal in the 4-0 win against New Zealand.

In the 2nd phase of the World Cup, his team obtained a 3-1 win against the World Champions Argentina, meaning that the Brazilians needed only a draw in their next game against Italy to advance to the semi finals. In this famous game, despite twice equalising, Brazil were beaten by a Paolo Rossi hat trick as Italy won 3-2. Falcão famously got the second equalising goal for Brazil against his adopted country with a lethal drive from the edge of the area, celebrating in a manner made more famous by Marco Tardelli when he scored in the final against West Germany. After the match, he was said to be so distressed that he wanted to give up football.

After muddling through a nondescript season for his club (although he helped to win the São Paulo State Championship in 1985), he managed to get a call up to the Brazil 1986 World Cup squad, mainly on reputation. After this World Cup, Falcão retired from football.

During this World Cup, he only managed to play in two games (coming on as substitute against both Spain and Algeria), not remotely hitting the heights of his form in 1982 as Brazil exited in the quarter finals against the French team of his old rival Michel Platini.

Coaching career

From 1990 to 1991 he was the manager of the Brazilian national football team. His second and longest coaching experience was with América from 1991 to 1993. He also coached Internacional in 1993. After a brief hiatus, in 1994, he was the manager of the Japanese national football team. In April 2011, after 16 years without managing a club, he was signed by Internacional, replacing Celso Roth.[3] He was then sacked in July following three consecutive defeats in the Brazilian league.[4][5]

On February 2012, Falcão returned into management, signing an 11-month deal as head coach of Bahia.[6]

Personal life

Falcão was born in Abelardo Luz, in the state of Santa Catarina of Southern Brazil. His mother Azize has Italian origins, from Calabria.[7]

Media career

Falcão worked for many years as a football commentator for Rede Globo and for its sports oriented branch SporTV.

Statistics

[8]

Club performance League Cup Continental Total
Season Club League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Brazil League Copa do Brasil South America Total
1971InternacionalSérie A00
197200
1973340
1974212
1975191
1976155
197790
1978275
1979205
1980123
Italy League Coppa Italia Europe Total
1980/81RomaSerie A2535021
1981/8224620?0
1982/832774182
1983/84275
1984/8541
Brazil League Copa do Brasil South America Total
1985São PauloSérie A00
1986100
Country Brazil 15721
Italy 10722
Total 26443
Brazil national team
YearAppsGoals
197651
197740
197800
197951
198000
198100
198274
198300
198400
198500
198670
Total286

Honours

Club

Brazil Internacional

Italy A.S. Roma

Brazil São Paulo FC

Individual

External links

  1. ↑ Daniel Pearl (3 April 2006). "No flair please, he's Brazilian". London: BBC. Retrieved 3 July 2006.
  2. ↑ "Pele's list of the greatest". BBC Sport. 4 March 2004. Retrieved 22 November 2013.
  3. ↑ "Falcão será apresentado nesta segunda à tarde" (in Portuguese). Internacional Official website. 10 April 2011. Retrieved 10 April 2011.
  4. ↑ "Falcao, l'idillio è finito L'Internacional lo caccia" (in Italian). La Repubblica. 18 July 2011. Retrieved 12 February 2012.
  5. ↑ "Internacional sacked Falcao". Sambafoot. 19 July 2011. Retrieved 12 February 2012.
  6. ↑ "Falcão confirmed as new Bahia coach". Sambafoot. 7 February 2012. Retrieved 12 February 2012.
  7. ↑ Also been recognized world wide, due to his historic moments of smoking roughly a half pack of cigarette every match he played during his carer. The Brazilian star,Falcao normally smokes roughly 10 sticks of cigarette before the end of 90 minutes of every international game which he has featured. He has done that during so many matches, which later leed to his quick retirement. La Stampa, 23 settembre 1980, pagina 21 archiviolastampa.it
  8. ↑ Falcão at National-Football-Teams.com