Dida

Vitória, Cruzeiro, and Corinthians

In 1990, at age 17, Dida made his club football debut with Alagoan team Cruzeiro de Arapiraca. Two years later, he joined the youth academy of hometown team and 1992 Campeonato Baiano winners Vitória. In 1993, after starting in Brazil's FIFA World Youth Championship victory, Dida made 24 starts in goal for Vitória's senior squad as they finished runner-up to Palmeiras in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, and he became the youngest recipient, at 20, of Brazilian football magazine Placar's annual Bola de Prata award as the Série A's best goalkeeper. Dida was then acquired by Cruzeiro in 1994, and in a span of five seasons, he won four Campeonato Mineiro titles, the 1996 Copa do Brasil, the 1997 Copa Libertadores, and two more Bola de Prata goalkeeping awards. However, in January 1999, he publicly stated his desire to test his skills in Europe and catch the attention of the Brazil national team coaching staff in the process, and took the club to court in attempt to cancel the remainder of his contract so he could sign with AC Milan, the only European team that had extended him an offer. The ensuing legal battle between the player and Cruzeiro lasted for five months, and a FIFA ruling allowed Dida to be loaned to Swiss club Lugano in the meantime so he could keep in shape, though he never played a game. His move to Milan was finalised in May 1999 following a transfer fee of 2.7 billion Italian lire (R$5.2 million) paid to…

After his contract with Internacional expired in 2015, Dida temporarily remained with the club in an internship role as he studied to earn his coaching badges, and took Brazilian Football Confederation-required courses in December 2015 alongside former Brazil teammates Taffarel and Ricardinho. He served as an assistant and consultant to China League One club Shenzhen under the invitation of former Milan teammate and then-head coach Clarence Seedorf from October to November 2016. In August 2018, Dida joined the technical staff of Egyptian Premier League side Pyramids FC to provide additional goalkeeper training, and returned to Milan a year later as goalkeeping coach of the team's youth sector. He was promoted in August 2020 to goalkeeping coach of the senior squad for the 2020–21 season. and departed the position after Milan's Scudetto-winning 2021–22 season.

1993–1996: Youth career, first cap, and Olympics disappointment

Dida is the first major Brazilian goalkeeper to be known by a nickname, as opposed to the tradition of going by either his first or last name. He first represented the Seleção at the under-20 level as first choice at the 1993 FIFA World Youth Championship, keeping four clean sheets in six matches and conceding only two goals as Brazil were victorious. After Taffarel was suspended for the first two games of the 1995 Copa América due to a uniform violation, Dida earned his first cap for the senior side at age 21 in a 1–0 defeat of Ecuador, and started in Brazil's 2–0 win over Peru. He was called up by coach Mário Zagallo as the backup to Danrlei for the 1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup, in which Brazil sent their under-23 squad, and he never left the bench as the Seleção finished runners-up to Mexico. Dida was named the starter for the 1996 Summer Olympics, but Brazil endured a disappointing campaign and finished with a bronze medal, while he gained notoriety for colliding with teammate Aldair in a 1–0 loss to Japan as they chased a long ball into the penalty area, giving Japan the empty-net goal.

1997–2001: First World Cup, and Copa América success

Dida was excluded from Brazil's 1997 Copa América roster, but returned to the starting lineup for the inaugural FIFA Confederations Cup that year, keeping five clean sheets and allowing just two total goals as the Seleção lifted the trophy with a 6–0 rout of…

Nélson de Jesus Silva was born on 7 October 1973 in the city of Irará in the northeastern Brazilian state of Bahia, and was raised in Lagoa da Canoa in the smaller neighbouring state of Alagoas, to where his family had moved when he was three months old. His first sport of choice was volleyball, until he discovered football by way of futsal and pickup games. He was given the nickname "Dida" at a young age, which he would later adopt as his playing name, and his preferred position was that of goalkeeper, despite its long-time unpopularity in Brazilian football and the country's history of discrimination against black players in the position. A supporter of Rio de Janeiro-based club Flamengo, Dida helped form an amateur squad called Flamenguinho ("little Flamengo") at age thirteen, which marked his first experience in organised team play. His footballing idols were goalkeepers Rinat Dasayev and future Seleção teammate Cláudio Taffarel, who had enjoyed successful runs in Italy and Turkey and whom Dida later considered a pioneer in the growing acceptance of Brazilian keepers into European clubs.