Rivaldo

Santa Cruz, Mogi Mirim and Corinthians

He went on to play for Santa Cruz in 1991. In 1992, he moved south to the state of São Paulo where he played for Mogi Mirim in the second tier of Brazilian football. In 1993, he moved to the state capital to play for Corinthians in the first division, on loan.

Palmeiras

In the next year, he switched local allegiances and moved to Palmeiras. His transfer was announced on 11 August 1994, with a fee of US$ 2.5 million (R$ 2.27 million), as confirmed by Mogi Mirim's vice-president, Helcio Luis Adorno. Rivaldo helped Palmeiras successfully defend its league championship in 1994 and win Campeonato Paulista in 1996. In both 1993 and 1994, he was honoured by the authoritative publication Placar Magazine with the Bola de Ouro for the best player in his position.

Deportivo

Before the 1996 Olympics, Parma announced that they had signed Rivaldo and his teammate Amaral from Palmeiras. After the Olympics, there was a dispute, and rather than Italy, Rivaldo moved to Spain as he joined Deportivo La Coruña in La Liga. He only stayed for one season, but nonetheless it proved to be a successful one for both him and the club. Rivaldo was the joint-fourth top goalscorer of the season, with 21 goals from 41 matches, as Deportivo finished third in the league.

Barcelona

Rivaldo switched to Barcelona in 1997 in a transfer deal securing Deportivo a 4 billion pesetas (around $26 million) transfer fee, with Sir Bobby Robson…

In 1993, he debuted for the Brazil national football team, scoring the only goal in a friendly match against Mexico. He was selected to represent Brazil at the 1996 Summer Olympics. The Brazilian team won the bronze medal, but Rivaldo was not selected for the third place playoff. Rivaldo returned to the Brazil national team for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, where he scored three goals en route to the final, including two in the 3–2 quarter-final win against Denmark. Brazil were defeated 3–0 by hosts France in final, failing to defend their 1994 title. Rivaldo had not been a part of the victorious Brazilian team at the 1997 Copa América tournament, but was part of the successful defence of that title at the 1999 Copa América. Rivaldo finished the tournament as the top scorer, with five goals; one being an equaliser from a free-kick in a 2–1 win over Argentina in the quarter-finals, and two in the 3–0 victory over Uruguay in the final. He was named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament. Rivaldo had been the centre of criticism when Brazil did not win tournaments, ever since the 1996 Olympics. In the 1–0 win against Colombia in November 2000, Rivaldo was booed so heavily that he threatened to retire from playing for his country.

The zenith and nadir of Rivaldo's national team career came at the 2002 FIFA World Cup, hosted in South Korea and Japan, where he was able to erase the disappointment of the previous World Cup Final defeat, helping Brazil win their fifth World Cup.…

Regarded as one of the best players of his generation, Rivaldo was praised for his dribbling ability, use of feints, balance, and close ball control. Despite his height, he was also thought to be extremely agile. A dead-ball specialist, Rivaldo was lauded for his bending free kicks and penalty taking, as well as his ability to score from distance. Left footed and considered highly creative, he was also known for his ball striking from volleys, and for scoring from bicycle kicks.

Apart from a right foot, Rivaldo had everything. His wiry strength allowed him to bounce off defenders, he was an outstanding dribbler, and he had a left foot that was both educated and thuggish, subtle and a sledgehammer. Brazil's bandy-legged genius was the most unstoppable footballer since Maradona. Although he was not an out-and-out striker, Rivaldo was a prolific goalscorer who could play in several attacking roles, most notably as a left winger or an attacking midfielder. During his first two seasons at Barcelona under Louis van Gaal, and throughout much of the period that culminated in his 1999 Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year awards, he was generally deployed on the left side of a 4–1–2–3 formation, from where he frequently cut infield, rather than operating centrally as a classic number 10. Despite his success in this role, Rivaldo considered the centre to be his best position and sought to play there as a number 10. Following a dispute with Van Gaal over his positioning during…

Born in Recife, Brazil, Rivaldo had a poor upbringing in the favelas of the city. His physical appearance still marks the poverty he experienced in his childhood: malnourishment-caused bowleggedness and the loss of several teeth. Predominantly left footed, Rivaldo began his professional career at the age of 16, when he signed with Paulistano in 1989, despite the Paulistano coaches believing him too physically weak to succeed. Rivaldo's father Romildo was killed in a road accident in 1989, but Rivaldo signed his first professional contract later that year.