Viola

Viola is famous for his strong personality on the pitch and great appearances in many teams he has played for throughout his long career. His first great appearance was in his second match, in the final game of the 1988 Campeonato Paulista (1st Division Championship of São Paulo State) between Corinthians and Guarani, regarded by the press as having a better team. Viola was called just because the main Corinthians forward, Edmar, was called by the Brazil national football team and then sold to Pescara – and because his main substitute, Marcos Roberto, was with a broken arm. Viola was not having a great offensive exhibition, but could score the title goal in the extra time – by putting his leg in the way of a lopsided shot from Wilson Mano, turning it into an assist. Despite becoming a sudden star, Viola did not have a regular basis of good exhibitions and passed through some loanings until 1992 – he was not part of the first Corinthians title at Brasileirão, in 1990, when he was loaned to São José. He then had a reasonable year in 1992, no longer resembling the skinny boy from 1988. In 1993, Viola almost scored another title goal for Corinthians in the Campeonato Paulista, celebrating it with a pig imitation – mocking the Palmeiras nickname. But in the second final match, the rivals won the tournament. Nevertheless, Viola continued to celebrate his goals in joking ways, increasing his popularity. He was then first called by the Brazil team, going to 1993 Copa América and to…

Club

Corinthians

São Paulo State League: 1988, 1995 Copa do Brasil: 1995 Santos

Copa Conmebol: 1998 Vasco da Gama

Brazilian League: 2000 Copa Mercosur: 2000 Brazil

FIFA World Cup: 1994 Individual

São Paulo state league's top scorer: 1993 Brazilian league's top scorer: 1998 Copa Conmebol's top scorer: 1998