[edit] União São João (1992-1993)

Roberto Carlos began his professional career playing for União São João, a football club based in Araras (São Paulo State). Despite playing at what was seen as a lesser club, he was called up for the Brazil national football team.

[edit] Palmeiras (1993-1995)

In Palmeiras Roberto Carlos was recognized as one of the greats of Brazilian football, winning two consecutive Brazilian Leagues.

[edit] Inter Milan (1995-96)

After almost signing for Bryan Robson's Middlesbrough side in 1995, Roberto Carlos chose a move to Milan and played in Inter for just one season. The then coach of Inter, Roy Hodgson wanted him to play as a left winger but Carlos preferred to play only as a left back.

[edit] Real Madrid (1996-2007)

Roberto Carlos played at Madrid eleven seasons, playing a total of 584 matches and scoring 71 goals in all competitions. 370 of them were league matches, in which he scored 46 goals from his left-back position.

On August 2, 2005, Carlos received dual Spanish and Brazilian citizenship. This proved important for Real Madrid, as it meant that he now counted as a European Union player. In January 2006, he set a club record for the most league matches played by a non-Spanish born player by making his 330th appearance for Madrid. He broke the previous mark of 329 held by Alfredo di Stéfano.^[6]

Having played 30 or more league matches for ten consecutive seasons and being one of the most consistent players in the squad, he was heavily criticized for conceding the ball early during the second leg of the Champions League round of sixteen against Bayern Munich, which led to Roy Makaay's goal, the quickest goal in the tournament's history, effectively eliminating Real from the competition. On March 9, 2007, he announced his decision to not renew his contract with Real Madrid. But in one of the last few games of the season in the dying seconds against Recreativo de Huelva, van Nistelrooy played a beautiful pass and Carlos slotted it home. As a result, Real Madrid were on course for their 30th La Liga championship.

[edit] Fenerbahçe (2007-present)

On June 19, 2007, Roberto Carlos signed a two year contract and one year optional with the Turkish Super League Champion Fenerbahçe at the stadium in front of thousands of fans.^[7][8] In the first official match he played with the team, Fenerbahçe won the Turkish Super Cup against Beşiktaş J.K. by 2 goals. During a league match against Sivasspor, he scored his first goal for Fenerbahçe on August 25, 2007 on a flying header, which was only the third header-goal of his career.

He was injured during the final period of the same season and missed the title race between Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray.^[9] His team eventually lost the title to their rivals, while guaranteeing a place for themselves in Champions League knockouts for the next season. He announced that he is unhappy about the final result and would do his best to carry the domestic trophy back to Şükrü Saraçoğlu.^[10]

[edit] National team

Roberto Carlos amassed 125 caps, scoring 11 goals^[11] for the Brazilian national team. At the 1998 FIFA World Cup, he played seven matches, including the final. After a qualifying game for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, Paraguay goalkeeper José Luis Chilavert spat on Roberto Carlos, an action which caused FIFA to give Chilavert a three-match suspension and forced him to watch the first game of the World Cup from the stands. Roberto Carlos also played seven matches in the finals, scoring a goal from a free kick against China. He also was a starter in the final against Germany.

He is especially famous for a free kick against France on June 3, 1997, where he shot from 35 m (110 ft) from the centre-right channel, and scored. The ball spun so much that the ballboy 10 yards to the right ducked instinctively, thinking that the ball would hit him. Instead, it eventually curled back on target.

After the elimination by France in the quarterfinal of the 2006 FIFA World Cup, he announced his retirement from international football. Against France, he was widely criticised for fixing his socks during a Zinedine Zidane free kick which resulted in a goal from Thierry Henry.