“MY FRIENDS SAID TO ME, ‘EH? ENGLISH FOOTBALL?!’ BUT IT WAS RATHER BEAUTIFUL”
Whenever I look back at my career, Middlesbrough will always spring to mind – it was a marvellous moment for me, professionally and personally. The club, town and fans welcomed me so warmly from day one that my family and I felt at home there... even if we wouldn’t have been able to point at it on a map beforehand.
It was in the 1995 Umbro Cup that I first grabbed Boro’s attention. At 22 years old I was already Brazil’s No.10, plus a Copa Libertadores and Intercontinental Cup champion with Sao Paulo from 1993. The latter title came in an epic 3-2 win against Fabio Capello’s Milan, where Tele Santana put me on during the second half in Tokyo.
If I’m honest, I played really well in the Umbro Cup, and scored when we beat England 3-1 in the last match of the tournament at Wembley. Bryan Robson was Terry Venables’ assistant, as well as player-manager of Boro, and liked what he saw that day, not only technically but also in my behaviour. I got kicked all over the pitch but kept going despite being only 5ft 6in. Back then, the Premiership was still a very physical league, so I think that courage counted in my favour.
After that, Boro showed a real interest in signing me. However, I still hadn’t played the minimum amount of games for Brazil to grant me a work permit in the UK, so Bryan had to wait a while until I achieved that number. When that eventually happened, Boro approached Sao Paulo to negotiate with them.
I wasn’t expecting to leave Sao Paulo that soon. My international career had only just begun, but two factors were key for me accepting Middlesbrough’s offer. First, my contract was coming to an end, and there was a big gap between what I wanted and what Sao Paulo were willing to pay to renew it. Cafu had recently gone through something similar and it took him
