Paulo César

Paulo César was born on June 16, 1949 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. A young player who was very comfortable technically, he was very complete, capable of playing in different positions on the field, attacking midfielder, left winger or left midfielder. He is also a good dribbler, fast and powerful, capable of easily eliminating his opposite number in 1v1.

It is in the attacking midfielder position that he will mainly play and reveal himself to the general public. At 17, he became a professional, chaining together impressive performances at Botafogo. In his first year as a professional, he joined the Seleçao and played his first match at 18, the beginning of a great adventure.

Surrounded by a golden generation, mixing experience and youth with notably Pelé, Rivelino and Jairzinho in attack, he will gradually establish himself as a regular player. At Botafogo, he won his first trophies. He notably won the Brazilian championship in 1968.

His talent shines through, and he gradually establishes himself as one of the greatest talents in the history of Brazilian football. Pelé will even go so far as to say that he is his worthy heir for the Seleçao in 1971. His start to his career is thunderous, notably when he wins the World Cup in 1970 at only 21 years old.

During this famous World Cup, he was positioned on the left wing, a position he had occupied since the qualifiers. A luxury substitute, he played a decent competition. In 1972, the player decided to join Flamengo where he would win 2 Carioca championships.

And in 1974, he will try the adventure and join Olympique de Marseille after a World Cup where he will have been good individually but in a disappointing Brazilian team. At that time, the one nicknamed Caju will become the first world champion to play in the French championship.

His arrival in France is experienced as an event on a national scale and expectations are immense around the player. In order to avoid the player not being acclimatized to French life, the president of the Olympique de Marseille club will also recruit Claudio Coutinho in the team staff. The Brazilian physical trainer will therefore have this task of improving the player's integration.

For his debut for Marseille, the player will score 1 goal against RC Strasbourg, his debut is very good. Despite a very good debut, Paulo César will have a series of extra-sporting problems. The player enjoys the city's nightlife: nightclubs, alcohol and cocaine.

The player will lose credibility when he forgets a match. The player will arrive late at the meeting place to take the bus and go face Saint-Etienne, finally it is a journalist who will bring him back to Saint-Etienne, the journalist taking a photograph of the situation at the same time. This will be published the next day in the regional newspaper.

This story will be constantly brought to the forefront of the media scene. However, the second half of the season will be good. The club thus finishes vice-champion of France and Paulo César finishes 8th best scorer in the championship with 16 goals.

After a good season in France, the player decided to return to South America, to Brazil, to Fluminense. His return to the country was very good, he won his 3rd and 4th Bola de Prata. Having played for good clubs in Brazil, the player lost notoriety after leaving Fluminense, losing his status as a Brazilian international in 1977. Far from the statistics of Pelé with 58 matches, 8 goals and 8 assists in the Brazilian selection, he ultimately did not have the impact that his early years promised.

After a brief stint in the USA, in the NASL, he returned to Europe, in France, in the AS Aix club where he played 1 season before returning in 1983 to Grêmio where he won the Intercontinental Cup as the last trophy of his career. He then ended his career at the age of 34.

- Bola De Prata in 1970, 1972, 1976 and 1977

- Top scorer in the Rio championship in 1971 (11 goals) (Botafogo)

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