Raí

Raí is certainly one of the great legends of Brazilian football who has fallen into oblivion except for followers of the French championship and in particular Paris Saint Germain where he will remain as one of the greatest legends of the club.

Trophies

204

Goals

637

Games

1984/87 Botafogo (BRE) 38 games, 2 goals

1987 Ponte Preta (BRE) 10 games, 1 goal

1987/93 São Paulo (BRE) 306 games, 111 goals

1993/98 Paris SG (FRA) 215 games, 72 goals

(French Championship: 147 games, 51 goals)

(Coupe de France: 21 games, 7 goals)

(Coupe de la ligue: 11 games, 3 goals)

(Trophée des Champions: 1 game)

(UEFA Super Cup: 2 games, 2 goals)

(Champions League: 15 games, 6 goals)

(Cup Winners' Cup: 18 games, 3 goals)

1998/2000 São Paulo (BRE) 19 matches, 1 goal

With the National Team :

49 caps, 17 goals

(Friendly matches: 31 caps, 12 goals)

(World Cup qualifiers: 8 caps, 3 goals)

(World Cup: 5 caps, 1 goal)

(Copa America: 5 caps)

(US Cup: 3 caps)

(Rous Cup: 2 caps, 1 goal)

1st cap: May 19, 1987 against England (1-1)

Last cap: April 29, 1998 against Argentina (0-1)

Rai Souza Vieira de Oliveira

Born on May 15, 1965 in Ribeirao Preto (BRE)

Brazilian, attacking midfielder, 1m89

Nickname: "Capt'ain Rai"

One of the big names in the Brazilian championship

Raí Souza Vieira de Oliveira was born on May 15, 1965 in the city of Ribeirao Preto. From a young age he played football and had a particular style of play due to his size. Indeed, the attacking midfielder is 1m89 for 87kg. One of his great strengths on the field was aerial play. With an Olympian calm, he had a presence on the field that was unique.

The young prodigy began his professional career in 1984 in the beautiful team of Botafogo, a great Brazilian club. It was in the position of attacking midfielder that he established himself in the squad. It was in 1987 when he joined the São Paulo team that Raí saw his career change completely. Under the orders of Télé Santana, former coach of Brazil, he would experience his first successes.

On the São Paulo side his status changed and he joined the Brazilian national team at just 22 years old. In total, he played 306 matches for his team and scored 111 goals. Impressive statistics for a midfielder who could play as an attacking midfielder, second striker or central midfielder.

A complicated first season at PSG but some nice trophies

In 1993, he was recruited by Paris Saint-Germain when he was 28 years old, he was then at the top of his game and he would write his legend in France. Already renowned as a big name in the Brazilian selection and the South American championship, he had just won 2 Copa Libertadores with São Paulo in 1992 and 1993 and an Intercontinental Cup against Johan Cruyff's FC Barcelona.

At PSG, he joined the Brazilians Ricardo and Valdo in a club where the ambition was to compete with Olympique de Marseille who had just won the Champions League. While hopes were high, the player had a bad first season and disappointed even though he had just won the French championship.

In the Brazilian selection, he lost his starting status during the 1994 World Cup, where he did not even play in the final. It was still the biggest trophy of his career and an edition in which he played 5 matches for 1 match, admittedly not playing every minute.

Writing a legend

He had started the match against the United States as the captain of the Seleção before seeing Dunga recover the armband until the end of the tournament. He only played a few minutes in the quarter-final against the Netherlands and in the semi-final against Sweden. The title of world champion had a slightly bitter taste. His vacation in Brazil would be a trigger. Upon his return, the player is transformed and finally finds his football again.

Upon his return to France, the Brazilian player became "Captain Raí" and logically established himself as the leader of this team, through his calm and talent, he managed to motivate his teammates and push them to give their best. With him, PSG experienced one of its periods of glory and success.

A true leader of the team, he actively participated in the successes in the Cup Winners' Cup in 1996 and played some very good matches on French soil and in European terrain as evidenced by his 9 goals in 33 European competition matches.

The best PSG player of the 20th century

After 5 years at Paris Saint-Germain and an indelible mark left in the hearts of Parisian supporters, he left the capital club and returned to Brazil, to finish his career, in São Paulo. Unfortunately, he would not experience the joys of playing in the 1998 World Cup, his last selection with Brazil would be on April 29, 1998 against Argentina during a 1-0 defeat.

He left the Parc des Princes in May 1998, moved, with tears in his eyes. The supporters paid tribute to him when in 1998, he was voted the best player in the history of PSG ahead of very big names such as Pauleta, Fernandez and Susic. Rai left an indelible mark on the history of the capital club, to which he showed unfailing attachment.