Roberto Carlos started his career in Brazil as a forward but spent most of his career as a left-back and has been described as the "most offensive-minded left-back in the history of the game".
49 Facts About Roberto Carlos
2.
At club level, Roberto Carlos joined Real Madrid from Inter Milan in 1996 to spend 11 highly successful seasons, playing 584 matches in all competitions and scoring 71 goals.
3.
Roberto Carlos is one of the few players to have made over 1,100 professional career appearances at club and international level.
4.
Roberto Carlos made his debut for the Brazil national team in 1992.
5.
Roberto Carlos played in three World Cups, helping the team reach the final in 1998 in France, and win the 2002 tournament in South Korea and Japan.
6.
Roberto Carlos was named in the FIFA World Cup All-Star Team in 1998 and 2002.
7.
Roberto Carlos was chosen on the FIFA World Cup Dream Team in a 2002 FIFA poll.
8.
Roberto Carlos took up management and was named as the manager of Sivasspor in the Turkish Super Lig in June 2013.
9.
Roberto Carlos began his professional career playing for Uniao Sao Joao, a football club based in Araras in the state of Sao Paulo.
10.
Roberto Carlos remained in the team for the next two games, held in Logrono, against Logrones and Athletic Bilbao.
11.
In 1993, Roberto Carlos joined Palmeiras, where he played for two seasons, winning two consecutive Brazilian league titles.
12.
Roberto Carlos spoke to Inter owner Massimo Moratti "to see if he could sort things out and it soon became clear that the only solution was to leave".
13.
Roberto Carlos joined Real Madrid in the year 1996 close season.
14.
When newly appointed manager Fabio Capello learned that Roberto Carlos had become transferable he barely could believe it, and he asked chairman Lorenzo Sanz to travel to Milan immediately.
15.
Roberto Carlos is Real Madrid's most capped foreign-born player in La Liga with 370 appearances, after breaking the previous record of 329 held by Alfredo Di Stefano in January 2006.
16.
Roberto Carlos can cover the entire [left] wing all on his own.
17.
Roberto Carlos won four La Liga titles with Madrid, and played in the 1998,2000 and 2002 UEFA Champions League finals, assisting Zinedine Zidane's winning goal in 2002, considered one of the greatest goals in Champions League history.
18.
Roberto Carlos was named as Club Defender of the Year and included in the UEFA Team of the Year in 2002 and 2003.
19.
On 6 December 2003, Roberto Carlos scored the opening goal for Madrid as they beat Barcelona in El Clasico at Camp Nou for the first time in a La Liga match in 20 years.
20.
In March 2007, in the second leg of the Champions League round of 16 against Bayern Munich, Roberto Carlos failed to control the backpass when Madrid kicked off, allowing Bayern's Hasan Salihamidzic to steal the ball and feed to Roy Makaay, who scored the quickest goal in Champions League history at 10.12 seconds.
21.
On 19 June 2007, Roberto Carlos signed a two-year contract with the Turkish Super Lig champions Fenerbahce; he was presented at club's home ground, the Sukru Saracoglu Stadium, in front of thousands of fans.
22.
Roberto Carlos was injured during the final period of the same season and missed the title race between Fenerbahce and rivals Galatasaray.
23.
Roberto Carlos announced that he was unhappy about the final result and would do his best to carry the domestic trophy back to the Sukru Saracoglu Stadium.
24.
On 7 October 2009, Roberto Carlos announced that he would leave Fenerbahce when his contract expired in December 2009.
25.
On 4 June 2010, Roberto Carlos scored a goal against Internacional and helped Corinthians to move to the top of the Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A table.
26.
On 16 January 2011, Roberto Carlos scored an impressive goal directly from a corner kick against Portuguesa.
27.
Concerned with his safety after being threatened by fans after the Copa Libertadores da America defeat to Colombian club Tolima, Roberto Carlos requested his release by the club, which was promptly facilitated by Corinthians.
28.
Roberto Carlos announced his plans to retire at the end of 2012, but continued to work behind the scenes at Anzhi.
29.
Roberto Carlos ended his professional playing career with a spell as player-manager of Delhi Dynamos of the Indian Super League.
30.
Roberto Carlos amassed 125 caps, scoring 11 goals for the Brazilian national team.
31.
Roberto Carlos represented Brazil at three FIFA World Cups, four Copa America tournaments, the 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup and the 1996 Olympic Games.
32.
Roberto Carlos is especially famous for a bending 40-yard free kick against France in the inaugural match of Tournoi de France 1997 on 3 June 1997.
33.
Roberto Carlos is widely considered by several pundits as one of the best left backs in the history of the sport.
34.
Roberto Carlos was nicknamed El Hombre Bala throughout his career, due to his powerful bending shots and free kicks, which have been measured at over 105 miles per hour, and for which he became renowned.
35.
Roberto Carlos has appeared in commercials for the sportswear company Nike.
36.
Roberto Carlos has starred in Pepsi commercials, including a 2002 World Cup Pepsi advertisement where he lined up alongside David Beckham, Raul and Gianluigi Buffon in taking on a team of Sumo players.
37.
Roberto Carlos was named in the Ultimate Team Legends in FIFA 15.
38.
In 2016, Roberto Carlos launched a software called Ginga Scout that connects players with coaches across the globe.
39.
In June 2022, Roberto Carlos co-hosted an exhibition match in Miami including both current and retired players called "The Beautiful Game by R10 and RC3".
40.
On 16 June 2019, Roberto Carlos took part in Soccer Aid at Stamford Bridge, London.
41.
Roberto Carlos played for the World XI team which was captained by Usain Bolt and they beat the England XI on penalties.
42.
In 2019, Roberto Carlos became the global ambassador of the international children's social programme Football for Friendship.
43.
Roberto Carlos had a brief spell as interim manager at Anzhi Makhachkala in early 2012.
44.
Roberto Carlos later criticised the club upon resigning alongside manager Guus Hiddink.
45.
Roberto Carlos was appointed manager of Turkish Super Lig team Sivasspor in June 2013.
46.
On 2 January 2015, Roberto Carlos was appointed as manager of Akhisarspor.
47.
Roberto Carlos was born in Garca, Sao Paulo, on 10 April 1973 to Oscar and Vera Lucia da Silva.
48.
On 24 June 2005, Roberto Carlos was robbed by two gunmen while doing a live radio interview.
49.
Roberto Carlos was not hurt but they took his watch and the interviewer's cellular phone.