Ze Roberto was one of the most iconic and successful players of the nineties and noughties, rising to International prominence with Real Madrid and the Brazilian national team. After moving to Germany in 1998, he starred as the midfield maestro for Bayer Leverkusen's doomed treble-losers in 2002/02.
Later moving to Bayern, the pint-sized trickster won four Bundesliga titles and four DFB-Pokals, before returning to Brazil and playing well into his forties.
Here, he tells FourFourTwo about the matches that changed his life...
This article first appeared Issue 311 of FourFourTwo. Subscribe now!
1. Portuguesa 3-3 Vasco (September 3, 1995 Brazilian Serie A)
“I scored an absolute screamer in this game! I dribbled past two opponents from my own half and rattled the ball in the top corner from outside the box. That was important because I was only 21, and I grabbed national attention with what I did. Also, the move was quite similar to what Dener – my hero, who had played for Portuguesa and Brazil, too – used to do. So you could say that I was very pleased with that as well.”
2. Brazil 3-1 Bolivia (June 29, 1997 Copa America Final)
MORE GAMES THAT CHANGED MY LIFE
“This cup was significant because I was young, only 22, and our team was full of great players like Ronaldo, Cafu, Roberto Carlos, Denilson and Dunga. The tournament was tough because of the altitude in Bolivia, but we managed to beat Peru 7-0 in the semi-finals. I came on against Bolivia in the final with just under an hour to go, when the score was 1-1. Ronaldo scored in the 79th minute, then I got our third – it was pure joy. That was key to me staying in the Selecao squad until the 1998 World Cup.”
3. Brazil 3-0 Ghana (June 27, 2006 World Cup last 16)
“Although we didn’t end up as champions, the 2006 World Cup in Germany was very special to me. Personally, the most important match was our win against Ghana. I played well, scored our third goal and won the man of the match award. It was a childhood dream come true. Sadly, we ended up losing to France in the quarter-finals, but many people said I was the best Brazilian in that tournament. I was the only one to make it into the FIFA World Cup All-Star team – that was an honour for me.”
4. Palmeiras 2-1 Santos (December 2, 2015 Copa do Brasil Final)
“Winning the league title in 2016 with Palmeiras was special because the club hadn’t won it for such a long time, and I’d done it at the age of 42 – quite rare, really! I joked to all of my younger team-mates that becoming a champion at 20 is easy. But the 2015 Brazilian Cup was even more remarkable. First, I was the captain. And it was unforgettable to achieve that in my first season at the club. We beat some very strong teams on the way, like Internacional, Cruzeiro, Fluminense and then Santos, who had a pretty good team. We lost the first leg away 1-0, won the second leg 2-1 when they’d scored in the 86th minute, then beat them on penalties. Our goalkeeper, Fernando Prass, scored the winning effort after saving another. It was absolutely epic!”
