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Roberto Carlos. Photo sourced on

Top 10 Fascinating Facts about Roberto Carlos

Roberto Carlos da Silva Rocha, commonly known as Roberto Carlos, was born on April 10, 1973. He is a former professional footballer and now works as a football ambassador.

 He started his football career in Brazil as a forward but spent most of his career as a left-back and a free-kick specialist.

 In 1997, he was runner-up in the FIFA World Player of the Year and was named by Pele in the FIFA 100 list of the world’s greatest living players.

Learn more about Roberto Carlos in these top 10 fascinating facts.

1.Roberto Carlos is a Former Professional Footballer

Roberto started playing football in Brazil. He was used as a forward, usually as a center-forward or outside forward, but throughout his career, he played mostly as a defender, usually as a left-sided full-back or wing-back.

John Carlin of The New York Times described him as the most offensive-minded left-back. Several pundits considered him one of the best left-backs in the sport’s history.

Carlos is talented with good speed-dribbling skills, precise ball passing and crossing ability, strength and excellent physical qualities. His pace and energy allowed him to cover the left flank effectively and assist at both ends of the pitch.

He was known for being a clean player throughout his career and for his long throw-ins and strong 24-inch thighs, which allowed him to accelerate quickly and strike the ball powerfully.

2. He was Nicknamed El Hombre Bala 

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 Carlos was nicknamed El Hombre Bala, meaning the bullet man, because of his powerful bending shots and freekicks, which measured at over 169km/h.

He is regarded as one of the foremost free kick takers of his generation and known for being capable of striking the ball powerfully in a particularly long range and producing curling shots with the outside of his left boot in dead ball situation

3. He Used to Play for Brazil National Team

Roberto Carlos plays for his national team, Brazil national team; he amassed 125 caps, scoring 11 goals. He represented Brazil at three FIFA World Cups, four Copa America tournaments, the 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup and the 1996 Olympic Games.

He represented Brazil in the 1998 World Cup and played seven matches. In the 2002 World Cup, he played six matches in the finals scoring a goal from a free kick against China.

He played in the 2006 World Cup. During this world cup, he received many criticisms from fans and Brazilian media for failing to mark goal scorer Thierry Henry and announcing his retirement from the national team.

Despite all this, he still wanted to play in the 2010 World Cup but was not named in the Brazilian Squad for the World Cup. Instead, Brazil newcomer Michel Bastos earned a spot for the Left back position.

4. Roberto Carlos Played for Many Clubs Throughout his Career

Roberto Carlos. Photo sourced on

He started his professional career playing for Uniao Sao Joao, a football club based in Araras in Sao Paulo. At 19, in 1992, he joined Atletico Mineiro. In 1993, he joined Palmeiras and in 1995, he joined Inter Milan.

His career was successful in 1996; he joined Real Madrid until 2007 when he joined Fenerbahce, a Turkish Super Lig and played until 2009. In 2010 he was signed by Corinthians club but didn’t stay long. He signed a two- and half-year contract with Russian Premier League club Anzhi Makhachkala in 2011.

Finally, he ended his football career as player-manager of Delhi Dynamos of the Indian Super League.

5. Roberto has Been a Manager for Various Football clubs

In early 2012, Roberto joined Anzhi Makhachkala as interim manager. He later resigned alongside manager Guus Hiddink and criticized the club.

In June 2013, he was appointed manager of the Turkish Super Lig team Sivasspor. He left the club on December 21, 2014, following a defeat to Istanbul BB. Roberto was appointed manager of Akhisarspor club on January 2, 2015.

After finishing his season in Turkey, Roberto signed for Al-Arabi of the Qatar Stars League. Due to communication breaking down, he didn’t join the club.

On July 5, 2015, it was announced that he had signed to be the head coach of the Delhi Dynamos of the Indian Super League for the 2015 season. After the end of the season, he didn’t return to Delhi Dynamos. Healso used to play some matches at the club.

6. Roberto Carlos was Accused of Using Doping

Doping is the use of banned athletic performance-enhancing drugs by athletic competitors as a way of cheating in sports.

In 2017, a report by an investigative journalist of German broadcasting station ARD revealed doping practices in Brazil.

Physician Julio Cesar Alves claimed to have treated Carlos for many years. Carlos denied the allegations.

7. Carlos Has Participated in Various Charity Works

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He participated in Soccer Aid at Stamford Bridge on June 16, 2019. Carlos played for the World XI team, which Usain Bolt captained and they beat the England XI on penalties.

Roberto Carlos became the global ambassador for the international children’s social programme Football for Friendship in 2019. He used to attend the programme’s forum and awarded the winners.

In January 2022, Bull In The Barne United, an English Sunday League pub team, won a raffle competition. The win meant that Roberto would play for them in a one-off friendly.

On March 4, 2022, he made a goal scoring debut for Bull In The Barne United during a 4-3 defeat to Harlescott Rangers in a Friendly match at Hanwood.

8. Roberto Carlos is a Brand Endorser

Carlos has appeared in many commercials for the sportswear company Nike. He stared in a Nike commercial set in an airport built into the 1998 World Cup with several stars like Romario, Ronald, and many other Nike commercials.

He also started in Pepsi commercials. One is 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.

Roberto Carlos was featured in the EA Sports FIFA video games series and appeared on the cover of FIFA Football 2003 with Ryan Giggs and Edgar Davids. In 2015, game company Konami featured him in their football video game Pro Evolution Soccer 2016 as one of the new myClub Legends.

9. He Founded Ginga Scout

In 2016, Roberto Linck , Roberto Carlos and Fabio Simplicio launched Ginga Scout software that connects players with coaches across the globe.

10. He has Elven Children

Roberto Carlos has eleven children with seven women. His daughter Giovanna gave birth to a son, making him became a grandfather.