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Rivaldo

Current club: AEK Athens
Number: 10

Rivaldo Vítor Borba Ferreira (born April 19, 1972 in Paulista, Pernambuco), commonly known as Rivaldo, is a Brazilian professional football (soccer) player, currently playing for AEK Athens in the Super League Greece. He most notably played five years with Spanish club FC Barcelona, with whom he won the 1998 and 1999 Spanish La Liga championship and the 1998 Copa del Rey. He was honoured as FIFA World Player of the Year and European Footballer of the Year in 1999. He was named by Pelé as one of the 125 Greatest Living Footballers at a FIFA Awards Ceremony in 2004.

Between 1993 and 2003, Rivaldo played 74 matches and scored 34 goals for the Brazil national football team (A Seleção), and he was a very influential part of the 2002 FIFA World Cup winning Brazilian team. An attacking midfielder, he is known for his play-making capabilities, as well as his technique. He is also known for his bicycle kicks.

After the 1996 Olympics, Rivaldo moved to Spain as he joined Deportivo La Coruña in the Spanish La Liga championship. He only stayed for one season, but nonetheless a very successful one for both him and the club. Rivaldo was the (shared) fourth best goal scorer of the season with 21 goals in 41 matches, as Deportivo finished third in the league. Rivaldo moved on to league rivals FC Barcelona in 1997, in a transfer deal securing Deportivo a 4.000 million peseta (around $26 million) transfer fee.

In his first season at Barcelona, he was the second best goal scorer with 19 goals in 34 matches, as Barcelona won The Double of La Liga championship and Copa del Rey. Rivaldo returned to the Brazilian national team for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, where he scored three goals, including two in the 3-2 quarter-final win against Denmark. Rivaldo had not been a part of the triumphant Brazilian team at the 1997 Copa América tournament, but he was the absolute star in the successful defence of that title at the 1999 Copa América. Rivaldo earned himself the distinction as top scorer of the tournament with 5 goals, one being the equaliser from a trademark free-kick in a 2-1 win over Argentina in the quarter finals, and two in the 3-0 victory over Uruguay in the final. He was named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament.

In 1999, he won another La Liga title with Barcelona, and was again the second most scoring player in the league. In 1999, Rivaldo won both the FIFA World Player of the Year and European Footballer of the Year awards. In his third season in Barcelona, Rivaldo fell out with manager Louis van Gaal, when he insisted to play as a playmaker, and not on the left wing. Even though he had a strained relationship with van Gaal, Rivaldo went on to score 10 goals in the European UEFA Champions League tournament, as the club reached the semi-finals. Van Gaal was fired in June 2000. In the following 2000-01 season, Rivaldo was once again the second best goal scorer of the league. In the last game of the season, against Valencia CF, Rivaldo scored a hat-trick to win the game 3-2. His third goal was a bicycle kick from the edge of the area in the 90th minute of the game, and is regarded as one of his greatest goals ever in a combination of importance and skill. The win secured Barcelona a place in the following UEFA Champions League tournament.