Careca

Football player infobox
playername = Careca
fullname = Antônio de Oliveira Filho
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1960|10|5
cityofbirth = Araraquara
countryofbirth = Brazil
height = height|meter=1.82
position = Striker
years = 1976–1982
1983–1987
1987–1993
1994–1997
1997
1998
1999
2004
clubs = Guarani
São Paulo
Napoli
Kashiwa Reysol
Santos
Campinas
São José
Garforth Town
caps(goals) = 770 (46)
680 (54)
161 (73)
600 (31)
000 0(0)
000 0(0)
000 0(0)
000 0(0)
nationalyears = 1982–1993
nationalteam = Brazil
nationalcaps(goals) = 60 (29)

Antônio de Oliveira Filho (born October 5 1960) known commonly as Careca is a former football player. During his career Careca played for several clubs, he is most famous for his time with Italian side Napoli and also his contributions to the Brazilian national football team.

Club career

Careca began his footballing career in his home state of São Paulo with local side Guarani in 1978. With his finishing ability and devastating pace quickly established himself as one of his country's best young strikers. With Guarani, he won the Brazilian Championship during his first season and the Brazilian Second Division in 1981.

By 1983 he had been signed by São Paulo, he continued to gather notoriety because of his impressive goals to games ratio and by 1986, Careca led São Paulo to the Brazilian Championship, beating his former club Guarani in the final. He was awarded "Bola de Ouro" the same year, which is the Brazilian equivalent of Footballer of the Year.

Move to Napoli

In the summer of 1987 Careca moved to Italian Serie A champions Napoli, where he was part of the "Ma-Gi-Ca" forward lineup with Bruno Giordano and Diego Maradona [Cite web|author=Richardson, James|title=Serie A's comeback kid eyes another miracle|url=http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/sport/2007/04/03/serie_as_comeback_kid_eyes_ano.html|publisher=Guardian Unlimited|date=2007-04-03|authorlink=James Richardson (television presenter)] . Careca's first season at Napoli was an unsuccessful one, despite his 13 goals: the team were knocked out in the first round of the European Cup by Real Madrid. and they lost the title in the final games of the season.

However, his second season was far more successful. The team won the UEFA Cup, with Careca scoring a memorable lobbed goal in the final, and finished second in Serie A. In 1990 Careca finally won the Scudetto with Napoli, in what would prove to be effectively Maradona's final season with the club. Careca would spend a further three years with Napoli, establishing a partnership with Gianfranco Zola, during which Napoli failed to win any silverware.

Later stages of playing career

In 1993 Careca left Italy to play for new Japanese J. League team Kashiwa Reysol. Careca spent four years with the team, during which time he helped them to promotion to the J1 league in 1994. He returned to Brazil in 1997 with Santos, he spent a year with the club before joining the lower-league team São José (RS), where he finished his career in 1999.

Careca retired having played 60 games for Brazil, and scored 29 goals. Careca did briefly come out of retirement in 2005 to play for Simon Clifford's Garforth Town in the English Northern Counties East Premier League.

International career

Careca first broke into the national side of Brazil during 1982, but was forced to miss the 1982 World Cup in Spain due to an injury.

It was during the 1986 World Cup, in Mexico, that Careca really established himself in world football. He ended the tournament, during which Brazil were memorably eliminated by France at the quarter-final stage, with five goals, placing him second in the Golden Boot rankings behind England’s Gary Lineker. In 1990, Careca was part of the Brazilian team that was defeated by Argentina in the second round. His last cap was earned in August 1993.

Honours

;Club
*Brazilian League: 1978, 1986
*Brazilian League (2nd division): 1981
*São Paulo State League: 1985, 1987
*Italian Cup: 1987
*UEFA Cup: 1989
*Italian League: 1990

;International
*Copa América: 1989

;Individual
*Bola de Prata: 1982, 1985
*Bola de Ouro: 1986
*Brazilian League Top Scorer: 1986
*São Paulo state league's Top Scorer: 1985

References