Aílton Delfino (born 1 September 1968) is a retired Brazilian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as a striker.

Career

Born in Belo Horizonte, Aílton is a youth product of

Atlético Mineiro Atlético, Spanish for ''athletics'', or Athletico in English, may refer to: Sports Teams Athletico *Athletico SC (Lebanon), a Lebanese football academy *Athletic Bilbao, or Atletico Bilbao, Basque students athletic club (also forming Athletic Cl ...

, making his debut in 1987, and taking part in the conquest of three Campeonato Mineiro, in 1988, 1989 and 1991, and one

Copa CONMEBOL The Copa CONMEBOL ( en, CONMEBOL Cup) was an annual football cup competition organized by CONMEBOL between 1992 and 1999 for South American football clubs. During its time of existence, it was a very prestigious South American club football contes ...

. In 1993, Aílton joined Benfica, as the alternative for

Adolfo Valencia Adolfo José Valencia Mosquera (born 6 February 1968) is a Colombian retired footballer who played as a striker. Nicknamed ''El tren'' (train) due to his powerful physique, he played in seven countries – having one-year spells in Germany and ...

after negotiations with the Colombian failed. He made his debut on a friendly against

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Found ...

on 18 August 1993, scoring the 2–1 in the 73rd minute. His first season in Portugal was a success, as he help the Lisbon-side win the league title, scoring 14 goals in 33 games, notably the first against

Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...

on 6 February 1994. In his second season, Artur Jorge made several changes in the squad, with Aílton being loaned out to

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...

until June 1995. He returned to Portugal for a six-month spell in

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

, without much success, moving permanently to São Paulo in January 1996. At São Paulo, he won the

Copa Master de CONMEBOL The Copa Masters CONMEBOL ( en, CONMEBOL Masters Cup, pt, Copa Master da Conmebol or Supercopa Conmebol) was a football club competition contested by the 4 past winners of the Copa CONMEBOL at the time. The cup is one of the many inter-South Ameri ...

, scoring one goal in the semifinal against

Botafogo Botafogo (local/standard alternative Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation: ) is a beachfront neighborhood ('' bairro'') in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is a mostly upper middle class and small commerce community, and is located between the hills of ...

. He then passed through five more clubs, notably helping São Caetano finish runner-up in the Série A in

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

and 2001, plus starting both games of the 2002 Copa Libertadores Finals.

Honours

Atlético Mineiro * Campeonato Mineiro: 1988, 1989, 1991 *

: 1992 Benfica * Primeira Liga: 1993–94 *

Taça de Portugal The Taça de Portugal (; "Cup of Portugal") is an annual association football competition and the premier knockout tournament in Portuguese football. For sponsorship reasons, it has been known as Taça de Portugal Placard since the 2015–16 sea ...

: 1995–96 São Paulo *

References

External links

* 1968 births Living people Footballers from Belo Horizonte Brazilian footballers Association football forwards Atlético Minero footballers S.L. Benfica footballers São Paulo FC players Cruzeiro Esporte Clube players Associação Portuguesa de Desportos players Associação Desportiva São Caetano players Esporte Clube Santo André players América Futebol Clube (MG) players Expatriate footballers in Portugal Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Primeira Liga players Campeonato Brasileiro Série B players {{Brazil-footy-forward-1960s-stub