Baltazar Maria de Morais Júnior (born 27 July 1959), known simply as Baltazar, is a Brazilian retired

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. During an 18-year professional career he played, other than in his country, in Spain, Portugal, France and Japan, winning several individual scoring honours. He appeared with the Brazilian national team that won the

1989 Copa América The Copa América 1989 football tournament was hosted by Brazil, from 1 to 16 July. All ten CONMEBOL member nations participated. Brazil won their fourth Copa América, and first since 1949, by beating Uruguay 1–0 in the final match at the ...

Club career

Born in

Goiânia Goiânia (; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Goiás. With a population of 1,536,097, it is the second-largest city in the Central-West Region and the 10th-largest in the country. Its metropolitan area has a population ...

Goiás Goiás () is a Brazilian state located in the Center-West region. Goiás borders the Federal District and the states of (from north clockwise) Tocantins, Bahia, Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso do Sul and Mato Grosso. The state capital is Goi ...

, Baltazar started playing with hometown club

Atlético Goianiense 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 ...

. He signed for Grêmio in 1979, going on to score in double digits during his entire four-season spell a recording a best of 14 in 1980 while being an instrumental attacking unit in the team's back-to-back Gauchão conquests; in the

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

's Série A final against

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 ...

, after missing a

penalty kick A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

in the first leg (2–1 home win), he scored the only goal in the second match for a first-ever national championship conquest. In the following four years, Baltazar played for

Palmeiras Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras (), commonly known as Palmeiras, is a Brazilian professional football club based in the city of São Paulo, in the district of Perdizes. Palmeiras is one of the most popular clubs in South America, with around ...

(two spells),

Flamengo Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (; English: ''Flamengo Rowing Club''), more commonly referred to as simply Flamengo, is a Brazilian sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, in the neighborhood of Gávea, best known for their professional football ...

and

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 ...

, netting 13 times for the second side in another Brazilian championship conquest. He had his first abroad experience aged 26, being relegated from the Spanish

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...

with RC Celta de Vigo. In 1986–87, Baltazar propelled the

Galicians Galicians ( gl, galegos, es, gallegos, link=no) are a Celtic-Romance ethnic group from Spain that is closely related to the Portuguese people and has its historic homeland is Galicia, in the north-west of the Iberian Peninsula. Two Romance la ...

back into the top level by scoring a career-best 34 goals, also a best-ever in the

second division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

. In a game in December, he accidentally collided with CD Málaga goalkeeper

José Antonio Gallardo José Antonio Gallardo Marín (31 December 1961 – 15 January 1987) was a Spanish footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He played 25 professional matches for Málaga, dying aged 25 from complications after a collision during a game. Club c ...

who died days later from a cerebral haemorrhage; he mourned the death which some had blamed him for. Baltazar only found the net on six occasions in the following season, but the club retained its league status. He subsequently stayed in the country and joined Atlético Madrid, scoring 35 goals in 36 contests in his first season – his second Pichichi in three years – and adding 18 in

the following ''The Following'' is an American crime thriller television series created by Kevin Williamson, and jointly produced by Outerbanks Entertainment and Warner Bros. Television. The first season follows former FBI agent Ryan Hardy ( Kevin Bacon) ...

; however, after the emergence of younger

Manolo Manolo, a form of Manuel (name), is a male given name which may refer to: People: * Manolo Álvarez Mera (1923–1986), Cuban-born bel canto tenor *Manolo Badrena (born 1952), Puerto Rican percussionist *Manolo Blahnik (born 1942), Spanish fashion ...

, the 31-year-old was deemed surplus to requirements by manager

Tomislav Ivić Tomislav Ivić (; 30 June 1933 – 24 June 2011) was a Croatian professional football player and manager. Often described as a brilliant strategist, Ivić is credited with helping develop the modern style of the game. In April 2007, Italian spo ...

and, in November 1990, signed for FC Porto in Portugal, being used almost exclusively as a substitute during his only season. Until his retirement at the age of 37 in 1996, Baltazar played for Stade Rennais (France),

and

Kyoto Purple Sanga is a Japanese professional football club based in Kyoto. "Sanga" comes from the Sanskrit word ''sangha'', a term meaning "group" or "club" and often used to denote the Buddhist priesthood, associating the club with Kyoto's many Buddhist templ ...

(Japan).

International career

Baltazar played for

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

at the

which was held on home soil, appearing in three group stage matches for the eventual winners (including the 0–0 against Colombia as a starter). However, during nearly one full decade, he only earned a total of six

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

and scored two goals.

Post-retirement

Highly

religious Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatur ...

, Baltazar was nicknamed ''O Artilheiro de Deus'' (God's striker). He became a minister after retiring from football, settling in his hometown and fathering two children.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Club

Grêmio * Campeonato Brasileiro Série A:

Campeonato Gaúcho The Campeonato Gaúcho Série A1 (Gaúcho Championship A1 Series or Série A1), officially named as Campeonato da Primeira Divisão de Futebol Profissional da FGF - Divisão Especial - Série A1 and commonly known as Campeonato Gaúcho or Gauchã ...

: 1979, 1980 Flamengo * Campeonato Brasileiro Série A:

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...

Porto *

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 ...

1990–91 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...

Goiás *

Campeonato Goiano The Campeonato Goiano is the football league of the state of Goiás, Brazil. Format First Division First stage *Teams are divided in two groups of six teams. *Double round-robin, in which all teams home-and-away games against the team fr ...

: 1994

International

Brazil * Copa América:

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxon Valdez oil tanker runs ...

Individual

: Top Scorer 1978, 1994 *

: Top Scorer 1980, 1981 * Campeonato Carioca: Top Scorer 1984 * Campeonato Brasileiro Série B: Top Scorer 1994 *

Pichichi Trophy In Spanish football, the Trofeo Pichichi is awarded by the sports newspaper '' Marca'' to the top goalscorer of each La Liga season. Named after the Athletic Bilbao striker Rafael "Pichichi" Moreno, the trophy has been awarded annually since the ...

: 1986–87 ( Segunda División), 1988–89

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Baltazar 1959 births Living people Sportspeople from Goiânia Brazilian footballers Association football forwards Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Campeonato Brasileiro Série B players Grêmio Foot-Ball Porto Alegrense players Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras players CR Flamengo footballers Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas players Goiás Esporte Clube players La Liga players Segunda División players RC Celta de Vigo players Atlético Madrid footballers Primeira Liga players FC Porto players Ligue 1 players Stade Rennais F.C. players J1 League players Japan Football League (1992–1998) players Kyoto Sanga FC players Brazil under-20 international footballers Brazil international footballers 1989 Copa América players Copa América-winning players Brazilian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in Portugal Expatriate footballers in France Expatriate footballers in Japan Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Japan Pichichi Trophy winners Brazilian Christian religious leaders Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in France Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal