Carolina Conceição Martins Pereira (born 18 February 1983), known as Carol Carioca, is a Brazilian former

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 le ...

who played as a

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. She was part of the

Equatorial Guinea women's national football team The Equatorial Guinea women's national football team, nicknamed the Nzalang Femenino, has represented Equatorial Guinea in international Women's association football, women's football competition since 2000. It is controlled by the Equatoguinean ...

at the

2011 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup was the sixth FIFA Women's World Cup competition, the world championship for women's national association football teams. It was held from 26 June to 17 July 2011 in Germany, which won the right to host the even ...

. On 5 October 2017, she and other nine Brazilian footballers were declared by FIFA as ineligible to play for Equatorial Guinea.

Football career

Carol Carioca first became involved in footballer through her father, who she both attended games with and watched televised matches. She would also play street football with teams of boys, although her mother disapproved. Pereira is Brazilian by birth, but had been invited to

Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea ( es, Guinea Ecuatorial; french: Guinée équatoriale; pt, Guiné Equatorial), officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea ( es, link=no, República de Guinea Ecuatorial, french: link=no, République de Guinée équatoria ...

to play football in 2007. After staying in the country, she was recruited for the women's national football team. She caught

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...

the following year, which she said was one of the low lights of her career along with the results of a career threatening ankle surgery in 2009 which she was told might mean she could no longer play football. As a footballer, she plays under the name "Carol Carioca". In April 2010, Carol Carioca was one of several high-profile players who helped draw the group states of the

FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup The FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup is an international association football tournament, organized by FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association), for national teams of women under the age of 20. The tournament is held in even-numbere ...

held later that year in Germany. Pereira was included in the Equatorial Guinea squad for the

, held in Germany. This was the first time the nation had qualified to appear at the Women's World Cup, and Pereira said that doing so was her proudest moment as a footballer so far. The first round match between Equatorial Guinea and Brazil was the first time a Brazilian player naturalized for another nation had played against them in women's football. When Carol Carioca was a member of the Equatorial Guinea team that won the

2012 African Women's Championship The 2012 African Women's Championship was a football competition, which was organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF). The final tournament was held in from 28 October to 11 November in Equatorial Guinea. Qualification A total of ...

, she was one of 11 out of the 21 players who were naturalized Brazilians playing as Equatoguineans. Carol Carioca retired from playing on 18 November 2021 after reaching with Malabo Kings FC the fourth place of the CAF Women's Champions League inaugural edition. Following the loss to ASFAR for the third-place match, she expressed to media she would continue to be linked to women's football.

Notes

References

* 1983 births Living people Footballers from Rio de Janeiro (city) Brazilian women's footballers Women's association football central defenders CR Vasco da Gama (women) players Santos FC (women) players Botucatu Futebol Clube players FF USV Jena players Associação Acadêmica e Desportiva Vitória das Tabocas players Associação Desportiva Centro Olímpico players Hapoel Be'er Sheva F.C. (women) players Frauen-Bundesliga players WK League players Ligat Nashim players Equatorial Guinea women's international footballers 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup players Brazilian expatriate women's footballers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate women's footballers in Germany Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in South Korea Expatriate women's footballers in South Korea Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Israel Expatriate women's footballers in Israel Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Equatorial Guinea Expatriate women's footballers in Equatorial Guinea 20th-century Brazilian women 21st-century Brazilian women {{Brazil-women-footy-bio-stub