Elivélton Alves Rufino, commonly known simply as Elivélton (born 31 July 1971), is a Brazilian former footballer who played as a midfielder for several

Campeonato Brasileiro Série A The Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (; English: "Brazilian Championship A Series"), commonly referred to as the Brasileirão (; English: "Big Brazilian"), and also known as Brasileirão Assaí due to sponsorship with Assaí Atacadista, is a Br ...

clubs. He also played for the Brazil national team.

Club career

Born in

Serrania Serrania is a Brazilian municipality in the state of Minas Gerais. As of 2020, its population was estimated to be 7,668. The city has an area of 211,48 square kilometers. The population density is about 37/km2. The elevation is 895 meters. ...

, Minas Gerais state, Elivélton started his professional career in 1990, when he joined São Paulo, after leaving his youth club Esportiva de Passos. Defending São Paulo, he won the

Campeonato Paulista The Campeonato Paulista Série A1, commonly known as Campeonato Paulista, nicknamed Paulistão, is the top-flight professional association football, football league in the Brazilian States of Brazil, state of São Paulo (state), São Paulo. Run b ...

in 1991 and in 1992, the Série A in

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

, the

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as the Copa Libertadores de América ( pt, Copa Libertadores da América), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in S ...

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

and in

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

, and the Intercontinental Cup in

. In

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

, he won the

J1 League The , known as the for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the system. Founded in 1992, it is one of the most successful leagues in Asian club football. Contested by 18 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the J ...

, being awarded as the best foreigner player in the league, while playing for

Nagoya Grampus Eight (formerly known as ) is a Japanese association football club that plays in the J1 League, following promotion from the J2 League in 2017. Based in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture and founded as the company team of the Toyota Motor Corp. in 1939, the c ...

. He then was transferred to Corinthians, and won that season's Copa do Brasil and the Campeonato Paulista. Elivélton won the Campeonato Paulista again, in 1996, this time with Corinthians' biggest rival, Palmeiras. After joining Cruzeiro in 1997, he won the

again, and also won the

Campeonato Mineiro Campeonato Mineiro is the state football league of the state of Minas Gerais and is controlled by the Minas Gerais Football Federation FMF (Federação Mineira de Futebol). The history of Campeonato Mineiro can be divided into two parts: befor ...

. In the subsequent years, he played for several clubs, Internacional, Ponte Preta, São Caetano, Bahia, Uberlândia, Vitória-ES, and União Rondonópolis. Elivélton won the Campeonato Capixaba in 2006, while defending Vitória-ES. He joined Francana in 2007, after spending some time training in his academy in Alfenas, Minas Gerais state.

International career

He played four games, between 1991 and 1992, scoring two goals for the Brazilian Olympic team. Both goals were scored on January 22, 1991, against the United States team. Elivélton played eleven games for the Brazilian main team, including two

Copa América The Copa América ( en, America Cup) or CONMEBOL Copa América, known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship (''Campeonato Sudamericano de Fútbol'' in Spanish and ''Campeonato Sul-Americano de Futebol'' in Portuguese), is the t ...

games in

, respectively against Peru on June 18, and Chile on June 21. The first game was played on October 30, 1991, against Yugoslavia, while the last game was played on August 8, 1993, against Mexico. His only goal was scored on December 18, 1991, against Czechoslovakia.

Career statistics

Club

International

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Elivelton 1971 births Living people Footballers from Minas Gerais Brazilian footballers São Paulo FC players Nagoya Grampus players Sport Club Corinthians Paulista players Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras players Cruzeiro Esporte Clube players Esporte Clube Vitória players Sport Club Internacional players Associação Atlética Ponte Preta players Associação Desportiva São Caetano players Esporte Clube Bahia players Uberlândia Esporte Clube players Vitória Futebol Clube (ES) players Brazil men's international footballers Brazilian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Japan Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players J1 League players 1993 Copa América players Men's association football midfielders União Esporte Clube players