Luís Carlos Tóffoli, usually nicknamed Gaúcho (7 March 1964 – 17 March 2016), was a Brazilian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player (

centre forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

and club president.

Career

Gaúcho was born in

Canoas Canoas (), which earned city status in 1939, is a municipality in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. With more than 340,000 inhabitants, it is part of the Porto Alegre conurbation and has the second highest GDP in the state. It is also th ...

Rio Grande do Sul Rio Grande do Sul (, , ; "Great River of the South") is a Federative units of Brazil, state in the South Region, Brazil, southern region of Brazil. It is the Federative_units_of_Brazil#List, fifth-most-populous state and the List of Brazilian st ...

. After spending his youth years at Rio de Janeiro club

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 t ...

, he began his professional career in 1984 at Grêmio. The following year he transferred to

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 ...

. In 1986, he played for

XV de Piracicaba Esporte Clube XV de Novembro, commonly referred to as XV de Piracicaba, is a professional association football club based in Piracicaba, São Paulo, Brazil. The team competes in Campeonato Paulista Série A2, the second tier of the São Paulo st ...

, then a year later he moved to

Santo André Santo ('saint' in various languages) may refer to: People * Santo (given name) * Santo (surname) * El Santo, Rodolfo Guzmán Huerta (1917–1984), Mexican wrestler and actor * Bob Santo or Santo, stage name of Ghanaian comedian John Evans Kwadwo ...

where he stayed until mid-1988. From 1988 to 1989 he 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 ...

. On 17 November 1988, during a

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 ...

match against Flamengo, he was selected as replacement goalkeeper after

Zetti Armelino Donizetti Quagliato, best known as ''Zetti'' (born 10 January 1965 in Porto Feliz), is a Brazilian football pundit and retired manager and footballer, who played as a goalkeeper. Playing career Club Zetti played with São Paulo fr ...

suffered an injury. The match ended 1-1 after regular time; during the penalty shootout Gaúcho saved two Flamengo penalties, and Palmeiras won 5-4. In 1990, he returned to his youth club, signing a three-year deal with Flamengo. There he won the

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

Copa do Brasil The Copa do Brasil ( en, Brazil Cup) is a knockout football competition played by 92 teams, representing all 26 Brazilian states plus the Federal District. It is the Brazilian domestic cup and the Brazilian equivalent of the FA Cup, Taça de ...

, the 1991 Rio State Championship and the

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 ...

Série A. During this period he played 198 matches and scored 98 goals. At the end of his contract he joined Italian

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

side

Lecce Lecce ( ); el, label=Griko, Luppìu, script=Latn; la, Lupiae; grc, Λουπίαι, translit=Loupíai), group=pron is a historic city of 95,766 inhabitants (2015) in southern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Lecce, the province ...

, where he failed to make a breakthrough with only five games played. He left the club halfway through the season and signed with

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine sports club headquartered in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its professional football team which, since its promotion in 1913, has always played in the A ...

, where once again he failed to repeat his good performances. Back in Brazil, he joined

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 ...

in 1994 where he played once again alongside his good friend

Renato Gaúcho Renato Portaluppi (born 9 September 1962), known as Renato Gaúcho, is a Brazilian professional football coach and former player who is currently in charge of Grêmio. Formerly a right winger, Renato is known for his wins at the Intercontin ...

. In the following year, his last as a professional footballer, he played for Ponte Preta and

Fluminense Fluminense Football Club (), known as Fluminense, is a Brazilian sports club best known for its professional football team that competes in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, the first tier of Brazilian football and the Campeonato Carioca, th ...

Cuiabá Esporte Clube

In 2001, he founded a football club called

Cuiabá Esporte Clube Cuiabá Esporte Clube, commonly referred to as Cuiabá, is a Brazilian professional club based in Cuiabá, Mato Grosso founded on 12 December 2001. It competes in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, the top flight of Brazilian football, as wel ...

. He was the club's first president and manager in the amateur era. Cuiabá Esporte Clube won the Mato Grosso state championship six times.

Death

Gaúcho died of prostate cancer on 17 March 2016.

Honors and achievements

Brazil Cup The Copa do Brasil ( en, Brazil Cup) is a knockout football competition played by 92 teams, representing all 26 Brazilian states plus the Federal District. It is the Brazilian domestic cup and the Brazilian equivalent of the FA Cup, Taça de P ...

- 1990 * Rio State Championship - 1991 *Rio State Championship top goalscorer (17 goals) - 1991 *Copa Libertadores top goalscorer (8 goals) - 1991 * Série A -

References

*''Enciclopédia do Futebol Brasileiro'', Volume 1 - Lance, Rio de Janeiro: Aretê Editorial S/A, 2001. {{DEFAULTSORT:Gaucho 1964 births 2016 deaths People from Canoas Brazilian footballers Brazilian football managers Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Serie A players Brazilian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate footballers in Argentina Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Argentina Brazilian football chairmen and investors Brazilian people of Italian descent CR Flamengo footballers Grêmio Foot-Ball Porto Alegrense players Atlético Clube Goianiense players Esporte Clube XV de Novembro (Piracicaba) players Esporte Clube Santo André players Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras players U.S. Lecce players Boca Juniors footballers Clube Atlético Mineiro players Associação Atlética Ponte Preta players Fluminense FC players Cuiabá Esporte Clube managers Mixto Esporte Clube managers Luverdense Esporte Clube managers Association football forwards Deaths from cancer in São Paulo (state) Deaths from prostate cancer Outfield association footballers who played in goal Cuiabá Esporte Clube Sportspeople from Rio Grande do Sul