Ivan Rocha Limas (born 14 January 1969), known as Rocha, is a Brazilian retired 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 le ...

who played mainly as a

central defender 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 ...

but also as a

left 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 ...

Club career

Rocha was born in

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 GaWC a ...

, and joined

São Paulo FC São Paulo Futebol Clube (), commonly referred to as São Paulo, is a professional football club in the Morumbi district of São Paulo, Brazil, founded in 1930. It plays in the Campeonato Paulista (the State of São Paulo's premier state leag ...

's youth setup in 1983. Promoted to the first team in 1987, he was first-choice during the team's 1989

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 ...

-winning campaign while also being a regular starter during the 1990 season where they finished runners-up in the Série A; in the 1992 edition of 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 ...

he featured in both legs of the finals as a

, position where he acted during most of his spell under

Telê Santana Telê Santana da Silva, also known as Telê Santana (July 26, 1931 – April 21, 2006) was a Brazilian football manager and former player (right winger). He was born in Itabirito, Minas Gerais. Telê was the manager responsible for putting tog ...

as the manager believed he was "more skillful" than Ronaldão, the habitual starter. In 1992, 23-year-old Rocha joined

Real Valladolid Real Valladolid Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., or simply Real Valladolid () or Valladolid, is a professional football club based in Valladolid, Castile and León, Spain that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish league system. The club colo ...

and helped to promotion from

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...

in his first year. Having played in only 21 matches the defender scored an impressive nine goals (mostly from

penalties Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penalty ...

), second-best in the squad with

José Amavisca José Emilio Amavisca Gárate (born 19 June 1971) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a left midfielder or left winger. He was best known for his Real Madrid stint but played for five other clubs, amassing 381 matches and 57 goal ...

. After another season, Rocha signed with fellow

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's ...

club

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), known simply as Atleti in the Spanish-speaking world and commonly referred to at international level as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish profess ...

. He played very rarely for the ''Colchoneros'', also being loaned several times during his stint in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

(Valladolid again,

CD Logroñés Club Deportivo Logroñés, S.A.D. was a Spanish football team based in Logroño, in the autonomous community of La Rioja. Founded in 1940, it last played in ''Regional Preferente de La Rioja''. Due to financial problems, since 2009 the club has ...

and

RCD Mallorca Real Club Deportivo Mallorca, S.A.D. (, ca, Reial Club Deportiu Mallorca , ''Royal Sporting Club Mallorca''), commonly known as Real Mallorca or just Mallorca is a Spanish professional football club based in Palma on the island of Majorca in ...

) and being afflicted by several injuries. Atlético released Rocha in the summer of 1998, and he played three more seasons in the country, one apiece with

Deportivo Alavés Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. (; ''Sporting Alavés''), usually abbreviated to Alavés, is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the ...

CD Numancia Club Deportivo Numancia de Soria, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club in Soria, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded on 9 April 1945, it plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 2, holding home games at ''Nuevo Estadio Los ...

and

Elche CF Elche Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. ( ca-valencia, Elx Club de Futbol, S.A.D.) is a professional football based in Elche, Province of Alicante, in the Valencian Community. Founded in 1923, the club competes in La Liga, holding home matches at ''Estadi ...

, the latter in the second division. In 2002 he returned to his country and appeared for

Sport Club do Recife Sport Club do Recife, (; known as Sport Recife or Sport, is a Brazilian sports club, located in the city of Recife, in the Brazilian state of Pernambuco. Founded in 1905, the club currently plays in Série B. In football, the club has w ...

União São João Esporte Clube União São João Esporte Clube, or simply União São João is a Brazilian football club based in Araras, São Paulo. The team competes in Campeonato Paulista Segunda Divisão, the fourth tier of the São Paulo state football league. History O ...

and

Paulista Futebol Clube Paulista Futebol Clube, or Paulista as they are usually called, is a Brazilian football team from Jundiaí, in São Paulo, founded on 17 May 1909. They currently play in the Paulistão Segunda Divisão, the fourth tier of the São Paulo state ...

, retiring at the age of 34 and later becoming a players' agent.

Honours

São Paulo *

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 ...

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 ...

: 1989, 1991 *

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 ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rocha, Ivan 1969 births Living people Footballers from São Paulo Brazilian men's footballers Copa Libertadores-winning players Men's association football defenders Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Campeonato Brasileiro Série B players São Paulo FC players Sport Club do Recife players União São João Esporte Clube players Paulista Futebol Clube players La Liga players Segunda División players Real Valladolid players Atlético Madrid footballers CD Logroñés footballers Atlético Madrid B players RCD Mallorca players Deportivo Alavés players CD Numancia players Elche CF players Brazil men's youth international footballers Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Association football agents