Lucimar Ferreira da Silva (born 8 May 1978), commonly known as Lúcio, is a Brazilian former 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 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 ...

. A tall and physically strong defender who excelled in the air, Lúcio was known for his long, surging, galloping runs on the ball, which earned him the nickname ''O Cavalo'' ("The Horse"). Lúcio began his professional career in 1998 with

Internacional Sport Club Internacional (), commonly known as Internacional or simply Inter, is a Brazilian professional football club based in Porto Alegre. They play in the Série A, the first division of the Brazilian league, as well as in Campeonato ...

. After three years in the club, he moved to

Bayer Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH, also known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen (), Bayer Leverkusen, or simply Leverkusen, is a professional football club based in Leverkusen in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The club competes in the Bundesliga, th ...

, where he reached the 2002 Champions League final against

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

of Spain. He scored a header in the final, which Real Madrid won with the score of 2–1. In 2004, he arrived at

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which pla ...

, where he won three

cups CUPS (formerly an acronym for Common UNIX Printing System) is a modular computer printer, printing system for Unix-like computer operating systems which allows a computer to act as a print server. A computer running CUPS is a Server (computi ...

and three

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

titles. Since coach

Louis van Gaal Aloysius Paulus Maria "Louis" van Gaal (; born 8 August 1951) is a Dutch former football player and manager. At club level, he served as manager of Ajax, Barcelona, AZ Alkmaar, Bayern Munich and Manchester United, as well as having three spel ...

did not have a place for him at Bayern, he decided to search for a new team. He moved to

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Football in Italy, Italian professional Association football, football ...

in the summer of 2009. He won the treble with Inter in 2010, helped them win the 2010 Champions League against his former club Bayern Munich. With

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 ...

, Lúcio has accumulated a number of significant accomplishments, winning the

2002 World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

2005 Confederations Cup The 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup football tournament was the seventh FIFA Confederations Cup. It was held in Germany between 15 June and 29 June 2005, as a prelude to the 2006 FIFA World Cup. The tournament was won by 2002 FIFA World Cup winners B ...

and

2009 Confederations Cup The 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup was the eighth Confederations Cup, and was held in South Africa from 14 June to 28 June 2009, as a prelude to the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The draw was held on 22 November 2008 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Joh ...

. After the retirement of

Kaká Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite (; born 22 April 1982), commonly known as Kaká () or Ricardo Kaká, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. In his prime as a playmaker at AC Milan, a period marke ...

, he was the last active player of the 2002 winning team.

Club career

Early career

Lúcio started playing football for his hometown club Planaltina as a forward. In 1997, now playing as a defender, he was loaned to

Guará Guará is a municipality situated in the northern part of the state of São Paulo in Brazil. The population is 21,308 (2020 est.) in an area of 362 km2. The elevation is 573 m. This place name comes from the Tupi language for two animals com ...

, then current

Campeonato Brasiliense Campeonato Brasiliense is the football league of the Federal District, Brazil. It is organized by the Distrito Federal Football Federation. Teams from other states can be affiliated to the Distrito Federal Football Federation (FFDF) as long as t ...

champions, for their match against

for

1997 Copa do Brasil The Copa do Brasil 1997 was the 9th staging of the Copa do Brasil. The competition started on February 18, 1997, and concluded on May 22, 1997, with the second leg of the final, held at the Estádio do Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro, in which Grê ...

. Despite a 0–7 home loss, he impressed the Porto Alegre club and was purchased.

Internacional

At Internacional, Lúcio later became a starting centre-back and had his best year in 2000, receiving his first call-up to the Brazilian national team and being awarded the Bola de Prata as one of the two best centre-backs of the 2000 Campeonato Brasileiro.

Bayer Leverkusen

In January 2001, he moved to

side

. The following season was bittersweet for Leverkusen, as the club surrendered a five-point lead atop the

by losing two of its last three matches while

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, commonly known as Borussia Dortmund (), BVB (), or simply Dortmund (), is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its men's professional footb ...

swept ahead with three consecutive victories in the final matches to finish a point ahead of Leverkusen. They also experienced defeat in the DFB-Pokal Final, losing 4–2 to

Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as FC Schalke 04 (), Schalke 04 (), or abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional German football and multi-sports club originally from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine ...

, and in the

2002 UEFA Champions League Final The 2002 UEFA Champions League Final was the final match of the 2001–02 UEFA Champions League, Europe's primary club football competition. The show-piece event was contested between Bayer Leverkusen of Germany and Real Madrid of Spain at Hamp ...

against

, in which Lúcio cancelled out

Raúl Raul, Raúl and Raül are the Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Galician, Asturian, Basque, Aragonese, and Catalan forms of the Anglo-Germanic given name Ralph or Rudolph. They are cognates of the French Raoul. Raul, Raúl or Raül may re ...

's eighth-minute goal just five minutes later with a header, only for

Zinedine Zidane Zinedine Yazid Zidane (; born 23 June 1972), popularly known as Zizou, is a French professional football manager and former player who played as an attacking midfielder. He most recently coached Spanish club Real Madrid and is one of the most ...

to give Real a 2–1 win with a sublime volley just before half-time. Despite the disappointing end to the season, Lúcio's impressive individual displays drew the attention of several of Europe's top clubs. In July 2003,

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council *Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...

made an official bid, but the deal fell through.

Bayern Munich

In 2004, Lúcio joined

on a six-year contract, where he became a vital part of the team. Following

Oliver Kahn Oliver Rolf Kahn (; born 15 June 1969) is a German football executive and former professional player who played as a goalkeeper. He started his career in the Karlsruher SC Junior team in 1975. Twelve years later, Kahn made his debut match in t ...

's retirement in 2008, Dutchman

Mark van Bommel Mark Peter Gertruda Andreas van Bommel (born 22 April 1977) is a Dutch football coach and former player who played as a midfielder. He is currently the manager of Belgian side Royal Antwerp. His FIFA World Cup profile describes him as "a tackli ...

was named club captain with Lúcio as vice-captain. When Bayern were playing against

in the Round of 16 in the 2006–07 Champions League, Lúcio scored. The goal was in the 66th minute, while the score was 1–0 in favour of Bayern. The goal took Bayern through to the quarter-finals, where they lost to eventual champions

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

. In the 2008–09 DFB-Pokal, he scored in the quarter-finals against his former club, Bayer Leverkusen. Bayern were already down 3–0 when he scored, and even though

Miroslav Klose Miroslav Josef Klose (, pl, Mirosław Józef Klose; born 9 June 1978 as Mirosław Marian Klose) is a German professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who is the head coach of Austrian Footb ...

scored again, Lúcio's goal did not matter as Stefan Kießling scored again to win it for Leverkusen 4–2.

Inter Milan

On 16 July 2009, Lúcio moved to Italian club

, signing a three-year contract with the

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 ...

champions. He was given the number 6 shirt. He scored his first goal with Inter on 23 September 2009 against

Napoli Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

with a header from a corner kick. Lúcio also scored an own goal in the UEFA Champions League in the group stages against

Dynamo Kyiv Football Club Dynamo Kyiv (, ) is a Ukrainian professional Association football, football club based in Kyiv. Founded in 1927 as a Kyivan football team of republican branch of the bigger Soviet Union, Soviet Dynamo Sports Club, Dynamo Sports Soc ...

, resulting in a draw. Throughout the season, both Lúcio and his defensive partner

Walter Samuel Walter Adrián Samuel (; born Walter Adrián Luján; 23 March 1978) is an Argentine former professional footballer. Samuel has been regarded as one of the best centre-backs of his generation, and as one of football's toughest defenders, with f ...

drew praise for their performances, and on 22 May, Lúcio was in the Inter team that won the Champions League by defeating his former club Bayern Munich 2–0, to seal a historic treble and end a 45-year wait to be crowned European Champions. He was selected In the FIFA FIFPro World XI of 2010 For His Performances On 24 September 2011, Lúcio made his 100th appearance in an Inter shirt, scoring the third of a 3–1 win at

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

in Serie A matchday 5. On 29 June 2012, it was announced that Lúcio would be leaving Inter following a mutual agreement to terminate the final two years of his contract.

Juventus

On 4 July 2012, Lúcio signed a two-year contract with

titleholders

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...

, adding him to the list of players to play for both Inter and Juventus. Although he was initially used as a starter in the club's three-man defence, featuring in Juventus's 4–2 victory over Napoli in the

2012 Supercoppa Italiana The 2012 TIM Supercoppa Italiana Final was the 25th edition of the Supercoppa, an annual football match contested by the winners of the previous season's Serie A and Coppa Italia competitions. It was the third instance in four years that the match ...

on 11 August, after struggling with injuries and producing some inconsistent performances, he was soon left out of the first-team in favour of the defensive trio of

Giorgio Chiellini Giorgio Chiellini (; born 14 August 1984) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Major League Soccer club Los Angeles FC. Considered one of the best defenders of his generation, Chiellini is known for his strengt ...

Leonardo Bonucci Leonardo Bonucci (; born 1 May 1987) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back and captains both club Juventus and the Italy national team. Known for his technique and ball-playing ability, he is regarded as one of the b ...

and

Andrea Barzagli Andrea Barzagli (; born 8 May 1981) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. A four-time member of the Serie A Team of the Year, Barzagli is regarded as one of the best and most consistent defenders in Italian f ...

. In total, he made only four appearances in all competitions during his next six months with the club: one in

, two in the Champions League, and one in the Supercoppa Italiana. Due to this lack of playing time, Lúcio left Juventus on 17 December 2012, after his contract was terminated by mutual consent.

São Paulo

On 18 December 2012, one day after leaving Juventus, Lúcio signed for a two-year contract with Brazilian side

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 ...

. After 12 years in Europe, he said that he needed to familiarize himself again with Brazil. He scored his first goal for São Paulo against

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 M ...

on 7 April 2013. In July 2013, after a change of coaches in club –

Ney Franco Ney Franco da Silveira Júnior (born 22 July 1966), known as Ney Franco, is a Brazilian football manager. Career Born in Vargem Alegre, Minas Gerais, Franco worked in Atlético Mineiro and Cruzeiro's youth categories before being named the ...

was replaced for

Paulo Autuori Paulo Autuori de Mello (born 25 August 1956), known as Paulo Autuori, is a Brazilian football executive and manager who is the current manager of Atlético Nacional. Early life A football fan since early childhood and a futsal player, Paulo Au ...

– Lúcio was removed from team. The episode gained traction after the 1–0 loss against

, in a Brazilian League match. Lúcio did not accept

's criticism, that the ''Colorado'' goal, scored by

Leandro Damião Leandro Damião da Silva dos Santos (; born 22 July 1989), known as Leandro Damião or simply Damião, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Japanese club Kawasaki Frontale. He has been capped at international level ...

, would have been scored after a failure from former captain of Seleção Brasileira. This way, reporting an insubordination, Autuori preferred to take off Lúcio from his staff. After his removal, Lúcio did not travel with the club to Germany to contest the 2013 Audi Cup. His presence at the friendly tournament was requested by his former club Bayern Munich, and without him São Paulo earned

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...

40,000 less than initially accorded. The German side understood the explanations of the directors of the Brazilian club about the insubordination issues, but insisted on São Paulo's performance of contract. Training apart from the main staff, Lúcio has become a "problem" to the club. He did not accept playing offers from clubs of Middle East and Japan, preferring to stay in Brazil, and did not receive proposals from other Brazilian teams. The directors of ''Tricolor'' did not want to sign his rescission, claiming about the high value to do this, however Lúcio was still earning a lucrative salary despite not playing. With defenders Antônio Carlos and

Roger Carvalho Roger de Carvalho (born 10 December 1986), known as Roger Carvalho, is a Brazilian footballer who plays as a central defender for Tombense. Biography Carvalho was signed by Iraty in January 2007. He signed a two-year contract with Iraty in N ...

arriving at the club, Lúcio effectively lost his chance at playing again, prompting efforts from São Paulo to transfer him to a European club before the transfer window closes; they were unsuccessful. In December 2013, after almost six months, Lúcio broke the silence and spoke about his poor relationship with the club: "I felt humiliated. I thought "Oh, my god, what did I do to deserve this?"

Palmeiras

On 1 January 2014, Lúcio broke his contract with São Paulo (originally to last until December 2014) and signed with ''Tricolors rivals

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 ...

. Following the departure of former team captain and centre-back Henrique, an idol for the club, Lúcio will now play a major leadership role on the team's defensive group, alongside goalkeeper and current team captain

Fernando Prass Fernando Büttenbender Prass (born 9 July 1978) is a Brazilian football pundit and former player who played as a goalkeeper. Club career Early years Prass was born in Porto Alegre. After starting professionally with local Grêmio (but never pl ...

. Upon signing his contract, Lúcio agreed to only earn a third of the salary he had in at São Paulo, being further compensated through prizes based on his performance on the field.

FC Goa

On 7 June 2015, it was confirmed that Lúcio had signed for

FC Goa Football Club Goa is an Indian professional football club based in Goa, that competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. The club was established on 26 August 2014. Nicknamed as '' Gaurs'', the club plays their ho ...

of the

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is an Indian professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Indian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Organised by the All India Football Federat ...

as their marquee player. He made 14 appearances in his first season, as FC Goa finished as runners-up of the league. The following season was a lot less successful, with just five appearances from Lúcio and FC Goa finishing at the bottom of the table.

Later career

On 7 December 2017, Lúcio returned to his

home district The Home District was one of four districts of the Province of Quebec created in 1788 in the western reaches of the Montreal District and detached in 1791 to create the new colony of Upper Canada. It was abolished with the adoption of the county ...

in Brazil and signed for Gama, captaining the club during the

2018 Campeonato Brasiliense Eighteen or 18 may refer to: * 18 (number), the natural number following 17 and preceding 19 * one of the years 18 BC, AD 18, 1918, 2018 Film, television and entertainment * 18 (film), ''18'' (film), a 1993 Taiwanese experimental film based on t ...

. On 16 April 2018, Lúcio joined rivals Brasiliense. Lúcio announced his retirement as a professional footballer on 29 January 2020.

International career

Lula e Lucio junto com a taça da Copa das Confederações de 2009

2000 Olympics

At junior level, he played for

in the football tournament in the

2000 Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

2002 World Cup

In the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

quarter-final match against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, Lúcio made a mistake that allowed

Michael Owen Michael James Owen (born 14 December 1979) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker for Liverpool, Real Madrid, Newcastle United, Manchester United and Stoke City, as well as for the England national team. Since r ...

to score the opening goal.

Luiz Felipe Scolari Luiz Felipe Scolari (; born 9 November 1948), also known as Felipão ("Big Phil"), is a Brazilian football manager and former player. He is the current manager of Athletico Paranaense. Scolari was a defender during his playing days, and notab ...

defended him, stating that he had made no other mistakes. In the final against

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, Lúcio bore the full brunt of a free-kick, but managed to stay on his feet to complete playing all 630 minutes of the tournament. He was one of four players to do so along with goalkeeper

Marcos Marcos may refer to: People with the given name ''Marcos'' *Marcos (given name) Sports ;Surnamed * Dayton Marcos, Negro league baseball team from Dayton, Ohio (early twentieth-century) * Dimitris Markos, Greek footballer * Nélson Marcos, Portugue ...

, right-back captain

Cafu Marcos Evangelista de Morais (born 7 June 1970), known as Cafu (), is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a right-back. Known for his pace and energetic attacking runs along the right flank, he is regarded as one of the gr ...

, and midfielder

Gilberto Silva Gilberto Aparecido da Silva (; born 7 October 1976) is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder most notably for English Premier League club Arsenal, Super League club Panathinaikos F.C., Clube Atlétic ...

2006 World Cup

In the

2006 World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...

, Lúcio set a

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

-record by playing 386 consecutive minutes without committing a foul, a streak which was finally broken in Brazil's 1–0 quarter-final loss to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. In August 2006, Lúcio was appointed as captain by Brazil manager

Dunga Carlos Caetano Bledorn Verri (born 31 October 1963), known as Dunga (), is a Brazilian football manager and former professional player who played as a defensive midfielder. Under his captaincy, Brazil won the 1994 FIFA World Cup and he lifted ...

2009 Confederations Cup

Lúcio's next international tournament was

. On 28 June 2009, the Brazilian captain scored the game-winning goal in the 84th minute for Brazil in the final of the Confederations Cup against the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Lúcio converted on a header from an

Elano Elano Blumer (born 14 June 1981), known as Elano, is a Brazilian football manager and former player who played as an attacking midfielder. Known for his accurate passing and precise set pieces, Elano started his senior career at Santos, and sp ...

corner-kick, which beat American goalkeeper Tim Howard.

2010 World Cup

The

2010 World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

was Lúcio's third World Cup. He played in the ''Seleçãos first match against

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

on 15 June 2010, leading his team to a narrow 2–1 win. In the tournament, he partnered

Juan ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, t ...

in defence. In Group E, Brazil won against the

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...

and played a 0–0 draw against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

, which was enough to lead Brazil to the knockout stage.

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

was beaten by Brazil, 3–0, and the ''Seleção'' made it to the quarter-finals. There Brazil faced the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, where

Wesley Sneijder Wesley Sneijder (; born 9 June 1984) is a Dutch retired professional footballer. Due to his elite playmaking ability, Sneijder was considered one of the best midfielders in the world during his prime. A product of the Ajax Youth Academy, he sta ...

scored twice for Netherlands to eliminate Brazil after a 2–1 scoreline.

After World Cup 2010

After head coach Dunga was sacked, the

Brazil Football Confederation The Brazilian Football Confederation ( pt, Confederação Brasileira de Futebol; CBF) is the governing body of football in Brazil. It was founded on Monday, 8 June 1914, as , and renamed Confederação Brasileira de Desportos in 1916. The foot ...

hired

Mano Menezes Luiz Antônio Venker de Menezes (born 11 June 1962), known as Mano Menezes, is a Brazilian professional football coach and former player. He is the current head coach of Sport Club Internacional, Internacional. He managed the Brazil national f ...

as the side's new head coach. Menezes also had faith in the experienced Lúcio, who kept his starting centre-back role in the team. Even though Lúcio kept his place, his centreback partner Juan was dropped from the Brazilian squad, and

Thiago Silva Thiago Emiliano da Silva (born 22 September 1984) is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for club Chelsea and captains the Brazil national team. Considered one of the best defenders of his generation, he is known f ...

was Lúcio's new partner. On 4 June 2011, Lúcio played his 100th game for Brazil, which consists of 98 official caps and two unofficial caps in friendly matches against Spanish club

Sevilla Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Gua ...

in 2005 and against Swiss club

Luzern , neighboring_municipalities= Adligenswil, Ebikon, Emmen, Horw, Kriens, Malters, Meggen, Neuenkirch Lucerne ( , ; High Alemannic: ''Lozärn'') or Luzern ()Other languages: gsw, Lozärn, label=Lucerne German; it, Lucerna ; rm, Lucerna . is a ...

in 2006.

2011 Copa América

Lúcio was also named in Brazil's squad for

2011 Copa América The 2011 Campeonato Sudamericano Copa América, better known as the 2011 Copa América or the Copa América 2011 Argentina, was the 43rd edition of the Copa América, the main international football tournament for national teams in South Americ ...

. Brazil barely survived the group stage and in the quarter-finals the team faced

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

, which eliminated Brazil after a penalty shootout. Towards the end of 2011, Menezes dropped Lúcio from the Brazil's squad, and

Robinho Robson de Souza ( or , born 25 January 1984), known as Robinho (), is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a forward. In 1999, at 15 years of age, Robinho was picked by Brazil legend Pelé as his heir apparent and, in 2002, ...

became the new team captain. Lúcio made his last appearance for Brazil in September 2011.

Style of play

Regarded as one of the best defenders of his generation, Lúcio was a tall, large, tenacious, and physically strong defender, who excelled in the air, and was known for his heavy marking of opponents, as well as his hard-tackling style of play and leadership; he was also highly regarded for his positioning, ability to read the game and his adeptness at winning back possession in one on one situations. Gifted with good technical skills, and excellent distribution, although he was usually deployed as a centre-back, he was also used as a

defensive midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

, where he demonstrated his confidence in possession, and ability to play the ball out of defence. Although he was primarily known for his defensive skill and consistency, his pace, stamina and

dribbling In sports, dribbling is maneuvering a ball by one player while moving in a given direction, avoiding defenders' attempts to intercept the ball. A successful dribble will bring the ball past defenders legally and create opportunities to score. A ...

ability frequently enabled him to get forward into good attacking positions, with his trademark long, surging, galloping runs on the ball, which earned him the nickname ''O Cavalo'' ("The Horse", in Portuguese); these attributes, along with his powerful striking ability from distance and on set-pieces with his right foot, made him an additional offensive threat.

Personal life

Lúcio is married to Dione, with whom he has three children: Victoria, João Vítor, and Valentinna. He is an

Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...

Christian, and frequently talks about the way his faith sustains his life in professional football.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Brazil's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Lúcio goal''.

Honours

Bayer Leverkusen *

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

runner-up: 2001–02 Bayern Munich *

: 2004–05, 2005–06, 2007–08 *

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal ( is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga. It is considere ...

: 2004–05, 2005–06, 2007–08 *

DFB-Ligapokal The DFL-Ligapokal (, officially Premiere Ligapokal , previously DFB-Ligapokal ) or the ''German League Cup'' was a German football competition that took place before the start of the Bundesliga season, featuring the top five teams of the previous ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

Inter Milan *

: 2009–10 *

Coppa Italia The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since. History The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...

: 2009–10,

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

*UEFA Champions League: 2009–10 *

Supercoppa Italiana The Supercoppa Italiana ( en, Italian Super Cup) is an annual football match contested by the winners of the Serie A and the Coppa Italia in the previous season. If the same team wins both the Serie A and Coppa Italia titles in the previous seaso ...

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The competition was first contested in 200 ...

Juventus *Supercoppa Italiana:

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

Brazil *

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

FIFA Confederations Cup The FIFA Confederations Cup was an international association football tournament for men's national teams, held every four years by FIFA. It was contested by the holders of each of the six continental championships ( AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, ...

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

Individual * Brazilian Bola de Prata: 2000 * ''

kicker Kicker or The Kicker may refer to: Sports * Placekicker, a position in American and Canadian football * ''Kicker'' (sports magazine), in Germany * Kicker, the German colloquial term for an association football player * Kicker, the word used i ...

Team of the Season: 2000–01, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06 *

ESM Team of the Year The European Sports Media (ESM), formerly European Sports Magazines, is an association of football-related publications in Europe. Members European Sports Media was established in 1989 as an international body for football journalism. Its nine fo ...

: 2001–02, 2005–06, 2009–10 *

2009 FIFA Confederations Cup The 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup was the eighth Confederations Cup, and was held in South Africa from 14 June to 28 June 2009, as a prelude to the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The draw was held on 22 November 2008 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Joh ...

Fair Play Award Fair Play Award may refer to: Association football *Kategoria Superiore Fair Play Award, in Albania *FIFA Fair Play Award *MLS Fair Play Award *North American Soccer League Fair Play Award Other *Indian Premier League Fair Play Award * Giro d'Ital ...

: FIFA.com Users' Top 11 * FIFA FIFPro World XI: 2010 * Pirata d'Oro (Internazionale Player of the Year): 2012

Notes

References

External links

* * * *
Lucio's Testimony
* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lucio 1978 births Living people Association football defenders Brazilian footballers Brazilian expatriate footballers Brazil international footballers Sport Club Internacional players FC Bayern Munich footballers Bayer 04 Leverkusen players Bayer 04 Leverkusen II players Inter Milan players Juventus F.C. players São Paulo FC players Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras players FC Goa players Sociedade Esportiva do Gama players Brasiliense Futebol Clube players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Campeonato Brasileiro Série D players Bundesliga players Serie A players Expatriate footballers in Germany Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate footballers in India Olympic footballers of Brazil Footballers at the 2000 Summer Olympics 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2002 FIFA World Cup players 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2006 FIFA World Cup players 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2010 FIFA World Cup players 2011 Copa América players FIFA World Cup-winning players FIFA Confederations Cup-winning players Brazilian evangelicals FIFA Century Club Indian Super League marquee players UEFA Champions League winning players Indian Super League players Sportspeople from Federal District (Brazil)