Paulo César Baier (born 25 October 1974), known as Paulo Baier, is a Brazilian football

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 ...

and former player who played as an

attacking 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 ...

. He is the current manager of

Botafogo-SP Botafogo Futebol Clube, commonly referred to as Botafogo-SP, Botafogo de Ribeirão Preto or simply Botafogo, is a Brazilian association football club in Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo. They currently play in the Série B, the second tier of Braz ...

. Baier's 21-year career started in 1995 with São Luiz-RS, as a

right 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 ...

. Mainly associated to

Criciúma Criciúma is a city in the Brazilian state of Santa Catarina. At , it is located 180 km south of Florianópolis, the state capital and around 900 km south of São Paulo. The city is the center of Brazil's flooring and home materials in ...

Goiás Goiás () is a Brazilian state located in the Center-West region. Goiás borders the Federal District and the states of (from north clockwise) Tocantins, Bahia, Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso do Sul and Mato Grosso. The state capital is Goi ...

and

Atlético Paranaense Club Athletico Paranaense (commonly known as Athletico and formerly known as Atlético Paranaense) is a Brazilian football team from the city of Curitiba, capital city of the Brazilian state of Paraná, founded on March 26, 1924. The team ...

, he scored totals of 106 goals since the establishment of the round-robin format of the Série A, being the second-best in the tournament's history.

Playing career

Baier was born in

Ijuí Ijuí () is a Brazilian municipality of Rio Grande do Sul, situated from the state capital, Porto Alegre. In 2020 its population was 83,764, making it the third most populous city of the Missões region, behind Passo Fundo and Erechim. Demogr ...

, Rio Grande do Sul, and started his career at the age of 12, training with

Gaúcho A gaucho () or gaúcho () is a skilled horseman, reputed to be brave and unruly. The figure of the gaucho is a folk symbol of Argentina, Uruguay, Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil, and the south of Chilean Patagonia. Gauchos became greatly admired an ...

's youth setup. In 1991, after representing hometown amateur sides Esporte Clube Flamengo Vila Santo Antônio and Sociedade Recreativa Esportiva Chorão, he went on a trial at São Luiz. Baier subsequently joined the club's youth setup, but was converted into a

during his formation. Promoted to the first team in 1995 and known as Paulo César, he was regularly used during his two-year spell. In 1997, Baier joined Série A side

, after impressing in a friendly match against the club. He made his debut for the club on 5 July, starting in a 1–1 away draw against América-RN, and scored his first goal on 12 October, netting the last in a 2–0 home defeat of

Bahia Bahia ( , , ; meaning "bay") is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo, Minas Gerais, and Rio de Janeiro) and the 5th-largest b ...

. In the middle of 1998, after winning the year's

Campeonato Catarinense The Campeonato Catarinense de Futebol, known as Campeonato Catarinense or simply Catarinense, is the main competition of association football from state of Santa Catarina, in Brazil. History The Campeonato Catarinense top level has had several ...

, Baier moved to

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 ...

(two stints). Sparingly used, he subsequently represented

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 ...

, Vasco da Gama, América Mineiro and

Pelotas Pelotas () is a Brazilian city and municipality (''município''), the third most populous in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul. It is located 270 km (168 mi) from Porto Alegre, the state's capital city, and 130 km (80.8&n ...

before returning to Criciúma in 2002. As the club already had a ''Paulo César'' in the squad, he was initially known as Paulo César Baier, but it was "too long". He then started to be called as Paulo Baier, and was a regular starter as the club won the year's Série B. In the final, he scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

in a 4–1 home routing of Fortaleza. Ahead of the 2004 season, Baier moved to

also in the main category. He scored a career-best 15 league goals during the campaign, and added a further eight in 2005; in the latter year he also finished the

Campeonato Goiano The Campeonato Goiano is the football league of the state of Goiás, Brazil. Format First Division First stage *Teams are divided in two groups of six teams. *Double round-robin, in which all teams home-and-away games against the team fr ...

as the top goalscorer, with 12 goals. On 7 December 2005, Baier signed a two-year deal with

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 16 March 2007, after having unpaid wages, he returned to his previous club Goiás. On 5 January 2009, Baier moved to

Sport Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, ...

, but rescinded his contract in June after several altercations with manager

Nelsinho Baptista Nélson "Nelsinho" Baptista Júnior (born July 22, 1950) is a Brazilian retired footballer who played as a right back, and manager who currently works as the manager of Japanese club Kashiwa Reysol. Playing career Born in Campinas, São Paulo ...

. He then moved to

, On 30 December 2013, aged 39, Baier returned to his main club Criciúma after his contract with Atlético expired. A regular starter, he scored nine goals in all competitions, as his side suffered relegation. Baier represented clubs in his native state in his two last campaigns, playing for Ypiranga, Juventude and first club São Luiz. He announced his retirement on 7 June 2016, at the age of 41, and finished his 21-year career as the second-best goalscorer of the Série A in the round-robin format, with 106 goals.

Managerial career

On 12 February 2017, Baier was announced as the new manager of

Panambi Panambi is a municipality in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. As of 2020, the estimated population was 44,128. See also *List of municipalities in Rio Grande do Sul References

Municipalities in Rio Grande do Sul {{RioGranded ...

, but turned down the offer the following day. On 14 August, he was named manager of

Toledo Colônia Work Toledo Esporte Clube, commonly known as Toledo, is a Brazilian professional association football club based in Toledo, Paraná, that competes in the Série D, the fourth tier of Brazilian football, as well as in the Campeonato Paranaense, the ...

, but only took over the club in December. On 1 August 2018, Baier was named manager of Criciúma's neighbouring side Próspera, and won the third division of the

in his first season in charge. He left in 2019 to take over Brusque, and returned to Toledo in 2020. Back at Próspera in 2020, Baier led the club to the title of the second division of the Catarinense. On 4 May 2021, he returned to Criciúma after six years, but now as manager. On 4 October 2021, despite leading Criciúma to the final stages of the 2021 Série C, Baier was sacked. On 14 February 2022, he replaced

Pingo Pingos are intrapermafrost ice-cored hills, high and in diameter. They are typically conical in shape and grow and persist only in permafrost environments, such as the Arctic and subarctic. A pingo is a periglacial landform, which is defin ...

at the helm of his first professional side São José, but was himself sacked on 15 March. On 23 May 2022, Baier replaced Leandro Zago at the helm of

also in the third division.

Personal life

Baier's younger brother Éder was also a footballer. He also represented São Luiz.

Career statistics

Honours

Player

;Criciúma *

: 1998 * Campeonato Brasileiro Série B: 2002 ;Botafogo * Torneio Rio-São Paulo: 1999 ;América Mineiro * Copa Sul Minas: 2000 ;Sport * Campeonato Pernambucano: 2009

Manager

;Próspera *

Série C: 2018 *

Série B: 2020

Individual

* Bola de Prata: 2004 *

top goalscorer: 2005 (12 goals) * Campeonato Brasileiro Série A Team of the Year:

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Baier, Paulo 1974 births Living people People from Ijuí Brazilian people of German descent Brazilian footballers Brazilian football managers Association football midfielders Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Campeonato Brasileiro Série B players Campeonato Brasileiro Série C players Esporte Clube São Luiz players Criciúma Esporte Clube players Clube Atlético Mineiro players Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas players CR Vasco da Gama players América Futebol Clube (MG) players Esporte Clube Pelotas players Goiás Esporte Clube players Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras players Sport Club do Recife players Club Athletico Paranaense players Ypiranga Futebol Clube players Esporte Clube Juventude players Campeonato Brasileiro Série C managers Brusque Futebol Clube managers Criciúma Esporte Clube managers Esporte Clube São José managers Botafogo Futebol Clube (SP) managers Sportspeople from Rio Grande do Sul