Paulo Sérgio Rosa, usually known as Viola (born 1 January 1969), is a former Brazilian footballer who played as a forward. He was given his nickname in his youth, which was a reference to the brand–name of his first pair of football boots.

Career

Viola is famous for his strong personality on the pitch and great appearances in many teams he has played for throughout his long career. His first great appearance was in his second match, in the final game of 1988 Campeonato Paulista (1st Division Championship of São Paulo State) between Corinthians and Guarani, regarded by the press as having a better team. Viola was called just because the main Corinthians forward, Edmar, was called by the Brazil national football team and then sold to Pescara – and because his main substitute, Marcos Roberto, was with a broken arm. Viola was not having a great offensive exhibition, but could score the title goal in the extra time – by putting his leg in the way of a lopsided shot from Wilson Mano, turning it into an assist. Despite becoming a sudden star, Viola did not have a regular basis of good exhibitions and passed through some loanings until 1992 – he was not part of the first Corinthians title at Brasileirão, in 1990, when he was loaned to São José. He then had a reasonable year in 1992, not resembling anymore the skinny boy from 1988. In 1993, Viola almost did another title goal to Corinthians in the Campeonato Paulista, celebrating it with a pig imitation – mocking the Palmeiras nickname. But in the second final match, the rivals won the tournament. Nevertheless, Viola continued to celebrate his goals in joking ways, increasing his popularity. He was then first called by the Brazil team, going to

1993 Copa América The 1993 Copa América was the 36th Copa América, CONMEBOL's football tournament for national teams. It was held in Ecuador between 15 June and 4 July. All 10 CONMEBOL members took part, but for the first time two nations from outside CONMEBOL w ...

and to

1994 FIFA World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States ...

when he came as a substitute in the extra time, bringing an electric performance to a tied game. Viola also ended 1994 as runner-up with Corinthians in the Brasileirão. By the beginning of 1995, Viola was then sold to Valencia, but remained for more six months in Corinthians - the winning the Campeonato Paulista and the Copa do Brasil. However, he did not suit himself in Spain. Despite having reasonable goal numbers, he chose to come back to Brazil by the mid of 1996, even signing with Palmeiras. He did not have a regular frequency of good exhibitions, and left the club after the runner-up campaign in the 1997 Brasileirão, signing with Santos. He then earned again good performances, leading the team to the semifinals of the Campeonato Paulista and of the Brasileirão, and to the 1998 Copa Conmebol title. He also ended the Brasileirão as top scorer. His career's last good moments were in

Vasco da Gama Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira (; ; c. 1460s – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and the first European to reach India by sea. His initial voyage to India by way of Cape of Good Hope (1497–1499) was the first to link E ...

, by 1999 and 2000, as a supporting member of the runner-up squad of 2000 FIFA World Club Cup and of the

2000 Copa Mercosur The Copa Mercosur 2000 was the 3rd staging of the international club cup. The competition started on 1 August 2000 and concluded on 20 December 2000 with Vasco da Gama beating Palmeiras in the final. Participants * Atlético Mineiro * Corinthia ...

and Brasileirão champions. Viola then had an unsuccessful return to Santos in 2001. In he left Brazil again to join Turkish side Gaziantepspor, where he scored 18 goals in 46

Super Lig Super may refer to: Computing * SUPER (computer program), or Simplified Universal Player Encoder & Renderer, a video converter / player * Super (computer science), a keyword in object-oriented programming languages * Super key (keyboard butt ...

matches during a -season spell. In mid-2003, back to Brazil, Viola would defend many other teams, alternating them with some showbol matches and even a reality television show participation by 2010. His last coming back trial was in Taboão da Serra, in 2015.

Honours

Club

Corinthians *

São Paulo State League The Campeonato Paulista Série A1, commonly known as Campeonato Paulista, nicknamed Paulistão, is the top-flight professional football league in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. Run by the FPF, the league is contested between 16 clubs and typ ...

: 1988, 1995 * Copa do Brasil:

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

Santos * Copa Conmebol:

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

Vasco da Gama * Brazilian League:

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

* Copa Mercosur:

International

Brazil * FIFA World Cup:

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 ...

Individual

*São Paulo state league's top scorer: 1993 *Brazilian league's top scorer: 1998 *Copa Conmebol's top scorer: 1998

References

External links

*
Guardian Article
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Viola (Footballer) 1969 births Living people Brazilian footballers Brazilian expatriate footballers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate footballers in Turkey Expatriate footballers in Spain CR Vasco da Gama players Association football forwards Guarani FC players Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras players Sport Club Corinthians Paulista players São José Esporte Clube players Esporte Clube Bahia players Uberlândia Esporte Clube players Duque de Caxias Futebol Clube players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Valencia CF players La Liga players Gaziantepspor footballers Süper Lig players Brusque Futebol Clube players 1993 Copa América players 1994 FIFA World Cup players FIFA World Cup-winning players Brazil international footballers The Farm (TV series) contestants Clube Atlético Taboão da Serra players Footballers from São Paulo