Cláudio Ibrahim Vaz Leal (born 4 April 1964 in

Bagé Bagé () is a city located in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. In 2020, its population was 121,335 in a total area of 4,096 km2. It was the seventeenth largest city in the state according to the 2011 census. The city was founded in 18 ...

, Brazil), better known as Branco, is Brazilian former

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 ...

who played as a left back. A member of the triumphant Brazilian team in the

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 ...

, Branco was a renowned

free kick A free kick is an action used in several codes of football to restart play with the kicking of a ball into the field of play. Association football In association football, the free kick is a method of restarting the game following an offe ...

specialist (as was his international successor,

Roberto Carlos Roberto Carlos da Silva Rocha (born 10 April 1973), commonly known as Roberto Carlos, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who now works as a football ambassador. He started his career in Brazil as a forward but spent most of his car ...

) known for his accuracy of placing the ball in the direction that he wanted the free kick to go.

Club career

At club level, Branco played for

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 Campeonat ...

(1980–81),

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 ...

(1981–86, 1994 and 1998),

Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo ...

(1986–88), FC Porto (1988–91),

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...

(1991–93), Grêmio (1992–94),

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 ...

(1995),

Corinthians The First Epistle to the Corinthians ( grc, Α΄ ᾽Επιστολὴ πρὸς Κορινθίους) is one of the Pauline epistles, part of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The epistle is attributed to Paul the Apostle and a co-aut ...

(1995),

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

(1996), and MetroStars (1997). Branco's late career in England and the United States was marred by weight problems. During his spell at Middlesbrough he scored twice, both goals coming against Hereford in the League Cup second round, once at home in the first leg and once away in the second. However, he played just nine times in the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

and by Christmas 1996 he had left the club on a free transfer after less than a year.

International career

Branco appeared 72 times for Brazil, between April 1985 and February 1995, and scored nine goals. After sitting out the first four games at the 1994 World Cup, he replaced Leonardo on the left after Leonardo was banned for a deliberate elbow on

Tab Ramos Tabaré "Tab" Ramos Ricciardi (born September 21, 1966) is an American former soccer player and current head coach of Hartford Athletic in the USL Championship. Over his thirteen-year professional career, Ramos played as a midfielder in Spain, ...

in the second-round game against the USA. Branco scored with a memorable late free kick from 35 metres to eliminate 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 ...

in the quarter-finals,Branco bullet wins Cotton Bowl thriller
''FIFA''; Retrieved 26 May 2021 and took one of Brazil's penalties in the

shootout A shootout, also called a firefight or gunfight, is a fight between armed combatants using firearms. The term can be used to describe any such fight, though it is typically used to describe those that do not involve military forces or only invo ...

when they beat

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

the final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

. He played in a total of twelve matches in three World Cup tournaments.

Manager

As of 2006, Branco was the general manager overseeing Brazil national youth teams. From 2007 to December 2009, he worked as general manager of

youth teams.

Honours

Club

InternacionalProfile – Branco
Sambafoot *

Campeonato Gaúcho The Campeonato Gaúcho Série A1 (Gaúcho Championship A1 Series or Série A1), officially named as Campeonato da Primeira Divisão de Futebol Profissional da FGF - Divisão Especial - Série A1 and commonly known as Campeonato Gaúcho or Gauchã ...

: 1981 Fluminense * Campeonato Brasileiro Série A:

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

* Campeonato Carioca: 1983, 1984, 1985 Porto * Primeira Liga: 1989–90 *

Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira The Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira (; English: Cândido de Oliveira Super Cup, or simply Portuguese Super Cup) is an annual Portuguese football match played since 1979 between the winners of the Portuguese League (Primeira Liga) and Portuguese ...

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 humanity on Earth, astrophysicist ...

Grêmio *

: 1993

International

;Brazil * Copa América:

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxon Valdez oil tanker runs ...

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 ...

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 sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Branco Brazilian footballers Brazilian expatriate footballers Brazil international footballers Sport Club Internacional players Brescia Calcio players FC Porto players Sport Club Corinthians Paulista players CR Flamengo footballers Fluminense FC players Genoa C.F.C. players Grêmio Foot-Ball Porto Alegrense players Middlesbrough F.C. players New York Red Bulls players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Premier League players Serie A players Serie B players Primeira Liga players Major League Soccer players Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Portugal Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate soccer players in the United States 1986 FIFA World Cup players 1989 Copa América players 1990 FIFA World Cup players 1991 Copa América players 1994 FIFA World Cup players Copa América-winning players FIFA World Cup-winning players Brazilian beach soccer players People from Bagé 1964 births Living people Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in England Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Brazilian football managers Guarani FC managers Figueirense FC managers Association football fullbacks Sportspeople from Rio Grande do Sul