Baltazar Maria de Morais Júnior (born 27 July 1959), known simply as Baltazar, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a striker. During an 18-year professional career he played, other than in his country, in Spain, Portugal, France and Japan, winning several individual scoring honours. He appeared with the Brazil national team that won the 1989 Copa América.

Club career

Born in

Goiânia Goiânia ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian federative units of Brazil, state of Goiás. With a population of 1,536,097, it is the second-largest city in the Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West Region and the 10th-larges ...

Goiás Goiás () is a Brazilian States of Brazil, state located in the Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region. Goiás borders the Federal District (Brazil), Federal District and the states of (from north clockwise) Tocantins, Bahia, Minas Ge ...

, Baltazar started playing with hometown club Atlético Goianiense. He signed for Grêmio in 1979, going on to score in double digits during his entire four-season spell a recording a best of 14 in 1980 while being an instrumental attacking unit in the team's back-to-back Gauchão conquests; in the

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

's Série A final against

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

, after missing a penalty kick in the first leg (2–1 home win), he scored the only goal in the second match for a first-ever national championship conquest. In the following four years, Baltazar played for Palmeiras (two spells), Flamengo and Botafogo, netting 13 times for the second side in another Brazilian championship conquest. He had his first abroad experience aged 26, being relegated from the Spanish

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

with RC Celta de Vigo. In 1986–87, Baltazar propelled the

Galicians Galicians ( or ''pobo galego''; ) are an ethnic group primarily residing in Galicia, northwest Iberian Peninsula. Historical emigration resulted in populations in other parts of Spain, Europe, and the Americas. Galicians possess distinct cu ...

back into the top level by scoring a career-best 34 goals, also a best-ever in the second division. In a game in December, he accidentally collided with CD Málaga goalkeeper José Antonio Gallardo who died days later from a cerebral haemorrhage; he mourned the death which some had blamed him for. Baltazar only found the net on six occasions in the following season, but the club retained its league status. He subsequently stayed in the country and joined Atlético Madrid, scoring 35 goals in 36 contests in his first season – his second Pichichi in three years – and adding 18 in the following; however, after the emergence of younger Manolo, the 31-year-old was deemed surplus to requirements by manager Tomislav Ivić and, in November 1990, signed for

FC Porto Futebol Clube do Porto, Order of Prince Henry, MHIH, Order of Merit (Portugal), OM (), commonly known as FC Porto or simply Porto, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Porto. It is best known for the professional association footbal ...

in Portugal, being used almost exclusively as a substitute during his only season. Until his retirement at the age of 37 in 1996, Baltazar played for Stade Rennais (France),

and Kyoto Purple Sanga (Japan).

International career

Baltazar played for

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

at the 1989 Copa América which was held on home soil, appearing in three group stage matches for the eventual winners (including the 0–0 against

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

as a starter). However, during nearly one full decade, he only earned a total of six caps and scored two goals.

Post-retirement

Highly

religious Religion is a range of social- cultural systems, including designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relate humanity to supernatural ...

, Baltazar was nicknamed ''O Artilheiro de Deus'' (God's striker). He became a minister after retiring from football, settling in his hometown and fathering two children.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Grêmio *

Campeonato Brasileiro Série A The Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (; English: "Brazilian Championship A Series"), commonly referred to as the Brasileirão (; English: "Big Brazilian" or "Great Brazilian"), the Série A or the Brazilian Série A (to distinguish it from the I ...

* Campeonato Gaúcho: 1979, 1980 Flamengo *Campeonato Brasileiro Série A:

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

Porto *

Taça de Portugal The Taça de Portugal (; ) is an annual association football competition and the premier knockout tournament in Portuguese football. For sponsorship reasons, it has been known as Taça de Portugal Generali Tranquilidade since the 2024–25 seaso ...

: 1990–91 Goiás * Campeonato Goiano: 1994 Brazil *

Copa América The CONMEBOL Copa América (; known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship), often simply called the Copa America, is the top men's quadrennial association football, football tournament contested among list of men's national ass ...

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

Individual * Campeonato Goiano top scorer: 1978, 1994 * Campeonato Gaúcho top scorer: 1980, 1981 *

Campeonato Carioca The Campeonato Carioca (Carioca Championship), officially known as Campeonato Estadual do Rio de Janeiro (Rio de Janeiro State Championship), also commonly known as the Cariocão, is the top-flight professional state football league in the Br ...

top scorer: 1984 * Campeonato Brasileiro Série B top scorer: 1994 * Pichichi Trophy: 1986–87 (

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

), 1988–89 * La Liga Team of The Year: 1989

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Baltazar 1959 births Living people Footballers from Goiânia Brazilian men's footballers Men's association football forwards Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Campeonato Brasileiro Série B players Grêmio FBPA players SE Palmeiras players CR Flamengo footballers Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas players Goiás Esporte Clube players La Liga players Segunda División players RC Celta de Vigo players Atlético Madrid footballers Primeira Liga players FC Porto players Ligue 1 players Stade Rennais FC players J1 League players Japan Football League (1992–1998) players Kyoto Sanga FC players Brazil men's under-20 international footballers Brazil men's international footballers 1989 Copa América players Copa América–winning players Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's footballers in Japan Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Japan Pichichi Trophy winners Brazilian Christian religious leaders Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in France Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal 20th-century Brazilian sportsmen