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 greatest full-backs of all time, one of the best defenders ever to play in

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 Copp ...

, and as one of the greatest Brazilian and South American players of his generation. He is also the most-capped player for the Brazil national team with 142 appearances. At club level, Cafu won several domestic and international titles while playing in Brazil, Spain and Italy; he is best known for his spells at

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 Ga ...

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 ...

and AC Milan, teams with which he made history, although he also played for

Zaragoza Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tribut ...

, Juventude and Palmeiras throughout his career. In 1994, Cafu was crowned South American Footballer of the Year, and in 2004, was named by

Pelé Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; born 23 October 1940), known as Pelé (), is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a forward. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time and labelled "the greatest" by FI ...

in the

FIFA 100 The FIFA 100 is a list of Brazilian footballer Pelé's choice of the "greatest living footballers". Unveiled on 4 March 2004 at a gala ceremony in London, England, the FIFA 100 marked part of the celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the fo ...

list of the world's greatest living players. He was additionally named to the FIFPro World XI in 2005, and in 2020 was included in the Ballon d'Or Dream Team. Cafu represented his nation in four

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

s between 1994 and 2006, and is the only player in history to have appeared in three World Cup finals, both overall and consecutive, winning the

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 Ma ...

and 2002 editions of the tournament, the latter as his team's

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

where he lifted the World Cup trophy. With Brazil, he also took part in four editions of the

Copa América The Copa América ( en, America Cup) or CONMEBOL Copa América, known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship (''Campeonato Sudamericano de Fútbol'' in Spanish and ''Campeonato Sul-Americano de Futebol'' in Portuguese), is the t ...

, winning the title twice, in 1997 and

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school s ...

; he was also a member of the national side that won the 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup.

Early life

One of six children, Cafu was raised in the Jardim Irene

favela Favela () is an umbrella name for several types of working-class neighborhoods in Brazil. The term was first used in the Providência neighborhood in the center of Rio de Janeiro in the late 19th century, which was built by soldiers who had ...

. At the age of seven, he was able to attend a football academy and soon moved up to the junior sides of Nacional-SP, Portuguesa and Itaquaquecetuba. He also played

futsal Futsal is a football-based game played on a hard court smaller than a football pitch, and mainly indoors. It has similarities to five-a-side football and indoor football. Futsal is played between two teams of five players each, one of whom is t ...

for two years. In the early 1980s, he was rejected from the youth squads of Corinthians, Palmeiras, Santos, Atlético Mineiro and Portuguesa, but it was not until 1988 that he made the youth squad of hometown club

, and subsequently won the ''Copa São Paulo'' youth tournament that year, but he did not play during the next season as São Paulo won the 1989

Campeonato Paulista 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 ty ...

Club career

It was during this time, however, that São Paulo youth coach

Telê Santana Telê Santana da Silva, also known as Telê Santana (July 26, 1931 – April 21, 2006) was a Brazilian football manager and former player ( right winger). He was born in Itabirito, Minas Gerais. Telê was the manager responsible for putting ...

became Cafu's mentor. He suggested that Cafu move from wingback to midfield, a spot into which Cafu made the transition with ease despite never previously playing the position. He had soon anchored onto the first team, as São Paulo won back-to-back

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as the Copa Libertadores de América ( pt, Copa Libertadores da América), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in S ...

and World Championships in 1992 and 1993. In 1994, he was named the South American Footballer of the Year. Halfway through the 1994–95 season, Cafu joined Spanish side Real Zaragoza, winning the

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Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European association football, football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised ...

with them (though he had injury issues and did not play in 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 con ...

). He then left Zaragoza to join Brazilian club Juventude. After a brief stint back in Brazil with Palmeiras in 1996, Cafu returned to Europe once again the next year, this time with

, and won the '' Scudetto'' in

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanistan ...

, followed by the Supercoppa Italiana. It was during his tenure at Roma that Cafu earned the nickname '' Il Pendolino'' ("The Express Train" or "The Commuter"). Despite making the

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 ...

final in

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, disintegrated during reentry into Atmosphere of Earth, Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an 2002– ...

with Roma, he moved to AC Milan, after turning down a move to Japan with Yokohama F. Marinos. With the ''Rossoneri'', he won his second career Scudetto in 2004, followed by his second Supercoppa Italiana, and he played in his first UEFA Champions League final in 2005. The following season, he made fewer appearances for Milan due to injury and difficulties in his personal life. Despite his success with Milan, he continued to hold fond memories of his Roma years, and it was for that reason that on 4 March 2007 – the day after Milan eliminated Celtic in the first knockout round of the 2006–07 UEFA Champions League – he candidly revealed in a UEFA.com chat that he did not want Milan to be drawn against the ''Giallorossi'' in the quarter-final round. He got his wish, as Milan were drawn against Bayern Munich. Milan's successful Champions League campaign saw Cafu finally pick up a long-awaited winners' medal, in a rematch of the 2005 final. Cafu signed a contract extension in May 2007 that would keep him with Milan until the end of the 2007–08 season, during which he won another UEFA Supercup, and his third world title at club level and now his first FIFA Club World Cup. On 16 May 2008, it was announced that Cafu and compatriot Serginho would be leaving Milan at the end of the season. In Cafu's last game of his Milan career, and of his professional career, he scored a goal in their 4–1 victory over Udinese. Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani stated that the door would be open to him to return to work for the club. He is a member of the AC Milan and the

Hall of Fames.

Passport controversy

Cafu was accused along with several other

players, including Roma teammate

Fábio Júnior Fabio is a given name descended from Latin ''Fabius'' and very popular in Italy and Latin America (due to Italian migration). Its English equivalent is Fabian. The name is written without an accent in Italian and Spanish, but is usually accented ...

and Gustavo Bartelt, countryman and later Milan teammate Dida, of using a forged passport in their attempt to dodge regulations regarding the number of non-European players allowed on Italian club rosters. However, the charge was cleared by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) as Cafu's Italian passport was real and issued by Italian officials, but 13 others – including Dida – were banned. But Cafu faced another controversy that similar to Juan Sebastián Verón, accused that Cafu's wife, Regina used falsified documents to claim Italian nationality through Italian descent. Cafu acquired Italian nationality through marriage. In 2004, Cafu and Roma club president Franco Sensi went to court. On 12 June 2006, less than 24 hours before Brazil were to begin their 2006 World Cup campaign against

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

, Rome prosecutor Angelantonio Racanelli called for the imprisonment of Cafu, his wife and his agent for nine months following the resurfacing of a false-passport scandal. The very next day, however, Cafu, his wife and agent were acquitted of all charges.

International career

Cafu is the most- capped Brazilian men's player of all time with 142 appearances, including a record 20 World Cup games. He has won two World Cups in

and 2002, as well as being the only player to participate in three World Cup final matches. Cafu also held the record of winning the most matches in World Cups with 15 (along with two games Brazil won on penalties), before being surpassed by

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

's Miroslav Klose in the 2014 World Cup. He earned his first cap in a friendly against

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

on 12 September 1990, and played sparingly for Brazil in the early 1990s, making the 1994 World Cup roster as a substitute. He appeared in the final against

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 ...

, following an injury to Jorginho in the 22nd minute. After that, Cafu was soon a regular in the starting eleven as Brazil won the

in 1997 and

, the 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup, and reached the

1998 World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for the ...

Brazil endured a rocky qualification for the 2002 tournament, during which Cafu came under heavy criticism from coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo, who stripped him of the team captaincy after he was sent off in a qualifier against

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 ...

. Shortly after that, however, Luxemburgo was out of a job, and replacement Luiz Felipe Scolari made Emerson his new choice for captain. However, Emerson missed the cut after he dislocated his shoulder in training, which allowed Cafu to regain the armband. After Brazil defeated Germany 2–0 in the final match (Cafu's third consecutive World Cup final), he stood on the victory podium during the postmatch celebration and, as he raised the World Cup trophy, shouted to his wife, ''"Regina, eu te amo!"'' ("Regina, I love you!"). Cafu and Brazil fell short of high expectations placed on the squad four years later in 2006, as Brazil meekly exited in the quarter-finals after a 1–0 defeat by

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

. Coach Carlos Alberto Parreira was criticized for featuring fading veterans, most notably the 36-year-old Cafu and 33-year-old Roberto Carlos, in the starting XI in lieu of younger players. Cafu was one of only a few Brazil players who spoke to the press in the midst of a hailstorm of criticism from Brazilian fans and media alike following the team's return home. He nonetheless expressed interest in participating in the 2010 World Cup; however he did not, as he retired completely from football in 2008.

Style of play

Regarded as one of the greatest full-backs of all time, one of the best footballers of his generation, and as one of Brazil's best ever players, Cafu was a dynamic, hard-working, offensive-minded, and energetic right-sided wing-back who is mostly remembered for his great pace, stamina, tactical intelligence, distribution, and technical skills, as well as his ability to make overlapping attacking runs down the right flank and provide accurate crosses to teammates in the area. In addition to his footballing ability, he was also known for his discipline, leadership and his characteristically cheerful demeanour. Although he usually played as an attacking right-back, he was also capable of playing as a centre back, due to his defensive skills, or in more advanced positions, and was often deployed as a right winger. During his time in Italy, he was given the nickname '' Pendolino'', after the country's express trains.

Personal life

Cafu is separated from his wife Regina Feliciano, who he married in 1987. The couple have three children together: two sons (Danilo and Wellington) and a daughter (Michelle). On 4 September 2019, Danilo suffered a heart attack whilst playing football at his family home, after complaining about feeling unwell. Danilo was taken to hospital, where he later died.

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Honours

São Paulo *

Campeonato Brasileiro Série A The Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (; English: "Brazilian Championship A Series"), commonly referred to as the Brasileirão (; English: "Big Brazilian"), and also known as Brasileirão Assaí due to sponsorship with Assaí Atacadista, is a Br ...

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the ...

, 1992 * Copa CONMEBOL:

: 1992,

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

* Supercopa Sudamericana:

Recopa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Recopa Sudamericana ( pt, CONMEBOL Recopa Sul-Americana), known also as the Recopa Sudamericana or CONMEBOL Recopa, and simply as the Recopa (, ; "Winners' Cup"), is an annual international club football competition organized by CO ...

* Intercontinental Cup: 1992,

Real Zaragoza *

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tourn ...

: 1994–95 Palmeiras *

: 1996 Roma *

: 2000–01 AC Milan *

: 2003–04 * Supercoppa Italiana:

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 60 ...

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 competi ...

: 2006–07 *

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions; the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's official name was original ...

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 Benazir Bhutto ...

* FIFA Club World Cup:

;Brazil *

, 2002 *

: 1997,

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 ...

: 1997 Individual * South American Team of the Year: 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995 * South American Footballer of the Year:

* FIFA World Cup All-Star Team: 2002 (Reserve) *

* UEFA Team of the Year: 2004, 2005 * FIFPro World XI: 2005 * Sports Illustrated Team of the Decade: 2009 *

ESPN World Team of the Decade ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The c ...

: 2009 * A.S. Roma Hall of Fame: 2012 *

World Soccer Greatest XI of all time ''World Soccer'' is an English-language football magazine, published by Kelsey Media. The magazine was established in 1960 and is the oldest continually published football magazine in the United Kingdom. It specialises in the international fo ...

: 2013 * AC Milan Hall of Fame * World XI: Team of the 21st Century * Ballon d'Or Dream Team: 2020 * IFFHS All-time Men's Dream Team: 2021 * IFFHS South America Men's Team of All Time: 2021

Orders

* Officer of the

Order of Rio Branco The Order of Rio Branco (''Ordem de Rio Branco'') is an honorific order of Brazil instituted by decree 51.697 of February 5, 1963. It is named in honor of the Brazilian diplomat José Paranhos, Baron of Rio Branco. The President of Brazil serve ...

: 2008

References

External links

*
Official Cafu Foundation site

Cafu profile by Aaron Marcus
– acmilan-online.com
Career stats
– acmilan.com * * {{navboxes colour , title=Brazil squads , bg= #FEDF00 , fg= #009B3A , bordercolor= #002776 , list1= {{Brazil squad 1991 Copa América {{Brazil squad 1993 Copa América {{Brazil squad 1994 FIFA World Cup {{Brazil squad 1997 Copa América {{Brazil squad 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup {{Brazil squad 1998 FIFA World Cup {{Brazil squad 1999 Copa América {{Brazil squad 2002 FIFA World Cup {{Brazil squad 2006 FIFA World Cup Living people 1970 births Footballers from São Paulo Association football fullbacks Brazilian footballers Brazilian expatriate footballers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Brazil international footballers São Paulo FC players Real Zaragoza players Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras players A.S. Roma players A.C. Milan players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players La Liga players Serie A players Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in Italy FIFA 100 FIFA Century Club 1991 Copa América players 1993 Copa América players 1994 FIFA World Cup players 1997 Copa América players 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup players 1998 FIFA World Cup players 1999 Copa América players 2002 FIFA World Cup players 2006 FIFA World Cup players FIFA World Cup-winning players FIFA World Cup-winning captains FIFA Confederations Cup-winning players Copa América-winning players Brazilian emigrants to Italy Naturalised citizens of Italy South American Footballer of the Year winners UEFA Champions League winning players Afro-Brazilian sportspeople Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Italy