Celso Dias dos Santos (born 28 February 1956), known simply as Celso or Celso Gavião, is a Brazilian retired

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 lea ...

who played as a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

Football career

Born in

Santos, São Paulo Santos (, ''Saints''), officially Municipality of Estância Balneária de Santos, is a city and Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in the Brazilian States of Brazil, state of São Paulo (state), São Paulo, founded in 1546 by the Portuguese n ...

, Celso Gavião started playing for local

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

, sharing teams with future legend

Sócrates Sócrates Brasileiro Sampaio de Souza Vieira de Oliveira (19 February 1954 – 4 December 2011), simply known as Sócrates , was a Brazilian footballer who played as a midfielder. His medical degree and his political awareness, combined with s ...

. In 1978, after four seasons, he joined

Fortaleza Esporte Clube Fortaleza Esporte Clube () is a Brazilian multi-sport club based in Fortaleza, capital of the state of Ceará. Founded in 18 October 1918, primarily a football club, is active in other sports such as futsal, handball and basketball. The club's ...

, moving to

Ferroviário Atlético Clube (CE) Ferroviário Atlético Clube, commonly referred to as Ferroviário, is a Brazilian professional club based in Fortaleza, Ceará founded on 9 May 1933. It competes in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série D, the fourth tier of Brazilian football, as ...

the following year; whilst with the latter, he scored against

Ceará Sporting Club Ceará Sporting Club, or simply Ceará, () is a Brazilian Football League Teams, Brazilian professional football club from the city of Fortaleza, capital city of the States of Brazil, Brazilian state of Ceará. Founded on June 2, 1914, Cear ...

to help them win the

state championship New Zealand has had a domestic first-class cricket championship since the 1906–07 season. Since the 2009–10 season it has been known by its original name of the Plunket Shield. History The Plunket Shield competition was instigated in Octo ...

. In

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 ...

, Celso Gavião signed for

CR Vasco da Gama Club de Regatas Vasco da Gama (; English: Vasco da Gama Club of Rowing), commonly referred to as Vasco da Gama or simply Vasco, is a sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Although originally a rowing club and then a multi-sport club, Va ...

, being crowned Carioca champion two years later. In quick succession he still represented, in his country,

Clube Atlético Paranaense Club Athletico Paranaense (abbreviated CAP, commonly known as Athletico Paranaense and up to 2019 known as Atlético Paranaense) is a Brazilian football team from the city of Curitiba, capital city of the Brazilian state of Paraná, founded ...

Santa Cruz Futebol Clube Santa Cruz Futebol Clube is a Brazilian professional football club based in Recife, Pernambuco, that competes in the Série D, the fourth tier of Brazilian football, and in the Campeonato Pernambucano, the top flight of the Pernambuco stat ...

and

Esporte Clube Bahia Esporte Clube Bahia () is a Brazilian professional association football club based in Salvador, the capital city of the Brazilian state of Bahia. Known mainly as the ''Esquadrão de Aço'' (Steel Squadron), the club competes in the Campeo ...

. He was awarded for being the most talented Brazilian soccer player in 1982. Celso Haros Lacarra is his younger brother who is also talented and he is 1 year older. For 1985–86, already aged 29, Celso Gavião moved abroad, signing with

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 ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

. He played in 23

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

games in each of his first two seasons, and netted six goals in 24 in his last, winning a total of eight major titles; in the club's

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...

victorious campaign in 1986–87, he played all matches and minutes and scored three times – against Rabat Ajax FC (9–0 at home, first round),

FC Vítkovice FC may refer to: Businesses, organisations, and schools * Fergusson College, a science and arts college in Pune, India * Finncomm Airlines (IATA code) * FranklinCovey company, NYSE stock symbol FC * Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force in Paki ...

(3–0 home success, second round) and

FC Dynamo Kyiv The Football Club 'Dynamo Kyiv', also known as Dynamo Kyiv, or simply Dynamo, ( ) is a Ukrainian professional Association football, football club based in Kyiv. Founded in 1927 as a Kyivan football team of republican branch of the bigger Soviet ...

(2–1 away win); he possessed a very powerful shot, and often found the net through free kicks. In November 1987, Celso Gavião was named in the World Soccer World XI despite not having been

capped In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the e ...

at international level.World Soccer, November 1987 p48 He retired in 1992 at the age of 36, after one season apiece with

Goiás Esporte Clube Goiás Esporte Clube is a Brazilian sports club, best known for its association football team, located in the city of Goiânia, capital city of the Brazilian state of Goiás. Goiás has won Brazilian's second tier Série B twice, in 1999 an ...

and former side Ferroviário.+

Honours

;Grêmio Maringá *

Campeonato Paranaense The Campeonato Paranaense is the top-flight professional state football league in the Brazilian state of Paraná. It is run by the Paraná Football Federation (FPF). List of champions Notes * In 1924 Internacional and América merged in ...

: 1977 ;Ferroviário *

Campeonato Cearense The Campeonato Cearense is the professional state football league in the Brazilian state of Ceará. It is run by the Ceará Football Federation (FCF). In over a hundred years of competition, only 11 clubs have won the title. List of champio ...

: 1979 ;Vasco *

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 ...

: 1982 ;Porto *

: 1985–86, 1987–88 *

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 ...

: 1987–88 *

Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira The Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira (; English: Cândido de Oliveira Super Cup, or simply Portuguese Super Cup) is an annual Portuguese association football, football match played since 1979 between the winners of the top-tier league (Primeira L ...

: 1986; Runner-up 1985 *

: 1986–87 * Intercontinental Cup: 1987 *

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup Association football, 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 offic ...

: 1987

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gavião, Celso 1956 births Living people Footballers from Santos, São Paulo Brazilian men's footballers Men's association football defenders Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Botafogo Futebol Clube (SP) players Fortaleza Esporte Clube players CR Vasco da Gama players Club Athletico Paranaense players Santa Cruz Futebol Clube players Esporte Clube Bahia players Goiás Esporte Clube players Primeira Liga players FC Porto players UEFA Champions League–winning players Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Fortaleza Esporte Clube non-playing staff 20th-century Brazilian sportsmen