Luís Carlos Tóffoli, usually nicknamed Gaúcho (7 March 1964 – 17 March 2016), was a Brazilian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player (

centre forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on be ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

and club president.

Career

Gaúcho was born in

Canoas Canoas () is a municipality in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, forming part of the Greater Porto Alegre area. It is the largest municipality of the metropolitan region of Porto Alegre and the third largest municipality of Rio Grande do ...

Rio Grande do Sul Rio Grande do Sul (, ; ; "Great River of the South") is a Federative units of Brazil, state in the South Region, Brazil, southern region of Brazil. It is the Federative units of Brazil#List, fifth-most populous state and the List of Brazilian s ...

. After spending his youth years at Rio de Janeiro club

Flamengo Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (; ), more commonly referred to as simply Flamengo, is a Brazilian multi sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, in the neighborhood of Gávea. It was founded and named after the Flamengo, Rio de Janeiro, Flamengo n ...

, he began his professional career in 1984 at Grêmio. The following year he transferred to

Atlético Goianiense Atlético, Spanish for ''athletics'', or Athletico in English, may refer to: Sports Teams Athletico *Athletico SC (Lebanon), a Lebanese football academy *Athletic Bilbao, or Atletico Bilbao, Basque students athletic club (also forming Athletic Cl ...

. In 1986, he played for

XV de Piracicaba Esporte Clube XV de Novembro, commonly referred to as XV de Piracicaba, is a professional association football club based in Piracicaba, São Paulo, Brazil. The club competes in the Série D, the fourth tier of the Brazilian football league sys ...

, then a year later he moved to

Santo André Santo ('saint' in various languages) may refer to: People * Santo (given name) * Santo (surname) * El Santo, Rodolfo Guzmán Huerta (1917–1984), Mexican wrestler and actor * Bob Santo or Santo, stage name of Ghanaian comedian John Evans Kwad ...

where he stayed until mid-1988. From 1988 to 1989 he played for

Palmeiras The Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras (), commonly known as Palmeiras, is a Brazilian professional association football, football club based in the city of São Paulo, in the district of Perdizes (district of São Paulo), Perdizes. Palmeiras is ...

. On 17 November 1988, during a

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 ...

match against Flamengo, he was selected as replacement goalkeeper after

Zetti Armelino Donizetti Quagliato, best known as Zetti (born 10 January 1965), is a Brazilian football pundit, manager and former goalkeeper. He was a member of Brazil's victorious 1994 FIFA World Cup squad. Playing career Club Zetti played with S� ...

suffered an injury. The match ended 1-1 after regular time; during the penalty shootout Gaúcho saved two Flamengo penalties, and Palmeiras won 5-4. In 1990, he returned to his youth club, signing a three-year deal with Flamengo. There he won the

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

Copa do Brasil The Copa do Brasil () is a knockout football competition played by 92 teams, representing all 26 Brazilian states plus the Federal District. It is the Brazilian domestic cup and it is the Brazilian equivalent of the FA Cup, Taça de Portugal, ...

, the 1991 Rio State Championship and the

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

Série A. During this period he played 198 matches and scored 98 goals. At the end of his contract he joined Italian

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

side

Lecce Lecce (; ) is a city in southern Italy and capital of the province of Lecce. It is on the Salentine Peninsula, at the heel of the Italian Peninsula, and is over two thousand years old. Because of its rich Baroque architecture, Lecce is n ...

, where he failed to make a breakthrough with only five games played. He left the club halfway through the season and signed with

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine professional sports club based in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is best known for its men's professional Association football, football team which, since its promotion in 1913 ...

, where once again he failed to repeat his good performances. Back in Brazil, he joined

Atlético Mineiro Atlético, Spanish for ''athletics'', or Athletico in English, may refer to: Sports Teams Athletico *Athletico SC (Lebanon), a Lebanese football academy *Athletic Bilbao, or Atletico Bilbao, Basque students athletic club (also forming Athletic Cl ...

in 1994 where he played once again alongside his good friend

Renato Gaúcho Renato Portaluppi (born 9 September 1962), known as Renato Gaúcho, is a Brazilian professional football coach and former player. He is the current head coach of Fluminense. Formerly a right winger, Renato is known for his wins at the Inter ...

. In the following year, his last as a professional footballer, he played for Ponte Preta and

Fluminense Fluminense Football Club () is a Brazilian sports club based in the neighbourhood of Laranjeiras, in Rio de Janeiro, being the oldest football club in the state since its foundation in 1902. It competes in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, th ...

Cuiabá Esporte Clube

In 2001, he founded the football club

Cuiabá Esporte Clube Cuiabá Esporte Clube is a Brazilian professional club based in Cuiabá, Mato Grosso founded on 12 December 2001. It competes in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série B, the second division of Brazilian football league system, Brazilian football, as ...

. He was the club's first president and manager in the amateur era.

Death

Gaúcho died on 17 March 2016.

Honors and achievements

* Brazil Cup - 1990 * Rio State Championship - 1991 *Rio State Championship top goalscorer (17 goals) - 1991 *Copa Libertadores top goalscorer (8 goals) - 1991 * Série A -

References

*''Enciclopédia do Futebol Brasileiro'', Volume 1 - Lance, Rio de Janeiro: Aretê Editorial S/A, 2001. {{DEFAULTSORT:Gaucho 1964 births 2016 deaths People from Canoas Brazilian men's footballers Brazilian football managers Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Serie A players Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Argentina Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Argentina Brazilian football chairmen and investors Brazilian people of Italian descent CR Flamengo footballers Grêmio FBPA players Atlético Clube Goianiense players Esporte Clube XV de Novembro (Piracicaba) players Esporte Clube Santo André players SE Palmeiras players US Lecce players Boca Juniors footballers Clube Atlético Mineiro players Associação Atlética Ponte Preta players Fluminense FC players Cuiabá Esporte Clube managers Mixto Esporte Clube managers Luverdense Esporte Clube managers Men's association football forwards Cuiabá Esporte Clube Footballers from Rio Grande do Sul Copa Libertadores top scorers 20th-century Brazilian sportsmen