José Reinaldo de Lima (born 11 January 1957) is a 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 lea ...

who played as a striker. He is popularly known as ''Reinaldo'' or ''Rei'' (The King). Widely regarded as one of the greatest strikers in the history of Brazilian football, Reinaldo played most of his career for

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 ...

, is considered by many the most important player in the club, and still holds the record of highest goal average per game in the Brazilian league, with 1.55 goals per match in the 1977 Brazilian Championship, at a time when

was regarded to have one of the best teams in the world. Legendary Brazilian midfielder Zico considered him the best player he had ever seen, believing that he would have been the greatest Brazilian player after

Pelé Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; 23 October 1940 – 29 December 2022), better known by his nickname Pelé (), was a Brazilian professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. Widely reg ...

if not for injuries.

Clubs and years active

Reinaldo played 30 matches and scored 14 goals for the Brazil national team between July 1975 and May 1985, including the

1978 FIFA World Cup The 1978 FIFA World Cup was the 11th edition of the FIFA World Cup, a Anniversary#Latin-derived numerical names, quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament among the men's senior national teams. It wa ...

, where he scored one goal against Sweden. He also scored the qualifying goal for Brazil's participation in the

1982 FIFA World Cup The 1982 FIFA World Cup was the 12th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Spain from 13 June to 11 July 1982. The tournament was won by Italy national footbal ...

held in Spain, but was not included on the team, apparently due to injury.

Records and awards

Reinaldo scored a club record of 255 goals for

Clube Atlético Mineiro The Clube Atlético Mineiro (), commonly known as Atlético Mineiro and colloquially as the Galo (, "Rooster"), is a professional association football club in Belo Horizonte, the capital city of the States of Brazil, Brazilian state of Minas ...

. He also averaged 1.55 goals per match in the 1977 season—scoring 28 goals in 18 matches— the record average for the Brazilian League, for which Atlético supporters nicknamed him ''The King'' ("o Rei", in Portuguese, which also served as a pun on his name). He won eight

Campeonato Mineiro The Campeonato Mineiro is the top-flight professional state football league in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. It is run by the Minas Gerais Football Federation (FMF). The history of Campeonato Mineiro can be divided into two parts: bef ...

titles including six consecutively: in 1976, 1978–1983 and 1985.

Subsequent career

Reinaldo is still remembered by Atlético Mineiro supporters. In 2004, he was elected in

Belo Horizonte Belo Horizonte is the List of largest cities in Brazil, sixth-largest city in Brazil, with a population of around 2.3 million, and the third largest metropolitan area, containing a population of 6 million. It is the List of cities in Sout ...

to represent the ''Partido dos Trabalhadores'' (Brazilian Workers' Party).

Honours

Atlético Mineiro * Copa dos Campeões da Copa Brasil:

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

: 1976, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, e 1985 Brazil * Taça da França: 1981 * Taça da Inglaterra: 1981 Individual * Campeonato Brasileiro Série A Top Scorer: 1977 (28 goals) * Bola de Prata da Revista Placar (artilheiro do Campeonato Brasileiro - 28 gols: 1977) * Bola de Prata da Revista Placar (seleção do Campeonato Brasileiro: 1977 e 1983) Record * Top scorer with the highest average of goals in a single Brazilian Championship (28 goals in 18 matches, average of 1.55 per game): 1977

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Reinaldo 1957 births Living people People from Ponte Nova Brazilian men's footballers Footballers from Minas Gerais Men's association football forwards Brazil men's international footballers 1975 Copa América players 1978 FIFA World Cup players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Clube Atlético Mineiro players SE Palmeiras players Atlético Rio Negro Clube players Cruzeiro Esporte Clube players BK Häcken players SC Telstar players Brazilian football managers Valeriodoce Esporte Clube managers Esporte Clube Mamoré managers Villa Nova Atlético Clube managers Ipatinga Futebol Clube managers Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Expatriate men's footballers in Sweden Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Brazilian sportsperson-politicians Workers' Party (Brazil) politicians 20th-century Brazilian sportsmen