Júlio César da Silva (born 8 March 1963), usually known as Júlio César, is a Brazilian former professional

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

centre-back 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 ...

. Throughout his career, he played with multiple teams in Brazil and Europe, and also represented the Brazil national team at the

1986 FIFA World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-tea ...

, and at the 1987 Copa América.

Club career

Born in Bauru,

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 ...

, Júlio César began his career in 1979 with Brazilian club Guarani. He moved to Europe in 1986, after a successful World Cup in Mexico, spending a season with French club Stade Brestois. The following season, he played for

Montpellier Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...

, where he remained for three seasons, winning the

Coupe de France The Coupe de France (), also known in English language, English as the French Cup or less commonly as the France Cup, is the premier Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in French football organised by the French Football Fed ...

during his final season with the team. He moved to Italian club

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

in 1990, in an attempt to strengthen the club's fragile defence, making his

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 ...

debut on 9 September 1990, in a 2–1 away win over

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. He remained in Turin until 1994, although, despite some solid performances, his time with the club was largely unsuccessful; his only trophy with Juventus was the UEFA Cup, which he won in 1993, under

Giovanni Trapattoni Giovanni Trapattoni (; born 17 March 1939), popularly nicknamed "Trap" or "Il Trap", is an Italian former Association football, football manager and former player, considered the most successful club coach of Football in Italy, Italian football ...

. In total, he made 125 appearances for Juventus, scoring six goals, two of which came in European Competitions, and three of which came during his 91 Serie A appearances. In 1994, he was purchased by German club

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, often known simply as Borussia Dortmund () or by its initialism BVB (), or just Dortmund by International fans, is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is ...

, where he immediately won consecutive

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

and

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titles, during his first two seasons with the team, as well as the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

and the Intercontinental Cup in

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

(though he missed the final of the former through injury). He remained with the club until 1999, apart from loans to Brazilian club

Botafogo Botafogo (local/standard alternative Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation: ) is a beachfront neighborhood (''bairro'') in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is a mostly upper middle class and small commerce community, and is located between the hills of M ...

in 1998, and Greek club Panathinaikos in 1999. Later that year, he joined

Werder Bremen Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen, Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, Werder are best known for their professional association foo ...

for the

1999–2000 Bundesliga The 1999–2000 Bundesliga was the 37th season of the Bundesliga, Germany's premier football league. It began on 13 August 1999 and ended on 20 May 2000. FC Bayern Munich were the defending champions. Competition modus Every team played two game ...

season, before moving back to Brazil once again, to play for Rio Branco, in 2001, where he retired.

International career

Júlio César played 13 official matches for the Brazil national team, from April 1986 to June 1993; he made his debut on 8 April 1986, in a 3–0 home win over

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

. He also played for Brazil against " The Rest of the World" in 1989 and for " The Rest of the World" against Brazil in 1990. He played for Brazil at the

in Mexico and won the Best Central Defender Award, being elected to the team of the tournament. However, his outstanding performance in the tournament was tempered by his penalty miss against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

in the memorable quarter-final in Guadalajara. With the penalty-shootout tied at 3–3, after

Michel Platini Michel François Platini (; born 21 June 1955) is a French association football, football Administrator (business), administrator and former player and manager. Regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time, Platini won the Ballon d'O ...

's had infamously shot his spot kick over the bar, Cesar stepped up for Brazil only to see his powerful effort crash against the left post. Luis Fernández converted the next penalty and subsequently won the match for France. The following year, he also represented his country at the 1987 Copa América.

Style of play

Widely considered to be one of Brazil's best

s, Júlio César was known for his physical strength, speed, and aerial ability, as well as his positioning, tackling, and adeptness at reading the game. A quick, versatile, and powerful defender, with good feet, vision, and passing range, he was also capable of playing as a sweeper, a position which allowed him to contribute to his teams' attacks, and make runs into the opponent's half, where he used his aerial prowess, as well as his midfield-like elegance on the ball and technical skills, to great effect; he was also an accurate set-piece and penalty kick taker, possessing a powerful shot from distance, which made him an additional offensive threat.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Montpellier *

: 1989–90 Juventus *

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

: 1992–93 Borussia Dortmund *

; 1994–95, 1995–96 *

: 1996–97 * Intercontinental Cup:

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

Individual * FIFA World Cup All-Star Team: 1986 * kicker''

-best defender: 1995 * FIFA XI: 1999FIFA XI´s Matches - Full Info

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Julio Cesar 1963 births Living people Footballers from Bauru Brazilian men's footballers Men's association football central defenders Brazil men's international footballers Brazil men's under-20 international footballers 1986 FIFA World Cup players 1987 Copa América players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Campeonato Brasileiro Série B players Campeonato Brasileiro Série C players Ligue 1 players Serie A players Super League Greece players Bundesliga players Guarani FC players Stade Brestois 29 players Montpellier HSC players Juventus FC players Borussia Dortmund players Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas players SV Werder Bremen players Panathinaikos F.C. players UEFA Europa League–winning players UEFA Champions League–winning players Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate men's footballers in France Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Greece 20th-century Brazilian sportsmen