Osmar Donizete Cândido (born 24 October 1968, known as Donizete Pantera, 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 forward, and the assistant manager at CFZ do Rio. Dubbed as ''Donizete Pantera'', a nickname he received in Mexico, where he won the Balon de Oro for his performances in the 1993–94 Mexican Primera División. He also stood out as part of the

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 ...

team that won 1995 Série A, plus would later be influential in the 1998 Copa Libertadores won by

Vasco da Gama Vasco da Gama ( , ; – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and nobleman who was the Portuguese discovery of the sea route to India, first European to reach India by sea. Da Gama's first voyage (1497–1499) was the first to link ...

. An international for

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

from 1995 to 1998, he made 9 caps and scored twice, but was not included in the squad for the

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 1 ...

, which he said to be the biggest disappointment of his life.

Club career

Born in Prados, Minas Gerais, Donizete Pantera started his career at

Volta Redonda Volta Redonda () is a Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in the Rio de Janeiro (state), Rio de Janeiro state of Brazil with an area of 182.81 km2, located from 350m to 707m above the sea level (22°31'23" S, 44°06'15" W) and with a pop ...

at age 19. After a few months with the third tier team, he moved to São José in 1988, where he help them finish runner-up in the

Campeonato Paulista The Campeonato Paulista Série A1, commonly known as Campeonato Paulista, nicknamed Paulistão, is the top-flight professional state football league in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. Run by the São Paulo State Football Federation (FPF), ...

in 1989, losing out to

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 ...

. His performances led him to sign with

. With competition from

Paulinho Criciúma Paulo Roberto Rocha usually known as Paulinho or Paulinho Criciúma (born 30 August 1961, in Criciúma) is a Brazilian former footballer and a football head coach. Club career During his football career, he played as a center-forward. He repres ...

and Milton Cruz, he only made 15 appearances in the Brasileirão, scoring once, on 14 October 1989 against Vitória. In 1990, Donizete Pantera moved to

Tecos UAG Tecos Fútbol Club, simply known as Tecos, is a Mexican professional Association football, football club based in Zapopan, Jalisco, and associated with the Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara (UAG). It competes in Liga Premier de México, Liga ...

, spending five seasons there, being an important part in the conquest of the first and only

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football * ''League of Legends'', a 2009 multiplayer online battle a ...

title for the Mexican side. On 30 April 1994, in the second leg of the championship final against

Santos Laguna Club Santos Laguna S.A. de C.V., simply known as Santos Laguna or Santos, is a Mexican professional football club based in Torreón, Coahuila. The club competes in Liga MX, the top division of Mexican football. Founded in 1983 as Club Santos I ...

, with Tecos needing a goal to win the title; Donizete made an individual effort past Santos defence, scoring the second and decisive title. For his influence, he won that season award for best player in the league, the Balon de Oro. In 1995, he returned to Botafogo, and partnered with Túlio Maravilha in the conquest of second

title for the club. He described the partnership as the best he ever had, "I returned to Brazil in 1995 and had the opportunity to take part in the conquest of the only league title of the Brazilian club. Me and Túlio, who was in an impressive form, scored in every way imaginable, he was the best partner I had" For the following two seasons, Donizete Pantera moved abroad, playing first at Verdy Kawasaki in the

J1 League The , the J.League or the for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Japan and the highest level of the Japanese football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation ...

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

and then moving to Portugal, playing for Benfica. He debuted on 18 August 1996, in the first leg of 1996 Supertaça against Porto, scoring his first goal on 7 September, a double against

Gil Vicente Gil Vicente (; c. 1465c. 1536), called the Trobadour, was a Portuguese playwright and poet who acted in and directed his own plays. Considered the chief dramatist of Portugal he is sometimes called the "Portuguese Plautus," often refe ...

. He partnered with

João Pinto João Manuel Vieira Pinto (; born 19 August 1971) is a Portuguese retired professional footballer who played mostly as a forward. Blessed with playmaking and goalscoring ability, he made his name mostly at a domestic level and as a key figu ...

in the six month he spent at

Estádio da Luz The Estádio da Luz (), officially named Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica, is a multi-purpose stadium located in Lisbon, Portugal. It is used mostly for association football matches, hosting the home games of Portuguese club S.L. Benfica, Ben ...

, scoring 9 goals in 22 appearances, leaving in late January 1997 for

Corinthians The First Epistle to the Corinthians () is one of the Pauline epistles, part of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The epistle is attributed to Paul the Apostle and a co-author, Sosthenes, and is addressed to the Christian church in C ...

. In Corinthians, he reunited with Túlio Maravilha, winning his first Campeonato Paulista, now beating São Paulo. In the late part of 1997, Donizete Pantera moved to

, being loaned out to Cruzeiro to play a single game, the

1997 Intercontinental Cup The 1997 Intercontinental Cup was an association football match played on 2 December 1997 between Borussia Dortmund, winners of the 1996–97 UEFA Champions League, and Cruzeiro, winners of the 1997 Copa Libertadores. The match was played at the ...

, lost to

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 ...

by 2–0. At Vasco da Gama, he played with Luizão, in the conquest of the 1998 Copa Libertadores. Eliminating Cruzeiro, Grêmio and River Plate in the knock-out stages, Donizete Pantera started and scored in both legs of the 1998 Copa Libertadores Finals, as Vasco defeated

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

by 4–1 on aggregate. He stayed at Vasco da Gama until 2000, losing the

1998 Intercontinental Cup The 1998 Intercontinental Cup was an association football match played on 1 December 1998 between Real Madrid, winners of the 1997–98 UEFA Champions League, and Vasco da Gama, winners of the 1998 Copa Libertadores. The match was played at a ne ...

for

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

, and with the arrival of

Romário Romário de Souza Faria (born 29 January 1966), known simply as Romário (), is a Brazilian politician and former professional association football, footballer who is currently a Senator for Rio de Janeiro (state), Rio de Janeiro and the presi ...

and

Edmundo Edmundo is variation of the English name Edmund, meaning “protector of prosperity or riches.” It is common in Spanish and Portuguese-speaking countries. Some individuals include: * Edmundo Alves de Souza Neto (born 1971), former Brazilian foot ...

, also losing his place in the line-up. In 2000, the 32-year-old, moved to Tigres for a brief spell in Mexico, returning to Botafogo immediately after. In the final years of his career, he passed through

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 ...

, returned to Tecos twice and to Vasco da Gama once, finally retiring in 2006. In post-football, he works at a foundation created to promote young talents, ''Fundação Pantera Negra'', plus spent time studying to become a football manager.

International career

He made his debut for the Brazil national team in friendly on 8 November 1995 against

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

, in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

, scoring the winning goal in a 1–0 victory for Brazil. It would take nearly 15 years until Brazil won a game in Argentina again. He scored a second goal on 28 August 1996, against

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, in a 1–1 draw, making his final appearance for his national team on 15 February 1998, against

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

at the

1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the fourth edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, Gold Cup, the association football, soccer championship for the member associations of CONCACAF, which governs the sport in North America, Central America, and the Caribb ...

. He admitted that the biggest disappointment in his life was not taking part in the

, as he described. "I was in most of Zagallo's call ups that season. I was playing well, my performance at Vasco was helping a lot and I was really convinced I would play a World Cup. But then, right close to the announcement of the official squad,

Bebeto José Roberto Gama de Oliveira (born 16 February 1964), known as Bebeto (), is a Brazilian former professional football player who played as a forward. He entered politics in the 2010 Brazilian general elections and was elected to the Legis ...

won my place, and he was not a regular call up; Then

got cut out due to injury. I thought they would remember me. Hell, they chose to take Emerson instead, and he was a defensive midfielder. Then I can say that not taking part in the 98 World Cup was the biggest disappointment of my life."

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Club

UAG Tecos * Mexico Primera División: 1993–1994 Botafogo * Campeonato Brasileiro: 1995 Vasco da Gama *

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

: 1998

Individual

Mexican Primera División Liga MX, also known as Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Mexico and the highest level of the Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Liga Mayor (1943–1949) and also as Primera Divi ...

Golden Ball: 1993–94 * Mexican league top-scorer: 1995 * Bola de Prata: 1995

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pantera, Donizete 1968 births Living people Footballers from Minas Gerais Men's association football forwards Men's association football wingers Brazilian men's footballers Brazil men's international footballers Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas players Tokyo Verdy players S.L. Benfica footballers Sport Club Corinthians Paulista players Cruzeiro Esporte Clube players CR Vasco da Gama players Tigres UANL footballers Tecos F.C. footballers SE Palmeiras players Macaé Esporte Futebol Clube players Copa Libertadores–winning players Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico Expatriate men's footballers in Japan Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Liga MX players J1 League players Primeira Liga players 1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 20th-century Brazilian sportsmen Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Japan