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 represented Criciúma, where he started his career, between 1976 and 1982, América-SP in 1983, Bangu in 1984, POSCO Atoms of

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

in 1985 and 1986 (League 28 matches-9 goals / League Cup 12 matches-3 goals), then returned to Bangu AC in 1987, signed with

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 1988, and left the club in 1990, In 1991, he played for Internacional, moving to Toyota Motor FC of

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

in the same year, staying in the Japanese club until 1992. In 1993, Paulinho Criciúma signed with the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

club Los Angeles Salsa which played in the

American Professional Soccer League The American Professional Soccer League (APSL) was a professional men's soccer league with teams from the United States and later Canada. It was formed in 1990 by the merger of the third American Soccer League with the Western Soccer League. ...

. Paulinho Criciúma was the league's points and goals leader, being named a first team All Star and the league MVP. In 1994, he tied teammate Paul Wright for the points lead, but finished second on the goals list. The Salsa folded at the end of the 1994 season and he moved north to the Montreal Impact of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. The fall of 1995, Paulinho Criciúma signed with Atlético Celaya of

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, playing until 1996. Paulinho Criciúma won the Korean Super League in 1986, representing POSCO Atoms, the

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 ...

in 1989 and in 1990 with

, and the Konica Cup in 1991, with Toyota Motor FC.

Managerial career

He was the head coach of Barreiras in 2001,

Camaçari Camaçari is a city in Bahia, Brazil. It is located at . It is part of the Salvador, Bahia, Salvador Metropolitan Region (''Região Metropolitana de Salvador''), being the industrial city of the metropolis. Camaçari covers , and had an estimate ...

in 2002, and was hired as Criciúma's head coach for the 2006 season, but was sacked on January 23 of that year.

References

#''Enciclopédia do Futebol Brasileiro'', Volume 2 - Lance, Rio de Janeiro: Aretê Editorial S/A, 2001.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Criciuma, Paulinho 1961 births Living people Footballers from Criciúma Men's association football forwards Brazilian men's footballers Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Criciúma Esporte Clube players América Futebol Clube (SP) players Bangu Atlético Clube players Pohang Steelers players Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas players SC Internacional players Nagoya Grampus players Los Angeles Salsa players Montreal Impact (1992–2011) players Atlético Celaya footballers K League 1 players Japan Soccer League players American Professional Soccer League players Expatriate men's footballers in South Korea Expatriate men's footballers in Japan Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in South Korea Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Japan Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Canada Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Brazilian football managers Camaçari Futebol Clube managers Criciúma Esporte Clube managers 20th-century Brazilian sportsmen