José Roberto Gama de Oliveira (born 16 February 1964), known as Bebeto (), is a Brazilian former professional

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 who played as a forward. He entered politics in the 2010 Brazilian general elections and was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Rio de Janeiro representing the Democratic Labour Party. With 39 goals in 75 appearances for Brazil, Bebeto is the sixth highest goalscorer for his national team. He was the top scorer for Brazil at the 1989 Copa América when they won the tournament. At the

1994 FIFA World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States w ...

, he formed a formidable strike partnership with

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 ...

to lead Brazil to a record fourth World Cup title, he is regarded as one of the greatest players in his generation. He was also a member of the Brazilian team that won the

1997 FIFA Confederations Cup The 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup was the first FIFA Confederations Cup, Confederations Cup to be organized by FIFA. The tournament had previously been played in 1992 King Fahd Cup, 1992 and 1995 King Fahd Cup, 1995 as the King Fahd Cup. This editi ...

, while he won Olympic silver and bronze medals with Brazil at the 1988 and

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 ...

Summer Olympic Games respectively. In 1989, Bebeto was named South American Footballer of the Year. In January 2013 and August 2014, Bebeto was named as one of the six Ambassadors of the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...

and Rio 2016 in Brazil, others being Ronaldo, Amarildo, Marta, Carlos Alberto Torres, Mário Zagallo.

Early career

Bebeto, who was born in Salvador,

Bahia Bahia () is one of the 26 Federative units of Brazil, states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo (state), São Paulo, Mina ...

, started his career in 1983 with Vitória.

Club career

He played for Flamengo,

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 ...

, Cruzeiro and Botafogo in Brazil,

Deportivo La Coruña ''Deportivo'' (Spanish, 'sporting') may refer to: * Deportivo de La Coruña, commonly known as simply Deportivo, a Spanish football club * Déportivo, a French rock band * Deportivo (Mexicable) Mexicable is an aerial lift line in Ecatepec de ...

and Sevilla in Spain, Toros Neza in

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 ...

Kashima Antlers The are a professional association football, football club based in Kashima, Ibaraki, Japan. They currently play in the J1 League, the top tier of Japanese professional football leagues. The club has financial backing from Mercari, a Japanese ...

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 ...

, and Al Ittihad in

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

, finally retiring in 2002.

Deportivo La Coruña

Bebeto spent four years in Spain at Deportivo La Coruña, scoring an impressive 86 goals in 131 games. Bebeto became the top scorer in La Liga in his first season at Deportivo, scoring 29 goals in the 1992–93 season. In the next season, 1993–94 season, Deportivo had the chance to win their first ever

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

title by beating

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

in the last match of the season. In a very evenly matched contest Deportivo had a golden opportunity to seal the victory and thus the league title. They were given a penalty kick just minutes from the end. The official penalty taker all season had been Bebeto (after Donato, who wasn't in the field), who this time, refused to take the penalty. Eventually, Miroslav Đukić took the penalty and failed to score; hence, the match ended with a 0–0 draw, effectively handing

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 ...

the title.

Later career

In 1996 Bebeto returned to play for native club Flamengo, but after just 15 games, Bebeto returned to Spain to play for Sevilla, for whom he never scored. In 1997, Bebeto joined Cruzeiro for just one match, the 1997 Intercontinental Cup final against

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 ...

. Despite his presence, the

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 ...

side lost the match 2–0. Bebeto returned to goalscoring form at native clubs Vitória in late 1997 and Botafogo in early 1998, which saw him being picked for Brazil's World Cup defence in 1998. In 2001, he was rejected by Scottish side St Mirren, who were willing to pay his wages but had reservations about his fitness. On 5 September 2002, he joined his final club at the age of 38, Al-Ittihad of Saudi Arabia, after pledging to join Vasco da Gama on 28 August.

International career

For Brazil, Bebeto scored 39 goals in 75 caps after making his debut in 1985. He played in three World Cups: 1990,

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

, and

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

. In 1994, he was one of the best players of the tournament, scoring three goals and providing two assists for the eventual champions, and then repeated the feat four years later as Brazil finished second to hosts France. During the 1994 World Cup, Bebeto formed a formidable partnership with

, after they succeeded in putting their personal differences aside. Bebeto and Romário were fierce rivals in the Spanish League. Bebeto led the Spanish first division with 29 goals in 1992–93 and Romário led it with 30 goals in 1993–94. It was Romário who gave Bebeto the nickname Chorao, or Crybaby, for his habit of pouting to referees. It was also Romário who called a news conference before the World Cup to announce that he would not sit next to Bebeto on the team's flight to the United States. Today, however, Bebeto and Romario are friends, with Bebeto claiming that they talk often. In an interview in 2018, Bebeto praised his partnership with Romario: "I played with Romario only in the national team. We played only one game together at Flamengo before he left for Europe. Do you know that Brazil have never lost a game when Bebeto and Romario played together? Not a single game! Besides, every time we played together at least one of us scored." Bebeto became a household name for his goal celebration in the 1994 World Cup in the United States. His wife had delivered their third child two days before a quarter-final match against

the Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

in the scorching heat of

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

. After scoring, Bebeto ran to the sideline, brought his arms together and began rocking an imaginary baby. Teammates Romário and Mazinho quickly joined in. That child, a boy who was named Mattheus, started his football career with the youth side of Brazilian club Flamengo. He won a silver medal for Brazil in the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were represe ...

. He was later chosen to be an over-23 player at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

, scoring a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

in the Bronze medal match against Portugal. On 8 December 2012 a friendly match was played by Brazil Masters vs IFA All Stars at Salt Lake Stadium,

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

, India. Bebeto scored a goal for Brazil Masters as they defeated All Stars by 3–1.

Style of play

Regarded one of Brazil's greatest strikers, Bebeto was a prolific goalscorer and an excellent finisher, who was known for his consistency and determination throughout his career, although he was also injury-prone and was criticised for his character. Despite not being imposing physically due to his lack of height and slender physique, he was a fast and opportunistic player, who used his agility, offensive movement, and intelligence to lose his markers in tight spaces. Due to his vision, outstanding technical skills, close control on the ball, and his ability to play off other strikers and provide them with assists, he was often employed as a playmaking

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

or as a supporting striker early on in his career, drawing influence from Zico's playing style. He was later deployed as a striker or as a centre-forward, however, where he excelled, due to his eye for goal, and remained in this position for the rest of his career.

Coaching career

Bebeto was hired on 16 December 2009 as the América Football Club's head coach. After an average performance at the Taça Guanabara, he was sacked on 13 February 2010. He had a record of three wins, one draw and four losses.

Personal life

Bebeto is married to Denise Oliveira, who played volleyball for Flamengo in 1988, with whom he has two sons and one daughter, Stéphannie who is married to Carlos Eduardo. His son, Mattheus, is a professional footballer. Bebeto's brother-in-law, Luiz Fernando Petra, was murdered in 2002, during a federal deputy election in Rio de Janeiro.

Media

Bebeto features in

EA Sports EA Sports is a division of Electronic Arts that develops and publishes sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they imitated real-life sports networks by calling themselves the "EA Sports Network" (EASN) ...

' ''FIFA'' video game series; he was on the cover of certain editions of '' FIFA 97''.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Brazil's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Bebeto goal.''

Honours

Flamengo *

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 ...

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

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 ...

: 1986 * Taça Guanabara: 1984, 1988, 1989 Vasco da Gama * Campeonato Brasileiro Série A:

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

* Taça Guanabara: 1990 Deportivo La Coruña *

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

: 1994–95 *

Supercopa de España The Supercopa de España, also known as the Spanish Super Cup, is a super cup tournament in Football in Spain, Spanish football. Founded in 1982 Supercopa de España, 1982 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2 ...

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 ...

Botafogo * Torneio Rio-São Paulo: 1998 Kashima Antlers * J League:

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

* Emperor's Cup:

* J.League Cup:

Brazil U20 * FIFA U-20 World Cup:

Brazil U23 *

Pan American Games The Pan American Games, known as the Pan Am Games, is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas. It features thousands of athletes participating in competitions to win different summer sports. It is held among athletes from nations of th ...

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

Silver medal: 1988; Bronze medal:

Brazil *

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

Copa América The CONMEBOL Copa América (; known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship), often simply called the Copa America, is the top men's quadrennial association football, football tournament contested among list of men's national ass ...

FIFA Confederations Cup The FIFA Confederations Cup was an international association football tournament for men's national teams, held every four years by FIFA. It was contested by the holders of each of the six continental championships ( AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBO ...

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 ...

Individual *

top scorer: 1988, 1989 *

top scorer:

* South American Footballer of the Year: 1989 * South American Team of the Year: 1989 * Bola de Prata: 1992 * Campeonato Brasileiro Série A top scorer: 1992 * Pichichi Trophy: 1992–93 * La Liga Team of The Year: 1993 *

top scorer: 1996 * Torneio Rio-São Paulo top scorer: 1999 * World Soccer: The 100 Greatest Footballers of All TimeWorld Soccer: The 100 Greatest Footballers of All Time
Retrieved on 20 November 2015 * Brazilian Football Museum Hall of Fame

References

External links

* * * {{Authority control 1964 births Living people 1989 Copa América players 1990 FIFA World Cup players 1994 FIFA World Cup players 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup players 1998 FIFA World Cup players Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas players Brazil men's international footballers Brazil men's under-20 international footballers Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Japan Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Brazilian emigrants to Spain Brazilian men's footballers Brazilian football managers Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players CR Vasco da Gama players CR Flamengo footballers Deportivo de La Coruña players Esporte Clube Vitória players Expatriate men's footballers in Japan Expatriate men's footballers in Saudi Arabia Copa América–winning players FIFA World Cup–winning players FIFA Confederations Cup–winning players Men's association football forwards Footballers at the 1988 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 1996 Summer Olympics J1 League players Kashima Antlers players La Liga players Naturalised citizens of Spain Olympic footballers for Brazil Olympic silver medalists for Brazil Olympic bronze medalists for Brazil Footballers from Salvador, Bahia Sevilla FC players Pichichi Trophy winners South American Footballer of the Year winners Olympic medalists in football Toros Neza footballers Al-Ittihad Club (Jeddah) players Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Liga MX players Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Saudi Pro League players 20th-century Brazilian sportsmen