Carlos de Menezes Júnior (born 25 April 1999), commonly known as Cacá, is a Brazilian 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 plays as a

central defender 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 ...

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 ...

Club career

Born in Visconde do Rio Branco, Minas Gerais, Cacá arrived at the youth setup of Cruzeiro in June 2014. Progressing through the youth ranks, he went on to captain the under-20 side in their

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 ...

under-20 triumph in 2018. Promoted to the first team in March 2018, Cacá made his professional – and Série A debut on 14 October, playing the whole 90 minutes of a 2–0 away defeat against

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 ...

. Three days later, he was an unused substitute in the second leg of the Copa do Brasil Finals, with his side defeating

by 2–1. Initially a backup to Dedé and

Léo Léo is a proper noun in French, meaning "lion". Its etymological root lies in the Latin word Leo. Léo is used as a diminutive or variant of the names Léon, Léonard, Léonardon, Leonardo, Léonid, ''Léonor'', '' Léonore'', ''Eléonore'' ...

during the 2019 Campeonato Mineiro, Cacá started to feature more regularly during the league. He scored his first senior goal on 31 October of that year, netting the opener in a 2–0 away success over

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 ...

, and finished the campaign with 20 league appearances as his side suffered a first-ever relegation. On 6 January 2020, Cacá renewed his contract with Cruzeiro until December 2022. On February 14, 2021, Cacá signed with

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 ...

side

Tokushima Vortis is a Japanese professional football club located in Tokushima, capital of Tokushima Prefecture. The club currently playing in the J2 League, the Japanese second tier of professional football league. Name origin The name, "Vortis" was named in 19 ...

. On 21 July 2023, Cacá moved on loan to Athletico Paranaense. On 7 March 2024, Cacá was loaned to

until the end of the season with an option to buy.

Career statistics

Honours

Cruzeiro *

Copa do Brasil The Copa do Brasil () is a knockout football competition played by 92 teams, representing all 26 Brazilian states plus the Federal District. It is the Brazilian domestic cup and it is the Brazilian equivalent of the FA Cup, Taça de Portugal, ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

Corinthians *

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), ...

2025 So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...

References

External links

* *
Cacá
at ogol.com.br {{DEFAULTSORT:Caca 1999 births Living people Footballers from Minas Gerais Brazilian men's footballers Men's association football central defenders Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Campeonato Brasileiro Série B players J1 League players j2 League players Cruzeiro Esporte Clube players Tokushima Vortis players Club Athletico Paranaense players Sport Club Corinthians Paulista players 21st-century Brazilian sportsmen Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Japan Expatriate men's footballers in Japan