Alessandro Rosa Vieira (born 8 June 1977), known as Falcão, is a Brazilian retired professional

futsal Futsal is a football-based game played on a hard court smaller than a football pitch, and mainly indoors. It has similarities to five-a-side football and indoor football. Futsal is played between two teams of five players each, one of whom is t ...

player. He is known for his flashy and potent

dribbling In sports, dribbling is maneuvering a ball by one player while moving in a given direction, avoiding defenders' attempts to intercept the ball. A successful dribble will bring the ball past defenders legally and create opportunities to score. A ...

skills and a powerful and accurate left foot. He is also the world's all-time leading goalscorer in men's international matches. He was named as the Best Futsal Player in the World four times (2004, 2006, 2011 and 2012) and won the

FIFA Futsal World Cup The FIFA Futsal World Cup is an international futsal competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of FIFA, the sport's global governing body. Since the first edition that took place in 1989 in the Netherla ...

Golden Shoe in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

and the Golden Ball twice, in 2004 and

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing ...

Career

Falcão joined the Guarapira futsal club in the northern zone of the city at the age of 13. He joined Corinthians in 1993 and became professional in 1993. He debuted in the senior team in 1994. In 1997, he joined GM-Chevrolet, owned by the General Motors company. After leaving in 1999, he switched teams frequently until 2003, when he ended up in

Jaraguá Jaraguá or Jaragua may refer to: Places *Jaraguá, Goiás, a city in Brazil * Jaraguá do Sul, a city in Santa Catarina State, Brazil *Jaraguá (district of São Paulo), Brazil *Villa Jaragua, a city in the Baoruco province, Dominican Republic * J ...

. After changing clubs again from 2011 to 2012, he joined

Sorocaba Sorocaba () is a municipality in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. Sorocaba is the eighth-largest city in the state of São Paulo. Outside the Greater São Paulo region, it ranks behind only Campinas, São José dos Campos and Ribeirão Preto. I ...

in 2013, where he played until 2018. In 2004, 2006, 2011 and 2012, he was recognised as the Best Futsal Player in the World. On 26 June 2015, Falcão joined

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

's futsal team for a tournament in

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the no ...

. He also played in the inaugural season of the Asian Premier Futsal Championship for

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

n side Chennai 5s, scoring five goals in the tournament. He also had a brief spell playing 11-a-side football with

São Paulo Futebol Clube SAO or Sao may refer to: Places * Sao civilisation, in Middle Africa from 6th century BC to 16th century AD * Sao, a town in Boussé Department, Burkina Faso * Saco Transportation Center (station code SAO), a train station in Saco, Maine, U.S. ...

during the first half of 2005, including in the

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris (dwarf planet), Er ...

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

, but returned to futsal soon after. Internationally, Falcão scored 401 goals in 258 appearances for the

Brazil national futsal team The Brazil national futsal team represents Brazil during international futsal competitions. It is under the direction of the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF). The team is considered to be the strongest in the world earning a record three stra ...

. At the

and

s, the latter on home soil, he was recognised by FIFA as the Best Player of the tournaments. In 2008 and

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

, he helped Brazil win their 4th and 5th title in the FIFA Futsal World Cup. On 22 September 2016, Falcão retired from the national team after they were eliminated by

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkm ...

in the round of 16 at the 2016 World Cup. Despite the early exit, he managed to score 10 goals, winning the Bronze Shoe and ultimately becoming the all-time top goalscorer in FIFA Futsal World Cup history, having scored 48 times. Falcão is considered by many football experts and players the greatest player in futsal history. Besides being one of the greatest players in the sport's history, Falcão also participated on two of the most viewed futsal matches in history.

Honours

Club

*South-American Championship: 2001, 2004 *

Liga Futsal The Liga Nacional de Futsal (LNF) is the premier futsal league in Brazil, and was created in 1996 with the purpose of setting up a championship with the best futsal teams of the country, corresponding to the Brazilian Football Championship Séri ...

: 1999, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 *Brazilian Club Cup: 1998, 2003, 2004 *São Paulo City Cup: 1995, 1998, 2002 *Paulista Championship: 1995, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2014,2017 *Mineiro Championship: 1999 *Catarinense Championship: 2003 *Metropolitan Championship: 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 *Topper São Paulo Cup: 1997, 2001 *

Campeonato Paulista The Campeonato Paulista Série A1, commonly known as Campeonato Paulista, nicknamed Paulistão, is the top-flight professional football league in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. Run by the FPF, the league is contested between 16 clubs and ty ...

: 2005

National team

Futsal Mundialito The Futsal Mundialito is an international futsal competition of the same kind of the FIFA Futsal World Cup but with invited nations similar to the Grand Prix de Futsal. It was first held in 1994. Results Medal count Participating nations ;Legen ...

: 2001 *Nations Cup: 2001 *RJ International Cup: 1998 *American Cup: 1998, 1999, 2011 *South American Qualification: 2000, 2008 *Latin Cup: 2003 *Tigers 5 Tournament – Singapore: 1999 *Egypt Tournament: 2002 *Thailand Tournament: 2003 *

Pan American Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is hel ...

: 2007 * Grand Prix de Futsal: 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2018 *KL World 5s – Malaysia: 2008 *

: 2008, 2012 *ODESUR Games: 2002, 2010

Individual

* Best Futsal Player of the World: 2004, 2006, 2011, 2012 *

Golden Shoe: 2004 *

Golden Ball: 2004, 2008 *

Silver Shoe: 2008 *

Bronze Shoe: 2016 * The FIFA Award for an Outstanding Career: 2016

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Falcao 1977 births Living people Brazilian men's futsal players Brazilian footballers Futsal players at the 2007 Pan American Games São Paulo FC players ADC Intelli players Pan American Games gold medalists for Brazil Pan American Games medalists in futsal Footballers from São Paulo (state) Association football forwards Medalists at the 2007 Pan American Games