Vanderlei Eustáquio de Oliveira (11 June 1950 – 17 July 2023), often known as Palhinha, was a Brazilian

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.

Club career

Palhinha started his football career in Cruzeiro in 1969 and had played for them until 1976. In the last season that he played for Cruzeiro, he was the top scorer of

Copa Libertadores 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 tournam ...

and helped the club to win the trophy for the first time. In 1977, he transferred to

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 ...

and played there until 1980. In 1980, he transferred to

Atlético Mineiro Atlético, Spanish for ''athletics'', or Athletico in English, may refer to: Sports Teams Athletico *Athletico SC (Lebanon), a Lebanese football academy *Athletic Bilbao, or Atletico Bilbao, Basque students athletic club (also forming Athletic Cl ...

, the main rival of his former club Cruzeiro in the state of

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil, being the fourth largest state by area and the second largest in number of inhabitants with a population of 20,539,989 according to the 2022 Brazilian census, 2022 census. Located in ...

. In the following years, he transferred to various clubs frequently. In 1982, he played for

Santos FC Santos Futebol Clube () is a Brazilian sports club based in Vila Belmiro, a ''bairro'' in the city of Santos, São Paulo, Santos. It plays in the Campeonato Paulista, the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo's premier State football lea ...

, while he transferred to

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 ...

in the same year. In 1983, he was back to Cruzeiro, but only played for the club for two years. In 1985, he played for América in the

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 ...

and then retired after that year.

International career

Palhinha represented the Brazil national team sixteen times during his peak era from 1973 to 1979, including leading the national team to the second runners-up in Copa América 1979. He scored three goals for his country in all his national team appearances.

Death

Palhinha died on 17 July 2023, at the age of 73.

Honours

;Cruzeiro *

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Palhinha 1950 births 2023 deaths Footballers from Belo Horizonte Brazilian men's footballers Men's association football forwards Brazil men's international footballers Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players São Paulo state football team players 1975 Copa América players 1979 Copa América players Cruzeiro Esporte Clube players Copa Libertadores–winning players Sport Club Corinthians Paulista players Clube Atlético Mineiro players Santos FC players CR Vasco da Gama players América Futebol Clube (MG) players Brazilian football managers Campeonato Brasileiro Série A managers América Futebol Clube (MG) managers Clube Atlético Mineiro managers Rio Branco de Andradas Futebol Clube managers Sport Club Corinthians Paulista managers União São João Esporte Clube managers Ferroviário Atlético Clube (CE) managers Associação Atlética Internacional (Limeira) managers Villa Nova Atlético Clube managers Al-Tai FC managers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Expatriate football managers in Saudi Arabia Saudi Pro League managers Copa Libertadores top scorers 20th-century Brazilian sportsmen