Renaldo Lopes da Cruz (born 19 March 1970), known simply as Renaldo, is a Brazilian former

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 Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

Club career

Born in Cotegipe,

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 ...

, Renaldo played for more than 15 different clubs in his country, most notably for

Clube Atlético Mineiro The Clube Atlético Mineiro (), commonly known as Atlético Mineiro and colloquially as the Galo (, "Rooster"), is a professional association football club in Belo Horizonte, the capital city of the States of Brazil, Brazilian state of Minas ...

. During his entire career, he missed only two penalty kicks – both in the same match, a 3–0 home win against

Figueirense Futebol Clube Figueirense Futebol Clube, commonly referred to as Figueirense, is a Brazilian professional club based in Florianópolis, Santa Catarina founded on 12 June 1921. It competes in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série C, the third tier of Brazilian f ...

– and left for Spain in 1996 to sign with

Deportivo de La Coruña Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña (), commonly known as Deportivo La Coruña () or simply Depor, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia, that competes in the Segunda División, the ...

. Upon his arrival in

A Coruña A Coruña (; ; also informally called just Coruña; historical English: Corunna or The Groyne) is a city and municipality in Galicia, Spain. It is Galicia's second largest city, behind Vigo. The city is the provincial capital of the province ...

, Renaldo said, while describing himself as a player: "I am like Ronaldo, but with an "e"". However, he grossly failed to live up to expectations, also spending time with three other teams in the country (all in

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

). In the following decade, a humorous Spanish website called ''Renaldinhos y Pavones'' was created, containing anecdotes on several national and foreign players which caught the eye for various reasons.Renaldinhos y Pavoves
(in Spanish) In 2002, Renaldo returned to his country to play for

América Futebol Clube (MG) América Futebol Clube, commonly referred to as simply América Mineiro, is a Brazilian football team from the city of Belo Horizonte, capital city of the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. Founded in 1912, the club preserves its name and cre ...

. He continued to represent clubs in quick succession (he also had another spell abroad, in

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 ...

for

FC Seoul FC Seoul () is a South Korean professional Association football, football club based in Seoul that competes in the K League 1, the top flight of Football in South Korea, South Korean football. The club is owned by GS Sports, a subsidiary of GS G ...

), and finished his career in his 40s playing amateur football.

International career

In 1996, he earned his sole

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

for the Brazil national team.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Renaldo 1970 births Living people Brazilian men's footballers Men's association football forwards Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Campeonato Brasileiro Série B players Club Athletico Paranaense players Clube Atlético Mineiro players Sport Club Corinthians Paulista players América Futebol Clube (MG) players Paraná Clube players SE Palmeiras players Coritiba Foot Ball Club players Clube Náutico Capibaribe players Brasiliense FC players La Liga players Segunda División players Deportivo de La Coruña players UD Las Palmas players UE Lleida players CF Extremadura footballers K League 1 players FC Seoul players Brazil men's international footballers Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in South Korea Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in South Korea