Roberto Carlos

Roberto Carlos da Silva Rocha (born 10 April 1973), known as Roberto Carlos, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who now works as a football ambassador. He started his career in Brazil as a forward but spent most of his career as a left-back and has been described as the "most offensive-minded left-back in the history of the game". A free kick specialist throughout his career, his bending shots have measured at over 105 miles per hour (169 km/h). In 1997, he was runner-up in the FIFA World Player of the Year. Widely considered one of the greatest left backs in history, in 2004 he was named by Pelé in the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players. At club level, Roberto Carlos joined Real Madrid from Inter Milan in 1996 to spend 11 highly successful seasons, playing 584 matches in all competitions and scoring 71 goals. At Real, he won four La Liga titles and the UEFA Champions League three times. In April 2013, Marca named him in their "Best Foreign Eleven in Real Madrid's History". He is one of the few players to have made over 1,100 professional career appearances at club and international level. Roberto Carlos made his debut for the Brazil national team in 1992. He played in three World Cups, helping the team reach the final in 1998 in France, and win the 2002 tournament in South Korea and Japan. He was named in the FIFA World Cup All-Star Team in 1998 and 2002. With Brazil he is especially known for a bending 40-yard free kick against France in the inaugural match of Tournoi de France 1997. With 125 caps he has made the third-most appearances for his national team. He was chosen on the FIFA World Cup Dream Team in a 2002 FIFA poll.