Careca facts for kids

For other uses, see Careca (disambiguation).

In this Portuguese name, the second or paternal family name is de Oliveira. "Filho" is a generational suffix meaning "son", which is used for someone whose name is the same as their father, like "Jr." in English.

Quick facts for kids
Careca
Personal information
Careca in 2008
Full name	Antônio de Oliveira Filho
Date of birth	(1960-10-05) 5 October 1960 (age 64)
Place of birth	Araraquara, Brazil
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s)	Striker
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1978–1982	Guarani	77	(46)
1983–1987	São Paulo	67	(54)
1987–1993	Napoli	164	(73)
1993–1996	Kashiwa Reysol	60	(31)
1997	Santos	9	(2)
1998	Campinas	10	(6)
1999	São José (RS)	2	(0)
Total		389	(212)
International career
1982–1993	Brazil	64	(30)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Antônio de Oliveira Filho (born October 5, 1960), known to everyone as Careca, is a famous Brazilian former footballer. He played as a forward, which means he was a main goal scorer for his team. Careca played for many clubs, but he is most famous for his time with the Italian team Napoli. He also played more than 60 games for the Brazilian national team.

Careca's Club Career
Careca's International Career
Careca's Playing Style
Career Statistics
- Club
- International
Honours and Awards
See also

Careca's Club Career

Careca started his football journey in 1978 with a team called Guarani in his home state of São Paulo, Brazil. He quickly became known as one of the best young strikers in the country. This was because he was very fast and great at scoring goals.

In his first season with Guarani, he helped them win the Brazilian Championship. Later, in 1981, they also won the Brazilian Second Division.

Playing for São Paulo

By 1983, Careca joined São Paulo, another big Brazilian club. He kept scoring lots of goals, which made him even more famous. In 1986, he led São Paulo to win the Brazilian Championship. They beat his old team, Guarani, in the final game. That same year, Careca won the Bola de Ouro award, which is like being named the best footballer in Brazil.

Move to Napoli in Italy

In 1987, Careca moved to Italy to play for Napoli. This team had just won the Italian league, called Serie A. At Napoli, he became part of a famous attacking trio known as "Ma-Gi-Ca." This name came from the first two letters of the players' last names: Diego Maradona, Bruno Giordano, and Careca.

His first season at Napoli was a bit tough, even though he scored 13 goals. The team was knocked out of the European Cup early. They also lost the league title in the last few games.

However, his second season was much better! Napoli won the UEFA Cup, which is a big European competition. Careca scored a goal in both games of the final. One of his goals was a memorable lob over the goalkeeper. Napoli also finished second in Serie A that year. In 1990, Careca finally won the Scudetto (the Italian league title) with Napoli. They also won the first-ever Supercoppa Italiana later that year. Careca stayed at Napoli for three more years, playing alongside Gianfranco Zola.

Later Years in Football

In 1993, Careca left Italy and moved to Japan to play for a new team called Kashiwa Reysol in the J.League. He played there for three years and helped them get promoted to the top Japanese league in 1994.

He returned to Brazil in 1997 to play for Santos. After one year there, he played for Campinas in 1998. He finished his career in 1999 with a smaller team called São José (RS). Careca retired after playing 64 games for Brazil and scoring 30 goals.

Why the Name Careca?

The word "Careca" means 'bald' in Portuguese. It was a nickname given to Antônio when he was a child. He got this nickname because he really admired a famous Brazilian clown who had the same name.

Other Footballers Named Careca

Sometimes, people get Careca confused with other players. Two other footballers who also played for the Brazilian national team were also called Careca. They were Careca II and Careca Bianchezi.

Careca's International Career

Careca first joined the Brazilian national team in 1982. However, he had to miss the 1982 World Cup in Spain. This was because he got a thigh injury just three days before Brazil's first game. Another player, Roberto Dinamite, took his place in the team. Careca was also part of the Brazilian team that finished second in the 1983 Copa América tournament.

Careca truly became famous in world football during the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico. He scored five goals in that tournament, which made him the second-highest goal scorer. Only England's Gary Lineker scored more. Brazil was knocked out of the tournament by France in a penalty shootout during the quarter-finals. In 1990, Careca played in another World Cup, where Brazil was defeated by Argentina in the second round. He scored two goals in that tournament. His last game for Brazil was in August 1993.

Careca's Playing Style

Careca is considered one of the best strikers in the history of Brazilian football. He was known for being a very good goal scorer. He was fast, always looking for chances, and had a powerful shot. He also had excellent technique and could score with both his right and left feet. Careca was especially good at scoring goals from difficult angles, even when he was running with the ball.

He was also good at heading the ball and had a great sense of where to be on the field. This meant he was often in the perfect spot in front of the goal to score. Even though he usually played as a main striker, he could also play a bit deeper. This allowed him to help his teammates and create chances for them to score. After scoring a goal, Careca often celebrated by stretching out his arms like an aeroplane's wings.

Career Statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club	Season	League			State league		Cup		Continental		Other
Club	Season	Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Guarani	1978	Série A	28	13	21	12			—		49	25
	1979		1	0	49	16			7	0	57	16
	1980		17	7	38	16			—		55	23
	1981		14	8	34	13			—		48	21
	1982		17	18	28	11			—		45	29
	Total		77	46	170	68			7	0	254	114
São Paulo	1983	Série A	20	17	33	15			—		53	32
	1984				37	14			—		37	14
	1985		17	12	31	23			—		48	35
	1986		30	25	13	7			—		43	32
	1987								2	1	2	1
	Total		67	54	114	59			2	1	183	114
Napoli	1987–88	Serie A	26	13	—		7	5	1	0	34	18
	1988–89		30	19	—		10	2	12	6	52	27
	1989–90		22	10	—		1	0	6	2	29	12
	1990–91		29	9	—		7	3	2	0	38	12
	1991–92		33	15	—		4	2	—		37	17
	1992–93		24	7	—		3	3	—		27	10
	Total		164	73	—		32	15	21	8	217	96
Kashiwa Reysol	1993	Football League			—		6	4	—		6	4
	1994	Football League	25	19	—		1	1	—		26	20
	1995	J1 League	30	10	—				—		30	10
	1996	J1 League	5	2	—		6	3	—		11	5
	Total		60	31	—		13	8	—		73	39
Santos	1997	Série A
Career total			368	204	284	127	45	23	30	9	727	363

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Brazil	1982	4	0
	1983	11	5
	1984	0	0
	1985	7	3
	1986	11	8
	1987	4	2
	1988	0	0
	1989	6	6
	1990	7	3
	1991	1	0
	1992	2	0
	1993	7	2
Total		60	29

Scores and results list Brazil's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Careca goal.

List of international goals scored by Careca
No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	28 April 1983	Maracanã Stadium, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	Chile	–	3–2	Friendly
2	8 June 1983	Estádio Cidade de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal	Portugal	1–0	4–0	Friendly
3	8 June 1983	Estádio Cidade de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal	Portugal	3–0	4–0	Friendly
4	17 June 1983	St. Jakob-Park, Basel, Switzerland	Switzerland	2–1	2–1	Friendly
5	22 June 1983	Ullevi, Gothenburg, Sweden	Sweden	2–2	3–3	Friendly
6	2 May 1985	Estádio do Arruda, Recife, Brazil	Uruguay	–	2–0	Friendly
7	5 May 1985	Estádio Fonte Nova, Salvador, Brazil	Argentina	1–0	2–1	Friendly
8	30 June 1985	Estádio do Morumbi, São Paulo, Brazil	Bolivia	–	1–1	1986 FIFA World Cup qualification
9	1 April 1986	Castelão, São Luís, Brazil	Peru	4–0	4–0	Friendly
10	8 April 1986	Estádio Serra Dourada, Goiânia, Brazil	East Germany	3–0	3–0	Friendly
11	30 April 1986	Estádio do Arruda, Recife, Brazil	Yugoslavia	4–2	4–2	Friendly
12	6 June 1986	Estadio Jalisco, Guadalajara, Mexico	Algeria	1–0	1–0	1986 FIFA World Cup
13	12 June 1986	Estadio Jalisco, Guadalajara, Mexico	Northern Ireland	1–0	3–0	1986 FIFA World Cup
14	12 June 1986	Estadio Jalisco, Guadalajara, Mexico	Northern Ireland	3–0	3–0	1986 FIFA World Cup
15	16 June 1986	Estadio Jalisco, Guadalajara, Mexico	Poland	4–0	4–0	1986 FIFA World Cup
16	21 June 1986	Estadio Jalisco, Guadalajara, Mexico	France	1–0	1–1	1986 FIFA World Cup
17	21 June 1987	Estádio da Ressacada, Florianópolis, Brazil	Ecuador	–	4–1	Friendly
18	28 June 1987	Estadio Córdoba, Córdoba, Argentina	Venezuela	3–0	5–0	1987 Copa América
19	20 August 1989	Estádio do Morumbi, São Paulo, Brazil	Venezuela	1–0	6–0	1990 FIFA World Cup qualification
20				2–0
21				5–0
22				6–0
23	3 September 1989	Maracanã Stadium, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	Chile	–	2–0	1990 FIFA World Cup qualification
24	20 December 1989	De Kuip, Rotterdam, Netherlands	Netherlands	1–0	1–0	Friendly
25	13 May 1990	Maracanã Stadium, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	East Germany	2–1	3–3	Friendly
26	10 June 1990	Juventus Stadium, Turin, Italy	Sweden	1–0	2–1	1990 FIFA World Cup
27	10 June 1990	Juventus Stadium, Turin, Italy	Sweden	2–0	2–1	1990 FIFA World Cup
28	6 June 1993	Yale Bowl, New Haven, United States	United States	1–0	2–0	1993 U.S. Cup
29	10 June 1993	Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, Washington, United States	Germany	2–0	3–3	1993 U.S. Cup