PAULO ROBERTO FALCAO
Paulo Roberto Falcão, or simply Falcão (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈpawlu ʁoˈbɛʁtu fawˈkɐ̃w̃]; born 16 October 1953), He is universally considered one of the greatest Brazilian players of all time,[2] especially at his peak in the 1980s. An elegant and technically gifted player, with an eye for goal and an ability to orchestrate his team's attacking moves, Falcão usually functioned as a deep-lying playmaker, although he was capable of aiding his team defensively, as well as creatively and offensively, due to his physique and tenacity. He was known in particular for his flair, control, vision, passing, and long-range shooting ability, as well as his tactical intelligence, organisational ability and leadership At one stage, he was the world's highest paid footballer.
Falcão began his professional career at Internacional of Porto Alegre, in Rio Grande do Sul, where he played from 1972 to 1980, winning three Brazilian National Championships (1975, 1976, 1979) and reaching the finals of the 1980 Copa Libertadores, eventually losing to Nacional. In 1980, Falcão transferred to Serie A club Roma for £650,000. In his first season in Italy (1980–81), after much controversy regarding an offside goal, Roma finished 2nd in Serie A to Juventus. Consolation came with a Coppa Italia win for Roma, beating Torino in the final on penalties – Falcão himself scored the decisive spot kick. Although Roma slipped to 3rd in his second season (1981–82), personally for Falcão it was better than the first, with 6 goals in 24 games. Falcão inspired Roma to win their second league title during the 1982–83 season, scoring 7 times in 27 games, and creating numerous others. He was acknowledged as the star man in Serie A that season, also performing well as Roma reached the quarter finals of the UEFA Cup. n 1983–84 Juventus side won the title from Roma who finished 2nd, but it was only won on the final day of the season. In the European Cup, Falcao missed several games through injury but when fit was the dynamic force behind Roma's run to the final where they lost on penalties. Roma again won the Coppa Italia, but despite nearly winning the treble, the mood around the city was not a happy one. In season 1984–85, Falcão was more famous for his off field antics than his on field ones. Due to his knee troubles, he only managed 4 games and 1 goal in the league as Roma slumped to a 8th place in the championship. Falcão then flew off to New York City for an operation on his knee that was unauthorized by the club"s doctors, and Roma subsequently terminated his contract. Falcão then signed a contract with São Paulo. While playing for São Paulo, Falcão won two titles. The first was a Campeonato Paulista in 1985 beating Portuguesa in the final with an aggregate score of 5–2, and the second one a Taça dos Campeões Rio-São, also in 1985, where he scored his one and only goal for the club in the second leg against Fluminense.
Falcao was surprisingly left out of the Brazil squad for the 1978 World Cup in Argentina, though he made the shortlisted pre-tournament 40. He was called up for the 1982 World Cup finals in Spain. He starred in the midfield of the Brazil 1982 team, along with Toninho Cerezo, Zico, Eder and Socrates, generally seen as one of the best teams not to win the World Cup. In the 2nd phase of the World Cup, his team obtained a 3–1 win against the World Champions Argentina, meaning that the Brazilians needed only a draw in their next game against Italy to advance to the semi-finals. In this game, despite twice equalising, Brazil were beaten by a Paolo Rossi hat trick as Italy won 3–2. Falcão got the second equalising goal for Brazil against his adopted country with a drive from the edge of the area. After the match, he was said to be so distressed that he wanted to give up football. After muddling through a nondescript season for his club (although he helped to win the São Paulo State Championship in 1985), he managed to get a call up to the Brazil 1986 World Cup squad, mainly on reputation. During this World Cup, he only managed to play in two games (coming on as substitute against both Spain and Algeria). Brazil exited in the quarter finals against the French team of his old rival Michel Platini. After this World Cup, Falcão retired from football.