Renaldo (footballer)

Renaldo
Personal information
Full name	Renaldo Lopes da Cruz
Date of birth	19 March 1970 (age 54)
Place of birth	Cotegipe, Brazil
Height	1.71 m (5 ft 7 in)
Position(s)	Forward
Senior career*
Years	Team
1991	Guará
1991–1993	Atlético-PR
1993–1996	Atlético Mineiro
1996–2000	Deportivo La Coruña
1997–1998	→ Corinthians (loan)
1998–2000	→ Las Palmas (loan)
2000–2001	Lleida
2001–2002	Extremadura
2002	América-MG
2003	Paraná
2004	FC Seoul
2004	Palmeiras
2005	Paraná
2005	Coritiba
2006	Náutico
2006	Brasiliense
2006	Vitória-ES
2007	Ceilândia
2008	Democrata
2009	Capital-DF
2009	Dom Pedro-DF
2010	Serrano-PR
2010	Capital-DF
2011	Itaúna
2011–2012	Vilavelhense
International career
1996	Brazil
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Renaldo Lopes da Cruz (born 19 March 1970), known simply as Renaldo, is a Brazilian retired footballer who played as a forward.

Club career

Born in Cotegipe, Bahia, Renaldo played for more than 15 different clubs in his country, most notably for Clube Atlético Mineiro. During his entire career, he missed only two penalty kicks – both in the same match, a 3–0 home win against Figueirense Futebol Clube – and left for Spain in 1996 to sign with Deportivo de La Coruña.

Upon his arrival in A Coruña, Renaldo said, while describing himself as a player: "I am like Ronaldo, but with an "e"".^[1] However, he grossly failed to live up to expectations, also spending time with three other teams in the country (all in Segunda División). 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.^[2]

In 2002, Renaldo returned to his country to play for América Futebol Clube (MG). He continued to represent clubs in quick succession (he also had another spell abroad, in South Korea for FC Seoul), and finished his career in his 40s playing amateur football.

International career

In 1996, he earned his sole cap for the Brazil national team.

References

^ El peor fichaje del Deportivo de La Coruña (Deportivo de La Coruña's worst signing); Diarios de Fútbol, 16 January 2007 (in Spanish)
^ Renaldinhos y Pavoves (in Spanish)

External links

Renaldo at Sambafoot (archived)
Renaldo at BDFutbol
Renaldo – K League stats at kleague.com (in Korean)
Renaldo at National-Football-Teams.com

[1] El peor fichaje del Deportivo de La Coruña (Deportivo de La Coruña's worst signing); Diarios de Fútbol, 16 January 2007 (in Spanish)

[2] Renaldinhos y Pavoves (in Spanish)

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