Rivaldo, full name Vitor Borba Ferreira, (born
April 19, 1972 in Recife) is a Brazilian Football
(soccer)|football player, a World Champion for
Brazil national football team|Brazil at the
Wc|2002.

Rivaldo signed professional terms at the age of 16
in 1989 with Santa Cruz Futebol Clube|Santa Cruz
after impressing local scouts in a junior
tournament. He joined Brazilian first division
club Mogi-Mirim in 1991.

Rivaldo signed for Sport Club Corinthians
Paulista|Corinthians in 1993 and made his
international debut in December 1993, scoring the
only goal in 1-0 victory over Mexico national
football team|Mexico in a friendly international.

Rivaldo signed for Sociedade Esportiva
Palmeiras|Palmeiras in 1994 and won the Brazilian
league championship on the same year. He won the
SÃ£o Paulo (state)|SÃ£o Paulo state championship
with Palmeiras in 1996. He moved to Spain in 1996
and joined Deportivo de La CoruÃ±a|Deportivo La
CoruÃ±a. Rivaldo then transferred to FC
Barcelona|Barcelona in August 1997. He played for
Brazil in the Wc|1998.

Winning a second La Liga|Spanish league title with
Barcelona in 1999, Rivaldo won both FIFA World
Player of the Year|FIFA and World Soccer
magazine's World Player of the Year awards. He was
voted European Footballer of the Year by France
Football magazine.

In June 2002, FC Barcelona|BarÃ§a decided to
release Rivaldo from his contract a year before it
was due to expire and he signed a three-year
contract with the Italy|Italian Serie A club A.C.
Milan. He left the star-studded Milan after a
season of very few starts. After a brief stint
back in Brazil with Cruzeiro Esporte
Clube|Cruzeiro (11 games played, 2 goals scored),
he signed with Greece|Greek power Olympiacos
CFP|Olympiakos for the 2004-2005|05 season and won
the Greek championship and the Greek cup (23 games
played, 12 goals scored). Rivaldo scored some
memorable goals in his first season at Olympiakos,
including a fantastic effort in the cup final with
a well placed lob from a difficult position close
to corner flag. Rivaldo also scored 2 memorable
free kicks during the season, the first was in the
loc