Antônio Carlos Zago
Encyclopedia
Antônio Carlos Zago, widely known as "Antônio Carlos" or "A.C.Zago", (born March 14, 1969 in Presidente Prudente
) is a former Brazilian footballer
and current coach.
, also having Italian origins, began professional football in São Paulo FC, where he remained for three years and then signed to Albacete Balompié
, Spain, where he stayed for only one season. He returned to his homeland, this time to Palmeiras, another team of São Paulo
and a rival to his previous Brazilian team. After three years emigrated again, this time in Japan, Kashiwa Reysol
, where once again remained for only one year before returning to play again in São Paulo
, but this time at Corinthians
, being one of the few players who have played in all the three biggest teams of the city and arch rivals as well.
In January 1998 Zago moved to Rome, wanted by Zdenek Zeman
to reinforce the defence line. In his game debut, 11 February 1998 (Lecce-Roma) was expelled after a few minutes of play, but with the club giallorossi improved his quality and skill, so that in 1999 he recalled to his National Assembly. At Rome Zago remained five years and was also part of the training sample of Italy in 2001, a fact which remains an idol to the public romanista, who called him Terminator
. That year Zago formed a rocky defence well supported by his compatriot Aldair and Argentinian Walter Samuel
as well.
In November 1999 Zago was the protagonist of a shocking episode, when he hit in the face Lazio player Diego Simeone during a derby. The outcome was a positive attitude towards him by the fans, who pay tribute to his action in the song "Brusco", the phrases "Zago: spits fire as a dragon" and "people can ssolo stà wetsuit, artrimenti AC Zago je spits". Zago is also one of the few Brazilian players who is known with his name and surname. During the years he spent to Rome he had chosen his name on the shirt to be written in different ways, the first "ANTÔNIO CARLOS", then "AC ZAGO" then simply "ZAGO."
In 2002 he left Rome and after a year of inactivity went to Turkey and signed with the Beşiktaş
, before returning to Brazil in August 2004 to Santos. In 2005 and 2006 played in Juventude. He closed his career in 2007 with Santos.
on October 30, 1991 against Yugoslavia (3–1) and remained within the national squad until 1993. After a period of light and shadows, only after moving to Rome again he managed to stand out, and then he returned to the national team, where between 1998 and 2001 he collected 26 caps and scored two goals, and was part of the squad that won the 1999 Copa América. In total, he made 37 appearances for Brazil, scoring three goals.
|1990||rowspan="3"|São Paulo||rowspan="3"|Série A
||21||1
|-
|1991||21||1
|-
|1992||22||2
|-
|1992/93||Albacete Balompié
||La Liga
||12||1
|-
|1993||rowspan="3"|Palmeiras||rowspan="3"|Série A
||18||1
|-
|1994||21||1
|-
|1995||20||1
|-
|1996||rowspan="2"|Kashiwa Reysol
||rowspan="2"|J. League 1||24||0
|-
|1997||0||0
|-
|1997||Corinthians Paulista||Série A
||12||2
|-
|1997/98||rowspan="5"|Roma
||rowspan="5"|Serie A
||12||0
|-
|1998/99||28||0
|-
|1999/00||27||2
|-
|2000/01||28||0
|-
|2001/02||12||0
|-
|2002/03||rowspan="2"|Beşiktaş||rowspan="2"|Süper Lig||31||2
|-
|2003/04||25||0
|-
|2004||Santos||Série A
||7||0
|-
|2005||rowspan="2"|Juventude||rowspan="2"|Série A
||30||1
|-
|2006||22||1
|-
|2007||Santos||Série A
||1||0
195||11
12||1
24||0
107||2
56||2
394||16
|}
|1991||2||0
|-
|1992||3||1
|-
|1993||6||0
|-
|1994||0||0
|-
|1995||0||0
|-
|1996||0||0
|-
|1997||0||0
|-
|1998||3||0
|-
|1999||12||0
|-
|2000||10||2
|-
|2001||1||0
|-
!Total||37||3
|}
, Zago signed a deal as a manager with São Caetano
.
As a coach, he had a promising start in the 2010 Paulista Championship and enjoyed a historic win against his former team Palmeiras
at Parque Antarctica. The feat brought him close to the traditional Palmeiras leaders and on February 18, 2010, he signed with Parque Antarctica club.
However, issues with the squad and criticism against Palmeiras' poor performances motivated his resignation three months later.
Presidente Prudente
Presidente Prudente is a municipality in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. The city has a population of 207,610 inhabitants and area of 562.8 km². The city is named after president Prudente de Morais. Prudente is located 558 km from the city of São Paulo.Presidente Prudente is considered the...
) is a former Brazilian footballer
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
and current coach.
Club career
Born in Presidente Prudente, a city of the state of São PauloSão Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
, also having Italian origins, began professional football in São Paulo FC, where he remained for three years and then signed to Albacete Balompié
Albacete Balompié
Albacete Balompié, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Albacete, in the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha. Founded on August 2, 1940, it currently plays in Segunda División B, holding home matches at Estadio Carlos Belmonte, with a 17,300-seat capacity.-History:The club was founded...
, Spain, where he stayed for only one season. He returned to his homeland, this time to Palmeiras, another team of São Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
and a rival to his previous Brazilian team. After three years emigrated again, this time in Japan, Kashiwa Reysol
Kashiwa Reysol
is a J. League Division 1 team. Its home town is Kashiwa, Chiba, about an hour northeast of Tokyo.-History:Founded in 1940 as Hitachi, Ltd. Soccer Club in Koganei, Tokyo, the team was a founding member of the Japan Soccer League...
, where once again remained for only one year before returning to play again in São Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
, but this time at Corinthians
Sport Club Corinthians Paulista
Sport Club Corinthians Paulista, commonly just known as Corinthians , is a Brazilian football club based in the city of São Paulo. They play in the São Paulo state league, as well as the Brasileirão, Brazil's top national league...
, being one of the few players who have played in all the three biggest teams of the city and arch rivals as well.
In January 1998 Zago moved to Rome, wanted by Zdenek Zeman
Zdenek Zeman
Zdeněk Zeman is a Czech-Italian football coach. He has managed numerous different teams, mostly in Italian football, over the years, and is currently in charge of Serie B club Pescara.-Biography:...
to reinforce the defence line. In his game debut, 11 February 1998 (Lecce-Roma) was expelled after a few minutes of play, but with the club giallorossi improved his quality and skill, so that in 1999 he recalled to his National Assembly. At Rome Zago remained five years and was also part of the training sample of Italy in 2001, a fact which remains an idol to the public romanista, who called him Terminator
Terminator
-Science:*Terminator , the line between the day and night sides of a planetary body*Terminator , the end of a gene for transcription-Technology:*Terminator , a resistor at the end of a transmission line to prevent signal reflection...
. That year Zago formed a rocky defence well supported by his compatriot Aldair and Argentinian Walter Samuel
Walter Samuel
Walter Adrián Samuel is an Argentine footballer who currently plays for Internazionale. Throughout his career he has been regarded as one of football's toughest defenders, with team-mate and Inter captain Javier Zanetti referring to him as the "hardest player" he has played with.Having been gifted...
as well.
In November 1999 Zago was the protagonist of a shocking episode, when he hit in the face Lazio player Diego Simeone during a derby. The outcome was a positive attitude towards him by the fans, who pay tribute to his action in the song "Brusco", the phrases "Zago: spits fire as a dragon" and "people can ssolo stà wetsuit, artrimenti AC Zago je spits". Zago is also one of the few Brazilian players who is known with his name and surname. During the years he spent to Rome he had chosen his name on the shirt to be written in different ways, the first "ANTÔNIO CARLOS", then "AC ZAGO" then simply "ZAGO."
In 2002 he left Rome and after a year of inactivity went to Turkey and signed with the Beşiktaş
Besiktas J.K.
Beşiktaş Jimnastik Kulübü , or simply Beşiktaş , is a Turkish sports club. The club's football team is one of the major teams in Turkey. The professional sports club, founded in 1903, is based in the Beşiktaş district in Istanbul, Turkey...
, before returning to Brazil in August 2004 to Santos. In 2005 and 2006 played in Juventude. He closed his career in 2007 with Santos.
International career
Zago debuted with the Brazil national teamBrazil national football team
The Brazil national football team represents Brazil in international men's football and is controlled by the Brazilian Football Confederation , the governing body for football in Brazil. They are a member of the International Federation of Association Football since 1923 and also a member of the...
on October 30, 1991 against Yugoslavia (3–1) and remained within the national squad until 1993. After a period of light and shadows, only after moving to Rome again he managed to stand out, and then he returned to the national team, where between 1998 and 2001 he collected 26 caps and scored two goals, and was part of the squad that won the 1999 Copa América. In total, he made 37 appearances for Brazil, scoring three goals.
Club career statistics
|-|1990||rowspan="3"|São Paulo||rowspan="3"|Série A
Campeonato Brasileiro Série A
The Campeonato Brasileiro de Clubes da Série A , popularly known as the Brasileirão , is a professional football league at the top of the Brazilian football league system held annually since 1959. Contested by twenty clubs, it operates a system of promotion and relegation with the Série B...
||21||1
|-
|1991||21||1
|-
|1992||22||2
|-
|1992/93||Albacete Balompié
Albacete Balompié
Albacete Balompié, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Albacete, in the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha. Founded on August 2, 1940, it currently plays in Segunda División B, holding home matches at Estadio Carlos Belmonte, with a 17,300-seat capacity.-History:The club was founded...
||La Liga
La Liga
The Primera División of the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional , commonly known as La Liga or, for sponsorship reasons, Liga BBVA since 2008, is the top professional association football division of the Spanish football league system...
||12||1
|-
|1993||rowspan="3"|Palmeiras||rowspan="3"|Série A
Campeonato Brasileiro Série A
The Campeonato Brasileiro de Clubes da Série A , popularly known as the Brasileirão , is a professional football league at the top of the Brazilian football league system held annually since 1959. Contested by twenty clubs, it operates a system of promotion and relegation with the Série B...
||18||1
|-
|1994||21||1
|-
|1995||20||1
|-
|1996||rowspan="2"|Kashiwa Reysol
Kashiwa Reysol
is a J. League Division 1 team. Its home town is Kashiwa, Chiba, about an hour northeast of Tokyo.-History:Founded in 1940 as Hitachi, Ltd. Soccer Club in Koganei, Tokyo, the team was a founding member of the Japan Soccer League...
||rowspan="2"|J. League 1||24||0
|-
|1997||0||0
|-
|1997||Corinthians Paulista||Série A
Campeonato Brasileiro Série A
The Campeonato Brasileiro de Clubes da Série A , popularly known as the Brasileirão , is a professional football league at the top of the Brazilian football league system held annually since 1959. Contested by twenty clubs, it operates a system of promotion and relegation with the Série B...
||12||2
|-
|1997/98||rowspan="5"|Roma
A.S. Roma
Associazione Sportiva Roma, commonly referred to as simply Roma, is a professional Italian football club based in Rome. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma have participated in the top-tier of Italian football for all of their existence but one season in the early 50s...
||rowspan="5"|Serie A
Serie A
Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...
||12||0
|-
|1998/99||28||0
|-
|1999/00||27||2
|-
|2000/01||28||0
|-
|2001/02||12||0
|-
|2002/03||rowspan="2"|Beşiktaş||rowspan="2"|Süper Lig||31||2
|-
|2003/04||25||0
|-
|2004||Santos||Série A
Campeonato Brasileiro Série A
The Campeonato Brasileiro de Clubes da Série A , popularly known as the Brasileirão , is a professional football league at the top of the Brazilian football league system held annually since 1959. Contested by twenty clubs, it operates a system of promotion and relegation with the Série B...
||7||0
|-
|2005||rowspan="2"|Juventude||rowspan="2"|Série A
Campeonato Brasileiro Série A
The Campeonato Brasileiro de Clubes da Série A , popularly known as the Brasileirão , is a professional football league at the top of the Brazilian football league system held annually since 1959. Contested by twenty clubs, it operates a system of promotion and relegation with the Série B...
||30||1
|-
|2006||22||1
|-
|2007||Santos||Série A
Campeonato Brasileiro Série A
The Campeonato Brasileiro de Clubes da Série A , popularly known as the Brasileirão , is a professional football league at the top of the Brazilian football league system held annually since 1959. Contested by twenty clubs, it operates a system of promotion and relegation with the Série B...
||1||0
195||11
12||1
24||0
107||2
56||2
394||16
|}
International career statistics
|-|1991||2||0
|-
|1992||3||1
|-
|1993||6||0
|-
|1994||0||0
|-
|1995||0||0
|-
|1996||0||0
|-
|1997||0||0
|-
|1998||3||0
|-
|1999||12||0
|-
|2000||10||2
|-
|2001||1||0
|-
!Total||37||3
|}
Titles
- Campeonato Paulista de 1991 (São Paulo)
- Campeonato Brasileiro de 1991 (São Paulo)
- Campeonato Paulista de 1992 (São Paulo)
- Libertadores de 1992 (São Paulo)
- Campeão Ramon Carranza de 1992 (Albacete)
- Campeão Tereza Herrera de 1992 (Albacete)
- Campeonato Paulista de 1993 (Palmeiras)
- Campeonato Brasileiro de 1993 (Palmeiras)
- Torneio Rio-São Paulo de 1993 (Palmeiras)
- Campeonato Paulista de 1994 (Palmeiras)
- Campeonato Brasileiro de 1994 (Palmeiras)
- Campeonato Paulista de 1997 (Corinthians)
- Copa Américade 1999 (Seleção Brasileira)
- Campeonato Italiano de 2001 (Roma)
- Super-Copa da Itália de 2001 (Roma)
- Türkiye Süper Ligi 2003 (Beşiktaş)
- Campeonato Brasileiro de 2004 (Santos FC)
- Taca Río de Janeiro 2005 (Fluminense)
- Campeonato Paulista de 2007 (Santos)
Managerial career
In June 2009, after an unsuccessful experience as technical director at CorinthiansSport Club Corinthians Paulista
Sport Club Corinthians Paulista, commonly just known as Corinthians , is a Brazilian football club based in the city of São Paulo. They play in the São Paulo state league, as well as the Brasileirão, Brazil's top national league...
, Zago signed a deal as a manager with São Caetano
Associação Desportiva São Caetano
Associação Desportiva São Caetano, commonly known as São Caetano, is a Brazilian football team based in the city of São Caetano, Brazil, part of the São Paulo greater metropolitan area. The team is dubbed Azulão , after the shirt colour. The sponsor is Consul, a well known Brazilian producer of...
.
As a coach, he had a promising start in the 2010 Paulista Championship and enjoyed a historic win against his former team Palmeiras
Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras
Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras is a Brazilian football club from São Paulo. The club was founded on August 26, 1914, as Palestra Italia but changed to the current name on September 14, 1942...
at Parque Antarctica. The feat brought him close to the traditional Palmeiras leaders and on February 18, 2010, he signed with Parque Antarctica club.
However, issues with the squad and criticism against Palmeiras' poor performances motivated his resignation three months later.