Paulo Isidoro

Lore & Background

In 1981, he received the Bola de Ouro award. He was capped 41 times with the Brazil national team between June 1977 and July 1983, and played in four out of the team's five matches at the 1982 FIFA World Cup, always as a substitute (usually for Serginho Chulapa).

In Their Own Story

The evening air over Porto Alegre carried the faint chill of a southern-winter dusk. Under the amber floodlights of Arena do Grêmio, the pitch glistened with a thin sheen of rain that had passed an hour before. Paulo Isidoro stood at the edge of the penalty area, boots planted in the damp grass, watching the keeper distribute. Around him, the stands hummed with the low, rolling murmur of ten thousand voices singing in unison. He adjusted the knot of his tie—no, not a tie; the collar of his training top, pulled tight against the cold. A ball was swung to him, and he controlled it with the inside of his boot, the leather thumping softly against the grass. Somewhere in the upper tier, a child pressed his face to the railing, eyes wide. Isidoro looked up, caught the child's gaze for a half-second, and nodded. Then he turned, dropped the ball to a teammate, and the drill resumed. The anthem swelled again. The night belonged to the Tricolor.

Reader's Guide

Clubs: 1975–1980 Clube Atlético Mineiro; 1980–1983 Grêmio Foot-Ball Porto Alegrense; 1983–1985 Santos FC; 1985–1988 Guarani Futebol Clube; 1989 Esporte Clube XV de Jaú; 1989–1990 Cruzeiro Esporte Clube; 1991–1992 Associação Atlética Internacional (Limeira); 1992–1997 Valeriodoce Esporte Clube.

Did You Know?

• He won the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A with Grêmio in 1981.
• He received the Brazilian Silver Ball in 1976, 1981, and 1983.
• He played for eight different clubs in his career.