Carlos Alberto Pintinho Opens up on Marking Pelé and Being Forced to Play in a Copa América
From Neymar Jr. to Vinícius Jr., from Ronaldinho to Raphinha, from Marcelo to Casemiro, we’ve seen quite a few Brazilian superstars make their mark on Spanish football this century. However, one of the first players to trade the Brasileirão for LaLiga was Carlos Alberto ‘Pintinho’ Gomes, who departed Rio de Janeiro for Sevilla in 1980.
Born on June 15, 1954, Pintinho was raised in the favela of Morro do Borel, where he enjoyed a privileged upbringing thanks to his grandfather’s work at the Souza Cruz cigarette factory and attended private school. Growing up in an era that saw Brazil win three FIFA World Cups between 1958 and 1970, Pintinho was obsessed with the beautiful game from the very start and would often travel to the Botafogo training sessions with his grandfather to watch legends like Garrincha, Nilton Santos, and Quarentinha. He first honed his skills on the streets with his friends, setting up cobblestones to mark the goal posts, as well as playing ‘pelada,’ or barefoot pickup matches on the dirt field of ‘Beira Rio’ in the Rua São Miguel. Then, his grandfather went to his employers and convinced them to sign him for their futsal team, where Pintinho excelled in friendlies against some of the most prestigious teams in Rio de Janeiro.
“Most of the great Brazilian players have come from a humble background as well as a background in futsal, which allows you to enjoy yourself and develop the skills needed for 11-a-side football,” stated Pintinho in an exclusive R.Org Sports interview. “I had a big fight with my dad because I didn’t want to leave futsal, but he said, ‘I’m thinking about your future,’ and convinced me to play 11-a-side. If it were up to me, I would have continued with futsal – I was in love with futsal and still am today, even though I can’t play it anymore.”
Becoming a Fluminense Legend
Pintinho earned himself an invitation from América, where he gradually transitioned from futsal to field soccer, only to return to pelada after América closed its youth team. América’s loss proved to be Fluminense’s gain, who signed him to their academy. At 12 years of age, Pintinho moved away from his family and started living at Fluminense’s academy residence in the far more upscale neighborhood of Urca, only returning to see his family once a week – if he wasn’t playing an away match – as well as continuing his academic studies. He diligently ascended the ranks in Laranjeiras until finally breaking onto the scene in 1972, where he debuted for Fluminense’s first team at the age of 17 and made his mark on the other side of the Atlantic. After leading Brazil to victory against Argentina in the Tournoi Juniors U-18 de Cannes in France, Pintinho packed his bags for Munich and competed in the Summer Olympics, where his side finished bottom of their group.
“I was very happy to have started playing at a very young age and to have resolved my life from the start. One of the first things that I did after making it as a pro was to move my grandmother out of the favela. My grandmother wasn’t living with us anymore, but she agreed to move in because she wanted to be by my side; however, she would go back to the favela on weekends to be with her people. I am very grateful to have enjoyed such a nice childhood and such a wonderful education, and to have had the full support of my grandmother, my grandfather, and my father. I didn’t have much contact with my mother, but my father and grandparents were always there for me for whatever I needed. My grandfather was very white, my grandmother was very black, and I came out a bit lighter-skinned. I never had to go through economic issues because of my grandfather’s job; I lived in the favela, but I lived well.”
Despite competing for playing time with captain Denílson, Pintinho eventually broke into Davi ‘Duque’ Ferreira’s starting line-up and transformed into a crucial figure for Fluminense in the holding midfield position, spearheading them to victory in the 1973 and 1975 Campeonato Carioca as well as the 1973 Torneio Internacional de Verão do Rio de Janeiro. As the club’s ‘volante,’ Pintinho was tasked with marking the opposing team’s #10 and limiting their attacking potency, utilizing his long strides to make up distance and deliver a pinpoint tackle or a crucial block. He faced up against some of the greatest players of the 1970s, none more lethal than a certain Edson Arantes do Nascimento, also known as Pelé.
“When it comes to the greatest Brazilian players of all time, it’s Pelé and then everyone else. As kids growing up in Rio, just like kids in São Paulo or other places, it didn’t matter if you supported Flamengo, Botafogo, Vasco, or anyone else; if Pelé was coming to town, you were rooting for Santos as long as he wasn’t playing your team. My entire family supported Flamengo, so whenever Santos played any other team, we rooted for them to win. Pelé kept everyone on their toes – I remember the night before I marked him, I couldn’t sleep. I saw him play as a young kid and developed an adoration that I didn’t have for other players. He taught us a lot, not because he was black, but because he was a very unique, well-rounded player who was skilled with both feet, who had a ferocious shot, impressive dribbling skills, superb aerial prowess, and a powerful lower body. It was scary marking him because players would kick him, and he’d just keep going. Above all, I was really impressed with him because he always wanted to win.”
All things considered, Pintinho scored 23 goals in 381 appearances, arguably none more memorable than his goal in the 1976 Campeonato Brasileiro semifinal, which saw thousands of Corinthians supporters travel to Rio de Janeiro in the ‘Invasão Corintiana’; thanks to their steadfast away support, Corinthians were able to equalize and win on penalties, eventually losing to Internacional in the final. However, his biggest heartbreak of 1976 would come off the pitch, with his good friend and Flamengo midfielder Geraldo Cleofas Dias Alves passing away due to complications with tonsil surgery.
Clashing with the Brazilian FA
After debuting for the Brazil national team in a World Cup qualifier vs. Paraguay in 1977, as well as playing in a friendly vs. Poland, Pintinho looked set to compete in the 1978 FIFA World Cup, only to be left off the squad at the last moment. Furious at this betrayal, Pintinho nearly refused a call-up to the 1979 Copa América but was forced to attend the tournament by the Confederação Brasileira de Futebol. He made his third and final Seleção appearance on October 31, 1979, in a 2-2 draw vs. Paraguay, with the Albirroja narrowly advancing to the finals vs. Chile.
“I don’t know if it was because of my lack of discipline or something else, but I never had many opportunities with the Brazil national team. All the coaches told me, ‘If you don’t get called up anymore, because it’s you’re impossible.’ I was in the preliminary call-up for the 1978 FIFA World Cup. I started in a friendly vs. Internacional on Sunday, and I had my ticket ready to leave for Argentina on Monday, and then they told me I wasn’t going to the tournament. This run-in really marked me; when I was called up for the 1979 Copa América, I said, ‘I’m not going because you didn’t call me up for the World Cup,’ but there were rules within the Brazilian federation that forced me to play, unless I was injured. If I said no, they would have cut me out of the world of football, so I had to cede to the pressure, but I nevertheless made it through this adversity and came out on top.”
Nicknamed ‘O Holandês do Borel’ thanks to his love of Dutch football and Johan Cruyff, as well as his similar appearance to many Netherlands players, Pintinho never managed to fulfill his dreams of competing in the Eredivisie. Instead, after a legendary chapter with Fluminense that saw him win nine trophies and stake out his status as one of the best midfielders in Brazil, Pintinho enjoyed a brief spell with Vasco da Gama before deciding to cut ties with his Carioca roots and leave Rio de Janeiro for the first time in his life. He joined Sevilla in 1980, where he excelled in midfield thanks to his cultured passing, impressive stamina, tenacious tackling, and fanciful footwork, scoring a total of 25 goals in 102 appearances before departing the Nervionenses in 1984.
A tenacious presence on and off the pitch, Pintinho often ran into issues with his managers, costing himself his Brazil career with Claudio Coutinho as well as his Sevilla career after a squabble with Manolo Cardo. The manager of the Zaragoza side against which Pintinho scored four goals in a 4-1 victory in 1981, Cardo was pressured by one of Sevilla’s candidates for the upcoming presidential elections to remove Pintinho from the first team. He returned to Fluminense, where he spent six months before returning to Andalusia and playing for Cádiz, followed by a swan song with Portuguese outfit Farense.
“I played one position at Fluminense: pivot. I was the #5 who was in charge of marking the #10, so I was expected to bring the ball out from the back and defend, but it wasn’t until I moved to Sevilla that I developed my real football. I played the way that I liked and enjoyed myself a lot more as an #8, where I could be closer to the goal, than as a #5. When I came to Sevilla, the people saw me as one of the great defensive midfielders from the Brasileirão. I had a very refined technique, and I could score goals with Fluminense, but my real football came in Sevilla. I played with a lot more freedom, like I did when I was a kid playing ‘pelada’ in Beira-Rio.”
New Beginnings in Sevilla
Similarly to Cristobal Soria, who commutes from Madrid to Sevilla on a daily basis, Pintinho has never strayed too far away from Sevilla. Even when he played for Cádiz and Farense, he’d still drive back home to Sevilla on the weekend to spend time in his adopted European hometown. It was here in Sevilla that Pintinho met Alicia Suárez, who had left her native Las Palmas to study law, eventually handling Pintinho’s divorce with his first wife and doing well enough for him to come away with everything in his court battle. The Brazilian midfielder invited her to dinner as a reward for her hard work; fast-forward Pintinho’s first divorce and did well enough for him to come away with everything in legal proceedings, prompting Pintinho to invite her to dinner as a reward. The two would end up tying the knot and spending four decades as a married couple, as well as producing a son: Carlinhos.
Since hanging up his boots in 1987, Pintinho has balanced his time between raising his children and working in a number of different roles. He initially secured his coaching licenses and started managing a team in Murcia, only to grow homesick and return to Andalusia, where he opened a footballing school in Sevilla and mentored a number of young footballers as well as opening his own clothing store, before retiring in 2020. Whilst he hasn’t played football in over a decade since undergoing hip surgery, he nevertheless fremains actively interested in the beautiful game.
Whether it’s chatting with his son Pablo – who covers Sevilla FC for Diario de Sevilla – or his other son Carlinhos – who lives in Madrid and is the youngest FIFA-licensed agent in Spain – or heading to the bar to watch the game, Pintinho hasn’t yet relinquished his love of football, be that Brazilian, Spanish, or a different league. His bristling afro has been replaced by a lustrous bald head, and his football matches have been replaced by push-ups, sit-ups and sessions on the workout bike, but the glimmer in Carlos Alberto Pintinho’s still remains, as does his easy-going, casual approach. And when he returns to Rio de Janeiro next month to spend his holidays, he will be warmly welcomed by a number of seasoned Fluminense fans who still fondly recall his all-encompassing midfield displays for the ‘Máquina Tricolor.’
“Here in Sevilla, the people love me a lot, just like in Brazil. I only spent 10 months at Vasco da Gama, so the only two clubs that I really played for were Fluminense, where I played from when I was 12 years old all the way to when I was 26, and Sevilla, where I played from 1980 to 1984, where I am still residing today, and where the people have a truly impressive amount of affection for me. Sevilla has given me everything, it’s given me the chance to raise my two kids here and play for their club, and for that, I am very grateful. It doesn’t matter if I’m walking in my neighborhood or the city center or uptown, people are always saying hello on the streets and displaying a tremendous amount of love for me – even the Real Betis fans are fond of me! I’m very grateful to be able to live like this.”