Carlos Alberto Torres

For other people named Carlos Alberto Torres, see Carlos Alberto Torres (disambiguation).

Carlos Alberto Torres

Carlos Alberto with the NY Cosmos in 1978
Personal information
Full name	Carlos Alberto Torres
Date of birth	(1944-07-17)17 July 1944
Place of birth	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Date of death	25 October 2016(2016-10-25) (aged 72)
Place of death	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s)	Right-back, Centre-back
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1963–1966	Fluminense	98	(9)
1966–1974	Santos	445	(40)
1971	Botafogo	22	(0)
1974–1976	Fluminense	50	(4)
1976–1977	Flamengo	28	(3)
1977–1980	New York Cosmos	80	(6)
1981	California Surf	19	(2)
1982	New York Cosmos	20	(0)
Total		743	(64)
International career
1964–1977	Brazil	53	(8)
Managerial career
1983–1985	Flamengo
1985–1986	Corinthians
1987–1988	Náutico
1988	Miami Sharks
1989–1990	Once Caldas
1991–1992	Monterrey
1992	Tijuana
1993–1997	Botafogo
1994	Fluminense
1998	Atlético Mineiro
1998–1999	Querétaro
2000–2001	Unión Magdalena
2000–2001	Oman
2001–2002	Flamengo
2002	Botafogo
2004–2005	Paysandu
2005	Azerbaijan
Medal record Men's Football Representing Brazil FIFA World Cup Winner 1970 Mexico
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Carlos Alberto "Capita" Torres (17 July 1944 – 25 October 2016), also known as "O Capitão do Tri", was a Brazilian football player and manager who played as an attacking right-sided full-back or wing-back. A technically gifted defender with good ball skills and defensive capabilities, he is widely regarded as one of the best defenders of all time. He also stood out for his leadership, and was an excellent penalty taker. Nicknamed O Capitão, he captained the Brazil national team to victory in the 1970 World Cup, scoring the fourth goal in the final, considered one of the greatest goals in the history of the tournament.

Carlos Alberto was a member of the World Team of the 20th Century, and in 2004 was named by Pelé in the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players. He was an inductee to the Brazilian Football Museum Hall of Fame, and was a member of the U.S. National Soccer Hall of Fame.

In January 2013, Carlos Alberto was named one of the six Ambassadors of 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, others being Ronaldo, Bebeto, Mário Zagallo, Amarildo and Marta.

Personal life

Carlos Alberto was born in Rio de Janeiro in 1944. He had a twin brother, Carlos Roberto, who died one month before him in 2016. His son is fellow player Carlos Alexandre Torres and his daughter Andrea Torres.

Club career

Brazil

Carlos Alberto joined Fluminense at the age of 19. He made a name for himself in his first season, not only because of his great tackling and reading of the game, but also for his outstanding ball control, dribbling and playmaking abilities, which were quite rare at the time for a defender. In 1966, he moved to Santos, where he became Pelé's teammate. In 1974, he returned to Fluminense and helped the team capture two consecutive Campeonato Carioca championships. In 1977, he moved to Fluminense's arch-rivals Flamengo.

NASL

In 1977, despite his success in Brazil, Carlos Alberto Torres decided to move to the New York Cosmos. He arrived on the day of the New York City blackout where he was reunited with his friend and partner Pelé and helped the Cosmos capture two consecutive NASL titles in 1977 and 1978. After spending one year with the California Surf, he returned to the Cosmos in 1982 where he won his third NASL title. He played his farewell game on 28 September 1982 in an exhibition match between the Cosmos and his former club Flamengo. In 119 regular season games and 26 playoff games, Carlos scored a total of 8 goals and was an NASL All-Star five times.

International career

Carlos Alberto with the Brazil national team in 1970

From 1964 to 1977, Carlos Alberto was capped 53 times and scored 8 goals. He was included in the 44-man training squad for the 1966 FIFA World Cup but did not make the final 22. As it turned out, Brazil were knocked out at the Group stage in England, and when João Saldanha was tasked with restoring pride and passion to the seleção, he recognised the leadership ability that Carlos Alberto was consistently demonstrating at Santos, and made him national captain. Thus, Carlos Alberto is remembered holding aloft the Jules Rimet trophy after Brazil secured the cup for good after an impressive victory over Italy in the 1970 FIFA World Cup Final in Mexico City. That squad also included Clodoaldo, Gérson, Jairzinho, Rivellino, Tostão and Pelé. Carlos Alberto's goal against Italy in the final is considered one of the best goals ever scored in the tournament. In 2002 the UK public voted the goal No. 36 in the list of the 100 Greatest Sporting Moments. 1970 would prove to be the only time he would play at that level. He was unable to participate in the 1974 World Cup due to a persistent knee injury. When he eventually regained match fitness, his speed had been compromised. However, his ability to read the game compensated for his loss of pace and when he moved to centre back, he found the form to warrant a recall to the national team. In 1977, he was selected by Claudio Coutinho to captain the national team for the first three qualifiers for the 1978 World Cup. He acquitted himself well despite those being the first competitive internationals he had played for almost seven years. He was approaching 33 years of age and retired from international football, immediately prior to joining New York Cosmos in the NASL. Today he is widely considered one of the finest Brazilian men's footballers of all time.

Coaching career

Carlos Alberto in 2011

His career as a football manager started in 1983, when he managed Flamengo. He also managed several other clubs, like Corinthians in 1985 and 1986; Náutico in 1986, 1987 and 1988; Once Caldas on 1989, 1990; Monterrey in 1991, 1992; Club Tijuana in 1992; Fluminense in 1994 and 1995; Botafogo in 1993, 1994, 1997, 1998, 2002 and 2003; Querétaro F.C. in 1999; Unión Magdalena in 2000, 2001; and Paysandu in 2005.

He was also an assistant manager for national teams such as the Nigeria national football team and the Oman national football team. On 14 February 2004, he was appointed manager of the Azerbaijan national football team. He resigned on 4 June 2005 after losing a match against Poland, during which he assaulted the technical referee and ran on the pitch suggesting the referee was bribed.

Death

Carlos Alberto died in Rio de Janeiro on 25 October 2016 due to a sudden heart attack. He was a sports commentator at a Brazilian channel SporTV, having appeared live on studio only two days before his death, which occurred exactly one month after his twin died.

Career statistics

Club

Carlos Alberto (right) with countryfellow Pelé in the New York Cosmos, October 1977

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League
		Division	Apps	Goals
Santos	1971	Série A	2	0
	1972		20	2
	1973		28	6
	Total		50	8
Fluminense	1974	Série A	16	1
	1975		18	0
	1976		19	3
	Total		53	4
Flamengo	1977	Série A	0	0
New York Cosmos	1977	NASL	4	0
	1978		25	2
	1979		28	2
	1980		23	2
	Total		80	6
California Surf	1981	NASL	19	2
New York Cosmos	1982	NASL	20	0
Total			222	20

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Brazil	1964	3	0
	1965	1	0
	1966	3	0
	1967	0	0
	1968	18	5
	1969	9	0
	1970	14	2
	1971	0	0
	1972	1	1
	1973	0	0
	1974	0	0
	1975	0	0
	1976	1	0
	1977	3	0
Total		53	8

Honours

As a player

Fluminense

• Campeonato Carioca: 1964, 1975, 1976
• Taça Guanabara: 1966

Santos

• Recopa Sul-Americana: 1968
• Campeoanato Brasileiro: 1968
• Torneio Rio–São Paulo: 1966
• Paulista Championship: 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1973

New York Cosmos

• NASL Soccer Bowl Championships: 1977, 1978, 1980, 1982

Brazil

• FIFA World Cup: 1970
• Pan American Games: 1963

Individual

• FIFA World Cup All-Star Team: 1970
• World XI: 1971
• World Team of the 20th Century: 1998
• National Soccer Hall of Fame: 2003
• FIFA 100: 2004
• The Best of The Best – Player of the Century: Top 50
• Brazilian Football Museum Hall of Fame
• Ballon d'Or Dream Team (Silver): 2020
• IFFHS All-time Men's B Dream Team: 2021

As a Manager

Flamengo

• Campeonato Brasileiro: 1983

Fluminense

• Campeonato Carioca: 1984

Botafogo

• Copa CONMEBOL: 1993

External links

• Carlos Alberto Torres coach profile at Sambafoot (archived)
• Carlos Alberto Torres – FIFA competition record (archived)
• nasljerseys.com NASL statistics for Carlos Alberto Torres at nasljersey.com