By Zach Lowy
It has been a glorious lifetime in football for Carlos Alberto Pintinho. Born and raised in the favela of Morro do Borel, Pintinho went from playing barefoot pickup matches in the streets of Rio de Janeiro to playing futsal after his grandfather signed him up to his company’s team, to eventually playing 11-a-side football.
He joined Fluminense’s academy at 12 years of age and ascended through the ranks before making his first-team debut in 1972, the same year he competed in the Summer Olympics in Munich.
“I played football with my friends, who I’m still in contact with them today, before my grandfather spoke to the coach of the Souza Cruz factory team and asked if I could play for them,” stated Pintinho in an exclusive GBC interview.
“They signed me for their futsal side and we played friendlies vs. several major football teams from Rio de Janeiro, but they didn’t have 11-a-side football, which I wanted to do. So my futsal coach took me to América, where I played both futsal and 11-a-side, but when they closed their youth ranks, my futsal teammates took me to Fluminense, where it all began. It all happened very fast.”
Despite competing for minutes with captain Denílson, Pintinho emerged as an indispensable figure in Fluminense’s midfield, going up against the likes of Pelé and leading the Tricolor to several different trophies and scoring 23 goals in 381 appearances.
These stellar displays earned the attention of the Brazilian national team, with Pintinho making his first two appearances in 1977. He looked set to compete in the 1978 FIFA World Cup, only to be left off the squad at the last moment; upset at his exclusion, Pintinho threatened to boycott the 1979 Copa América, only to be forced to attend, making his third and final appearance vs. Paraguay.
Pintinho then enjoyed a brief sojourn at Vasco da Gama before deciding to depart his hometown and start a new journey at Spanish side Sevilla, after joining the LaLiga outfit in 1980.
It was here in Andalusia where Pintinho went from a #5 to a #10 and emerged as a vital cog in midfield for Sevilla, scoring a total of 25 goals in 102 appearances before departing the Nervionenses in 1984. After a fleeting return to Fluminense, Pintinho then played for Spanish side Cadiz and Portuguese side Farense before hanging up his boots.
Similarly to other former players like Rui Duarte, Pintinho decided to transition from playing to coaching, initially managing a team in Murcia before growing homesick and returning to Sevilla. Pintinho opened a footballing school in Sevilla and developed a number of young footballers as well as opening his own clothing store, before retiring in 2020. But whilst he’s spent nearly a quarter-century in Sevilla, he nevertheless makes time to go back to Rio de Janeiro twice a year and visit family.
“I’ve lived in Rio de Janeiro, Sevilla, Faro, Cádiz, as well as the Canary Islands, where my wife is from. Sevilla is a wonderful city, but whenever it starts to get cold, I escape to my Rio de Janeiro. It’s gotten a bit chilly here, and I’m really missing being in my city of Rio. Sevilla is a city I’ve come to understand after leaving Rio de Janeir.
I am Carioca, and my people from Rio always ask, ‘How are you going to change Rio for Sevilla?’ I say, ‘we don’t have a beach, but here we are. I’ll go to Brazil in June/July and December/January and see my father, who is not very well, and my other family members. I know we’re going to end up in Las Palmas, in the Canary Islands.”
