The Ball – “I regret not taking my football career seriously” (Brazil)

Carlos Raposo, a Brazilian player known as Kaizer, rarely played for the clubs he played for. Over the course of his 26 years of operation, he has been part of the most prestigious logos in Rio de Janeiro, such as Botafogo, Fluminense and Flamengo, having also represented international clubs in Mexico, Argentina, the United States and France, as well as a brief stint in a Portuguese club, Louletano, but in all of them he faked Injuries and the effects of penalties: all to stay out of the field.

I didn’t play, I didn’t score, I didn’t take a kick. This is the player’s first sentence in the documentary dedicated to his career, “The Kaiser: The Great Footballer Who Never Played Football.” The 60-year-old current bodybuilding coach told the truth behind a rigged profession, imposed on him by his adoptive mother. “I’m sorry I didn’t take my soccer career seriously,” he admitted in the documentary, adding that he doesn’t even like playing soccer.

Like many others, he started playing football in the streets, which allowed him to join Botafogo. At the age of 16 he signed his first contract and a career full of lies and deceit followed. However, the player ensures that his story has a dark side. “I was very exploited. My boss got 80% and that’s why I did what I did,” he justified.

At the same time, he lived a bohemian life, and that was one of Kaiser’s biggest motivations for staying in football in the 1980s.

He left many friends in football, such as Carlos Alberto Torres, Bebeto (Brazilian national team), Roger (ex-Benfica), Ricardo Rocha (ex-athlete) and even Renato Gaucho. Remembered not as a superstar, but as a friendly and cheerful personality, Kaiser keeps no visible record of playing soccer, but is guaranteed to have some talent. He concluded, “Do you think someone went through all these big clubs without knowing how to play?”