He’ll Be Right Back
Derek Boateng might not realize just what a prize it was that he landed this week.
Boateng, a midfielder for Ghana at the World Cup, played limited minutes off the bench, but he did play for the last half-hour against Brazil on Tuesday. And when the final whistle had sounded, when the Brazilians had accomplished their 3-0 victory, Boateng, in time-honored soccer tradition, exchanged jerseys with Cafu.
Now, any Brazilian World Cup-worn jersey is a treasure to be coveted, but Boateng might consider putting Cafu’s in a safety deposit box. It could be that valuable.
If Brazil, which plays France in the quarterfinals on Saturday, wins this tournament, Cafu, 36, would be elevated into a pantheon that not even Pele could approach.
There is tremendous star power contained in the final eight teams -- Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, David Beckham, Zinedine Zidane, Luis Figo, Andriy Shevchenko, Fabio Cannavaro, Juan Roman Riquelme, Michael Ballack -- but Cafu would be in a class by himself if he finds himself on the victory podium July 9 in Berlin.
The Brazilian right back is looked upon with awe here, not only by fans but by players and coaches. How is it possible that he can still be this good after so long? One of six children, Cafu was born in a rough-and-tumble, working-class neighborhood outside Sao Paulo on the day that Brazil defeated England in the 1970 World Cup in Mexico.
“My father said that day that a great player had been born,” Cafu said before Germany ’06. “It was sort of a joke. I don’t think he imagined that I was going to be a footballer.”
He surely could not have imagined the accomplishments. Consider:
* Cafu, Brazil’s captain, has played close to 150 games for his country since his debut in 1990 and has been untouchable at right back for the last 12 years.
* He is the first player in history to take part in three consecutive World Cup championship games, 1994, 1998 and 2002.
* When he stepped on the field to play Japan in Brazil’s third game, he broke the national record for World Cup appearances that had been held by Dunga and Taffarel. He now has 20.
* With 17 World Cup victories, he has more than any other Brazilian player.
Despite his age, Cafu appears to be one of the fittest players on the field. He covers a vast amount of ground with apparently little effort, now involved in the offense, now back on defense.
There is a calm about Cafu, a never-hurried quality. Whereas his veteran counterpart at left back, Roberto Carlos, sometimes seems a bit frantic, especially going forward, Cafu strolls through games.
His crossing of the ball is not as good as Roberto Carlos’ and neither is his shooting, but Cafu’s overall impact is just as inspirational.
Cafu’s understudy on the Brazilian squad is gifted 26-year-old Cicinho. If Cafu were not around, he would be the automatic starter. Instead he can only watch and learn from the bench. “He’s a real example to any player,” Cicinho said of Cafu.
Cafu was on the Brazil team that defeated Italy in the 1994 World Cup final, on the team that finished second to France in 1998, and on the team that won it all again, over Germany, in 2002.
As captain, he was the one to lift the trophy at Yokohama’s World Cup Stadium four years ago in Japan. “It was unforgettable,” he said of that moment.
Not that things have come easy for Marcos Evangelista Moraes, who somewhere along the way became Cafu. He struggled to catch on in Brazil before finally doing so with Sao Paulo. A move to Italy kept him under the microscope.
“In 1994, the critics said I was too young, in 1998, that I couldn’t cross the ball, and in 2002 that I didn’t know how to defend. What will they say in 2010?” he told England’s World Soccer magazine in the spring.
Certainly, AC Milan has no qualms about Cafu. The Italian club, which he joined in 2003 after six years at AS Roma, in April extended his contract for another year.
“Cafu really is a phenomenon,” said Brazil Coach Carlos Alberto Parreira. “He has speed, he is fit, and the way he handles himself at his age, it really is impressive.”
And now Cafu is back on his favorite stage, looking beyond France on Saturday, looking beyond the semifinals, looking for a sixth World Cup for Brazil.
“I’ll stop when I see I can’t do it anymore,” he said.
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The Cafu file
Full name: Marcos Evengelista Moraes.
* Born: June 7, 1970 in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
* Position: Defender.
* Club history: Sao Paulo FC (Brazil), 1988-94; Real Zaragoza (Spain), 1995; Palmeiras (Brazil), 1995-97; AS Roma (Italy), 1997-2003; AC Milan (Italy), 2003-present.
* First international cap: vs. Spain, Sept. 12, 1990.
* International record: 141 caps, 5 goals.
Source: FIFA
