Rivaldo Costa Amaral Filho

Football player infobox
playername = Rivaldo Costa


fullname = Rivaldo Costa Amaral Filho
nickname =
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1978|5|8
cityofbirth = Vila Velha
countryofbirth = Brazil
height = 183 cm
weight = 77 kg
years = 1998-1999
2000-2001
2001
2002
2002-2003
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2007
2008-present
clubs = Araçatuba-SP
Deportivo de La Coruña B
Rio Ave F.C.
F.C. Forlì
Al Taawon
Petrokimia Putra Gresik
Arema Malang
Bonsucesso F.C.
Desportiva Capixaba
Deportivo Marquense
Esporte Clube Tupy
Geylang United
currentclub = Geylang United
clubnumber = 20
position = Forward
youthyears = 1994-1998
youthclubs = Botafogo F.R.
caps(goals) = ? (?)
? (?)
? (?)
? (?)
? (?)
? (2)
? (10)
? (?)
? (?)
? (?)
? (?)
6 (1)
nationalyears =
nationalteam =
nationalcaps(goals) =
pcupdate =May 20,2008
ntupdate =

Rivaldo Costa Amaral Filho, or simply Rivaldo Costa (born May 8, 1978) is a Brazilian footballer who plays as a forward for Geylang United.

Club career

Rivaldo is a typical 'journeyman', having played for several clubs in his career, most notably Deportivo de La Coruña of Spain, where he played for the "B" side in the Segunda División B.

Brazil

As a youth player with Botafogo F.R., Rivaldo was the 1995 Campeonato Carioca de Juniores (Rio de Janeiro Youth Championship) top goalscorer, and won the 1998 Campeonato Carioca de Juniores.

Rivaldo joined Araçatuba (São Paulo) in 1999, where he had his first taste of first team football.

Europe

In 2000, Rivaldo was signed by Deportivo de La Coruña to play for their "B" team in the Segunda División B. His two year stay was unsuccessful though, as Deportivo "B" finished last in the table, and were relegated to the Tercera División in 2001.

He played for Portuguese Segunda Divisão side Rio Ave and Italian Serie C2/B side F.C. Forlì, before moving to Saudi Arabia to play for Al Taawon in late 2002.

Asia

Most of Rivaldo's successes in football come from his time in Asia, most notably in Indonesia, where he played for Petrokimia Putra Gresik and Arema Malang in 2003 and 2004 respectively.

On July 20, 2003, while playing for Petrokimia Putra Gresik in the ASEAN Club Championship Quarter-Final, Rivaldo scored a goal against SAFFC as his club overcame a 2-0 deficit to win the game 3-2 and qualify for the Semi-Finals of the competition.

However, Gresik were knocked out by eventual winners East Bengal FC in the Semi-Final, but in the Third Place Match on July 26, Rivaldo scored first to help his team to a 3-0 win over Perak FA.

Despite success in regional competition, Gresik were relegated from the Indonesian Premier Division (Division Utama) at the end of the 2003 season, and Rivaldo joined Arema Malang.

A year later, Rivaldo picked up his first major medal, scoring 10 goals as he helped Arema Malang to the Indonesian Division 1 (Divisi Satu) title, but it was a short-lived stay at the club, as he returned to Brazil to play for Bonsucesso in Rio de Janeiro.

He returned to play in Asia four years later, when he was signed by S-League club Geylang United.

On May 20, 2008, Rivaldo scored his first goal for Geylang a decisive equaliser in the 94th minute to grab one point in a nail-biting 2-2 draw against Balestier Khalsa.

Honours

1995: 1st, Campeonato Carioca de Juniores top goalscorer (with Juvenil do Botafogo F.R.)
1998: 1st, Campeonato Carioca de Juniores (with Juniores do Botafogo F.R.)
2003: 3rd, ASEAN Club Championship (with Petrokimia Putra Gresik)
2004: 1st, Indonesian Division 1 (Divisi Satu) (with Arema Malang)

Personal life

Rivaldo speaks five languages fluently - his native Portuguese, English, Italian, Spanish, as well as Bahasa Indonesia.fact|date=May 2008

In a February 2008 interview with KallangRoar.com, Rivaldo revealed that in his hometown of Vila Velha in Brazil, one of his neighbours was Brazilian-born Singaporean striker Egmar Goncalves. [ [http://kallangroar.com/blogs/maldini/37-samba-eagles-interview-gey _un. date=May 2008]

References