Júlio César Soares Espíndola

Football player infobox
playername = Júlio César


fullname = Júlio César Soares de Espíndola
height = height|meter=1.86
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1979|9|3
cityofbirth = Duque de Caxias
countryofbirth = Brazil
currentclub = Internazionale
position = Goalkeeper
clubnumber = 12
youthyears =
youthclubs = Grajau CC
years = 1998-2004
2005-
2005
clubs = Flamengo
Internazionale
→ Chievo Verona (loan)
caps(goals) = 129 (1)
097 (0)
000 (0)
nationalyears = 2004-
nationalteam = Brazil
nationalcaps(goals) = 026 (0)
pcupdate = 7 June 2008
ntupdate = 14 September 2008

Júlio César Soares de Espíndola (born September 3, 1979), commonly known as Júlio César, is a Brazilian footballer who plays goalkeeper for F.C. Internazionale Milano.

Club career

He was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and played for the local team Flamengo for 6 years. He started playing indoor football at Grajau Country Club, a local club situated in Grajau (a suburb in Rio de Janeiro), where he spent most of his childhood. He was snapped up by Internazionale and then promptly loaned to Chievo Verona for the 2004-05 season due to the fact that Inter had reached their limit of non-EU players allowed on the roster. In his six months with Chievo, Júlio César did not make a single appearance for them.

Internazionale Milano

In August 2005, he formally joined Internazionale after signing a 3-year-deal. He replaced Francesco Toldo as first choice goalkeeper for a series of summer friendlies and turned in a series of impressive performances, cementing his starting position between the posts for the season. He has been in impressive form in F.C. Internazionale Milano`s recent rise to the top of Italian football and has been first choice for them for the last two and a half seasons. He has kept his excellent form for the 2007/08 season , making very crucial saves and even helping his team get all 3 points against Empoli by saving a penalty in the dying minutes of the game on the 3rd of February. The game ended 1-0 for Inter and left them 8 points clear of nearest challengers, A.S. Roma. He has been voted the best keeper in Serie A for 2007/08 by World Soccer Magazine and many calcio fan sites.

International career

Júlio César has been capped 24 times for Brazil, and won the 2004 Copa América. He was called up as the second-choice goalkeeper for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany. Since 2007 he has established himself as first-choice goalkeeper for Brazil ahead of Roma's Doni and Dida of AC Milan. This is as a result of Dida retiring from the Brazilian squad.

Honours

*World Cup (U 17): 1997
*Rio de Janeiro State League: 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004
*Rio de Janeiro's Cup: 2000
*Brazilian Champions Cup: 2001
*Guanabara Cup: 2004
*Copa America: 2004
*Italian Cup: 2006
*Italian League: 2006, 2007, 2008.

Personal life

He is married to Brazilian model/actress Susana Werner and they have 2 children: Cauet (5) and Giulia (2).

External links

* [http://www.juliocesarfans.com www.juliocesarfans.com]
* [http://200.159.15.35/registro/registro.aspx?s=126051 Brazilian FA Database]
* [http://inter.it/aas/squadra/player1?codgioc=G0788&L=en&stagione=2007/08]