Cicinho

Cícero João de Cézare (born 24 June 1980), nicknamed Cicinho (Portuguese pronunciation: [siˈsĩɲu]), is a Brazilian retired professional footballer who played as a right back.

He had his breakthrough at São Paulo, where he was named in the 2005 Bola de Prata as the team won the Campeonato Paulista, Copa Libertadores and FIFA Club World Cup. He then spent most of his career with mixed successes at Real Madrid, Roma and Sivasspor. He suffered from alcoholism during his time in Europe.

Cicinho earned 15 caps for Brazil, winning the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup and going to the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

Club career

Early career

Born in Pradópolis, São Paulo, Cicinho began his career at Botafogo-SP before joining Atlético Mineiro, who loaned him to the Rio de Janeiro-based Botafogo. He won the Club World Cup in 2005 while playing for São Paulo.

Real Madrid

After an interview with Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, Cicinho signed for Real Madrid on 23 August 2005, effective from the new year. He joined for an undisclosed fee and accompanied compatriots Ronaldo, Robinho, Júlio Baptista and Roberto Carlos, under Brazilian manager Vanderlei Luxemburgo.

He made his debut in La Liga on 8 January 2006, replacing the injured Ronaldo after 33 minutes in a goalless draw at Villarreal, and three weeks later, he scored his first goal to open a 2–1 win at Celta de Vigo. On 14 February, he scored after 57 seconds in a 4–0 win over Real Zaragoza in the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey, to no avail due to a 6–1 loss in the first round.