Alessandro Rosa Vieira

Alessandro Rosa Vieira (born 8 June 1977), known as Falcão, is a Brazilian retired professional futsal player, often regarded as the greatest futsal player of all time and its biggest icon. He is known for his flashy and potent dribbling skills and a powerful and accurate left foot. He is also the world's all-time leading goalscorer in men's international matches. He was named as the Best Futsal Player in the World four times (2004, 2006, 2011 and 2012) and won the FIFA Futsal World Cup Golden Shoe in 2004 and the Golden Ball twice, in 2004 and 2008. teaching futsal tricks and showing different things about futsal culture. He is also the worldwide ambassador of futsal as a sports discipline, playing showmatches in Brazil and around the world.

Career Born to João Eli Vieira, a butcher and amateur football player in north of São Paulo, and Reinalma Rosa Vieira, Falcão received his nickname from his father (also known as Falcão) because of the similarity to Paulo Roberto Falcão, then a Brazil national football team player.

Falcão joined the futsal club in the northern zone of the city at the age of 12. He joined Corinthians in 1993 and became professional the same year. He debuted in the senior team in 1994. In 1997, he joined GM-Chevrolet, owned by the General Motors company. After leaving in 1999, he switched teams frequently until 2003, when he ended up in Jaraguá. After changing clubs again from 2011 to 2012, he joined Sorocaba in 2013, where he played until 2018.

In 2004, 2006, 2011 and 2012, he was recognised as the Best Futsal Player in the World. On 26 June 2015, Falcão joined Nottingham Forest's futsal team for a tournament in Kuwait. He also played in the inaugural season of the Asian Premier Futsal Championship for Indian side Chennai 5s, scoring five goals in the tournament.

He also had a brief spell playing 11-a-side football with São Paulo Futebol Clube during the first half of 2005, including in the 2005 Copa Libertadores, but returned to futsal soon after.

Internationally, Falcão scored 401 goals in 258 appearances for the Brazil national futsal team. At the 2004 and 2008 FIFA Futsal World Cups, the latter on home soil, he was recognised by FIFA as the Best Player of the tournaments. In 2008 and 2012, he helped Brazil win their 4th and 5th title in the FIFA Futsal World Cup. On 22 September 2016, Falcão retired from the national team after they were eliminated by Iran in the round of 16 at the 2016 World Cup. Despite the early exit, he managed to score 10 goals, winning the Bronze Shoe and ultimately becoming the all-time top goalscorer in FIFA Futsal World Cup history, having scored 48 times. Falcão is considered by many football experts and players the greatest player in futsal history.

Besides being one of the greatest players in the sport's history, Falcão also participated on two of the most viewed futsal matches in history.

Honours

Club

Futsal

South-American Championship: 2001, 2004 Liga Futsal: 1999, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 Brazilian Club Cup: 1998, 2003, 2004 São Paulo City Cup: 1995, 1998, 2002 Paulista Championship: 1995, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2014, 2017 Mineiro Championship: 1999 Catarinense Championship: 2003 Metropolitan Championship: 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 Topper São Paulo Cup: 1997, 2001

Football

Copa Libertadores: 2005 Campeonato Paulista: 2005

National team Futsal Mundialito: 2001 Nations Cup: 2001 RJ International Cup: 1998 American Cup: 1998, 1999, 2011 South American Qualification: 2000, 2008 Latin Cup: 2003 Tigers 5 Tournament – Singapore: 1999 Egypt Tournament: 2002 Thailand Tournament: 2003 Pan American Games: 2007 Grand Prix de Futsal: 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2018 KL World 5s – Malaysia: 2008 FIFA Futsal World Cup: 2008, 2012 ODESUR Games: 2002, 2010

Individual Best Futsal Player of the World: 2004, 2006, 2011, 2012 FIFA Futsal World Cup Golden Shoe: 2004 FIFA Futsal World Cup Golden Ball: 2004, 2008 FIFA Futsal World Cup Silver Shoe: 2008 FIFA Futsal World Cup Bronze Shoe: 2016 The FIFA Award for an Outstanding Career: 2016

International goals No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition 1. 5 October 2000 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 2–0 22–0 Friendly 2. 4–0 3. 5–0 4. 9–0 5. 18–0 6. 19–0 7. 6 October 2000 ?–? 8–1 8. 17 June 2004 Fortaleza, Brazil 6–0 8–2 Friendly 9. 20 June 2004 2–0 10–4 10. 8–3 11. 10–3 12. 21 September 2005 Brusque, Brazil 1–0 5–1 2005 Grand Prix de Futsal 13. 23 September 2005 1–0 2–0 14. 24 September 2005 4–2 7–3 15. October 2006 Caxias do Sul, Brazil 2006 Grand Prix de Futsal 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21 October 2006 4–2 5–3 21. 5–2 22. 23 July 2007 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 4–1 4–1 2007 Pan American Games 23. 24 July 2007 1–0 8–0 24. 4–0 25. 7–0 26. 27 July 2007 6–0 8–1 27. 28 July 2007 1–0 4–1 28. 2–0 29. 22 October 2007 Joinville, Brazil 1–0 7–0 2007 Grand Prix de Futsal 30. 2–0 31. 24 October 2007 Jaraguá do Sul, Brazil 3–1 7–3 32. 4–1 33. 6–1 34. 27 October 2007 1–0 4–0 35. 3–0 36. 30 September 2008 Brasília, Brazil 3–0 12–1 2008 FIFA Futsal World Cup 37. 10–1 38. 2 October 2008 4–0 21–0 39. 7–0 40. 9–0 41. 15–0 42. 20–0 43. 21–0 44. 4 October 2008 6–0 7–0 45. 8 October 2008 3–0 9–0 46. 7–0 47. 14 October 2008 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 1–1 5–3 48. 2–1 49. 4–2 50. 16 October 2008 2–0 4–2 51. 17 October 2010 Anápolis, Brazil 5–1 9–2 2010 Grand Prix de Futsal 52. 8–2 53. 12 September 2011 Buenos Aires, Argentina 7–1 14–2 2011 Copa América de Futsal 54. 9–1 55. 10–1 56. 13 September 2011 3–0 8–1 57. 16 September 2011 3–1 6–2 58. 5–1 59. 17 September 2011 3–1 5–1 60. 15 April 2012 Gramado, Brazil 4–0 15–1 2012 FIFA Futsal World Cup qualification 61. 7–0 62. 8–0 63. 16 April 2012 1–0 9–0 64. 5–0 65. 6–0 66. 17 April 2012 1–0 3–0 67. 22 April 2012 3–0 5–1 68. 12 November 2012 Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand 14–0 16–0 2012 FIFA Futsal World Cup 69. 14 November 2012 Bangkok, Thailand 2–2 3–2 70. 3–2 71. 18 November 2012 3–2 3–2 72. 12 November 2014 São Bernardo do Campo, Brazil 8–1 8–1 2014 Grand Prix de Futsal 73. 13 November 2014 3–0 4–0 74. 15 November 2014 5–1 8–2 75. 6–2 76. 7–2 77. 16 November 2014 7–2 7–2 78. 11 September 2016 Bucaramanga, Colombia 2–0 3–1 2016 FIFA Futsal World Cup 79. 14 September 2016 3–1 11–1 80. 4–1 81. 11–1 82. 17 September 2016 Cali, Colombia 13–2 15–3 83. 14–2 84. 15–3 85. 21 September 2016 Bucaramanga, Colombia 1–0 4–4 (2–3 p) 86. 2–0 87. 4–3