Zé Roberto  

POSITION Midfielder  

BORN 06.07.1974  

SIGNING DATE 01.07.2002  

NUMBER 11  

CONTRACT UNTIL 30.06.2005  

FAMILY STATUS married  

NICKNAME -  

HOMEPAGE -  

PREVIOUS CLUBS  

Portuguesa Sao Paulo 1992 - 1996  

Real Madrid 1996 - 1998  

Flamengo Rio de Janeiro 1998  

Bayer 04 Leverkusen 1998 - 2002  

An excited buzz repeatedly fills the Olympic stadium during Bayern home
games, and it usually means one thing: Zé Roberto is on the ball. The
Brazilian is one of the game's finest exponents of close control, stroking
the ball sweetly with his left foot: a stepover here, a back-heel there, and
suddenly the opposing full-back lunges at fresh air, the ball and Zé both
long gone.

Quite apart from his dribbling skills, the former Leverkusen star is
consistently one of the Bundesliga's top providers. But despite laying on 11
Bayern goals last term, "he could still do even more," chairman Karl-Heinz
Rummenigge believes.

The player himself reckoned he had only performed at "around 70 percent" in
his first season at Bayern: "I need to get into the box more and work on
shooting. I'm looking to do better in the coming season," he declared. He
knows where he could improve: "I haven't scored enough goals." Zé hit the
target on just two occasions last term, once in the league and once in the
Cup.

But overall the number 11 was happy enough with his first year in Munich.
"I've settled down well, both personally and at the club," he says. And he
has met a major professional goal too: "I used to dream of winning the
championship, and now look, it's happened," he smiles.

Jose Roberto da Silva Junior, to give him his full name, has also proved
adept in a totally different field - the battle to sport the most radical
haircut at the club. No-one knows whether wife Luciana approves, but Zé's
ever-changing style is another good reason to pick up tickets for Bayern home
fixtures.
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FROM 219.224.192.58