Antônio Carlos Zago

Antônio Carlos Zago (born 18 May 1969), sometimes known as just Antônio Carlos or simply Zago, is a Brazilian professional football coach and former player who played as a centre back.

He is the current head coach of the Bolivia national team.

Born in Presidente Prudente, São Paulo, also having Italian origins, Zago moved to Dourados, Mato Grosso do Sul as a teenager, and began his senior career with local side Ubiratan, as a forward and being known as Tonhão.

In 1988, after finishing the Campeonato Sul-Mato-Grossense as a starter as Ubiratan finished in the second position, he agreed to join São Paulo, with five players moving in the opposite direction.

Upon arriving at São Paulo, Zago was known as Antônio Carlos, and was pushed back to midfielder by manager Cilinho.

He was later moved further back to a libero by the reserves manager Pupo Gimenez, and made his first team debut on 25 April 1990 by starting in a 2–0 Campeonato Paulista away win over Portuguesa.

After the arrival of Telê Santana as manager, Zago established himself as a regular starter, winning two Campeonato Paulista (1991 and 1992), aside from lifting the 1991 Série A and the 1992 Copa Libertadores.

Zago debuted with the Brazil national team on 30 October 1991, in a 3–1 win against Yugoslavia, and remained within the national squad until 1993.

After a period of mixed success at club level, however, he has no longer called up to the national side; only after moving to Roma, did he manage return to the national team with his stand-out performances for the club.

In total, he made 37 appearances for Brazil between 1991 and 2001, scoring three goals.

Shortly after retiring, Zago returned to Corinthians as a technical director.

In July 1992, Zago was transferred to La Liga side Albacete Balompié for a fee of US$ 1.650 million.

However, after failing to adapt to a new country, he opted to leave in December.

In December 1992, Zago was presented at Palmeiras, along with Roberto Carlos.

A first-choice option, he won two consecutive Série A and two consecutive Campeonato Paulista titles with Verdão, both in 1993 and 1994.

On 7 December 1995, Palmeiras agreed the transfer of Zago and teammate Edílson to Japanese club Kashiwa Reysol, for a combined fee of R$ 5 million.

He was a regular starter during the 1996 season, but opted to leave due to personal reasons.

In April 1997, Zago returned to his home country after signing for Corinthians, for a fee of US$ 3.3 million.

In August, he assaulted an Atlético Paranaense doctor, being later suspended for 40 days in September.

In January 1998, Zago moved to the Italian capital to join Roma for a fee of US$ 4 million, at the request of the club's manager Zdenek Zeman, who was looking to reinforce the team's defensive line.

In his Serie A debut with the club, on 11 February 1998 at Lecce, he was sent off after only a few minutes of play; his performances with the giallorossi soon improved, however, and he was able to demonstrate his quality and skill, leading to him being recalled to the Brazilian national side in 1999.

Between 1998 and 2001, he collected 26 caps for Brazil and scored two goals; he was also part of the squad that won the 1999 Copa América.

In November 1999 Zago was the protagonist of a shocking episode, when he spat on Lazio player Diego Simeone's face during a derby match.

The outcome was a positive attitude towards him by the fans, who paid tribute to his action in the song "Brusco", the phrases "Zago: spits fire as a dragon" and "people can only keep their mouth shut, otherwise AC Zago will spit at them".

Zago is also one of the few Brazilian players who is known with his name and surname.

During the years he spent to Rome he had chosen his name on the shirt to be written in different ways, the first "ANTÔNIO CARLOS", then "AC ZAGO" then simply "ZAGO."

Zago played for five seasons with Roma, and was also part of the 2001 Scudetto-winning team; Zago partnered with compatriot Aldair and Argentine Walter Samuel to form a sold back-line, which aided Roma in claiming the Serie A title.

Due to his success and performances with Roma, Zago still remains a popular figure with the romanista fans, who nicknamed him Terminator during his time at the club.

In 2002, after nearly joining Bolton Wanderers, Zago left Roma.

In May, he went to Turkey and signed with Beşiktaş for two years.

On 6 August 2004, Zago returned to Brazil and signed a contract with Santos.

He only featured sparingly for the club, and left in March 2005 after playing just nine matches.

On 6 April 2005, Zago joined Juventude on a deal until the end of the year.

In March 2006, he was suspended for 60 days after being accused of racism in a Campeonato Gaúcho match against Grêmio.

On 29 December 2006, Zago returned to Santos, reuniting with manager Vanderlei Luxemburgo.

He retired in November 2007, aged 38.

He resigned from the role in March 2009, after controversies regarding the signing of Ronaldo.

On 2 June 2009, Zago was appointed manager of São Caetano in the Série B, replacing Sérgio Soares.

He missed eight matches between September and October after serving a 45-day suspension, and renewed his contract for the following season on 8 November, as his side subsequently finished seventh.

Zago's side started the 2010 Campeonato Paulista with two wins in three matches, and defeated his former side Palmeiras 4–1 at Parque Antártica on 17 February.