Roberto Dinamite was developed at Vasco da Gama youth squad. He is one of the most famous Vasco da Gama players, and is the club's greatest goal scorer. He scored 698 goals wearing the club's shirt and 864 goals in all his career. He played 1022 matches (768 official matches, and 254 friendly matches).
Dinamite was nicknamed Dinamite by the journalist Aparício Pires, of Jornal dos Sports newspaper, after scoring a spectacular goal in his debut for the professional team, on 25 November 1971, against Internacional, at Maracanã stadium.[5] The journalist wrote in the newspaper that the Dynamite-Boy detonates at Maracanã.[5]
His last goal was scored on 26 October 1992, when, in Campeonato Carioca, Vasco da Gama beat Goytacaz 2–0 at São Januário Stadium.[6]
Dinamite retired on 24 March 1993, when he was 39 years old. His last match was on that day, when Deportivo de La Coruña of Spain beat Vasco da Gama 2–0 at Maracanã stadium, in a friendly game in which Zico also played (for Vasco).[6]
International career
Roberto Dinamite earned 47 caps with the Brazil national team, between September 1975 and June 1984, scoring 25 goals, including matches against combined teams, and clubs.[7] He played 38 matches against national teams (20 of them were official FIFA matches), and scored 20 goals, and the nine other matches were against combined teams, and clubs, scoring five goals in those matches. His first national team match was played on 30 September 1975, when the Peru national team beat Brazil 3–1.[7] Roberto Dinamite's first Brazil national team goal was scored on 23 May 1976, when Brazil beat England 1–0.[7] His last cap was earned on 17 June 1984, when Brazil and Argentina drew 0–0.[7]
Roberto Dinamite played five Brazil Olympic team matches, all of them in 1972.[8] He scored one goal in his last match, played on 11 August 1972, when Brazil and Tuna Luso drew 1–1.[8]
Politics
After his retirement from football, he became a politician. In 1992, after joining the PSDB party, he ran for the State Assembly of Rio de Janeiro, being elected with 34,893 votes,[5] and being re-elected twice since.
As a member of PMDB, Roberto Dinamite was elected Rio de Janeiro state deputy in 1994, with 68,516 votes, in 1998, with 44,993 votes,[5] in 2002, with 53,172 votes[9] and in 2006, with 49,097 votes.[10]
Roberto Dinamite was a candidate to Vasco da Gama presidency in 2003 and in 2006. He was elected president of Vasco da Gama on 21 June 2008.[3]
Death
Roberto Dinamite died of intestinal cancer in Rio de Janeiro on 8 January 2023, at the age of 68, after fighting against the disease since 2021.[11]
Career statistics
Club
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
