Roberto Dinamita, idol in Brazil and former Barcelona player, died

Former Brazilian soccer player Roberto Dinamita, top scorer in the history of the Brazilian championship, died this Sunday at the age of 68 due to colon cancer, announced the Vasco da Gama club, of which he was the absolute idol.

“It is with the deepest regret that Vasco da Gama receives the information that the greatest of all left us this Sunday. Carlos Roberto de Oliveira, Dynamite, dedicated 29 of his 68 years to the club, as an athlete and president. We will love you forever, Calu,” the Rio de Janeiro club tweeted on its official account.

Born in Duque de Caxias, a poor suburb of Rio, on April 13, 1954, Roberto Dinamita scored 708 goals in 1,110 games for Vasco da Gama, from 1971 to 1979.

He still holds the record for goals scored in a national championship (190), well ahead of former international Fred (158).

He was nicknamed Dynamite at the age of 17 after having shaken the nets for the first time in the Vasco first team, at the legendary Maracanã stadium, against Internacional, on November 25, 1971.

The newspaper Jornal dos Sports headlined the following day: “dynamite exploded”. Long hair wavy in the wind, he was the terror of the Brazilian defenses, winning the national title in 1974 and the Rio title five times (1977, 1982, 1987, 1988 and 1992). He was the great rival of Zico, Flamengo star.

In the Brazilian team he scored 20 goals in 38 games, playing in the 1978 and 1982 World Cups.

Signed by FC Barcelona in 1979, he failed to break through in Europe and ended up returning to Brazil the following year.

Roberto Dinamita made a career as a leader of Vasco, which he presided over on several occasions, and ventured into politics, with five terms as a deputy for the state of Rio.

AFP.