Dida (footballer, born 1973)
Nélson de Jesus Silva[nb 1] (born 7 October 1973), better known simply as Dida (Brazilian Portuguese: [ˈdʒidɐ]), is a Brazilian former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. After starting his senior club career in Brazil in the early 1990s with Vitória, Dida became a penalty kick-saving specialist with Cruzeiro and Corinthians. He is perhaps best remembered for his ten-year stint with AC Milan from 2000 to 2010, where he established himself as one of the world's best goalkeepers and won multiple trophies and individual awards with the club, including one Serie A title (Scudetto) and twice the UEFA Champions League with Milan, with the first of those victories coming after he saved three penalties in the 2003 final against Serie A rivals Juventus, and is one of four Milan keepers with 300 career appearances. After a two-year absence from playing, he returned to Brazil in 2012, suiting up for three teams—Portuguesa, Grêmio and Internacional—in as many seasons. He returned to Milan to serve as their goalkeeping coach from 2020 to 2022.
Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Full name | Nélson de Jesus Silva[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Date of birth | 7 October 1973 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Place of birth | Irará, Bahia, Brazil | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)[2] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Position(s) | Goalkeeper | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Youth career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1990 | Cruzeiro de Arapiraca | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1991–1992 | Vitória | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1992–1993 | Vitória | 24 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1994–1998 | Cruzeiro | 120 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1998–1999 | Lugano | 0 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1999–2000 | Corinthians | 24 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2000–2010 | AC Milan | 206 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2001–2002 | → Corinthians (loan) | 8 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2012 | Portuguesa | 32 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2013 | Grêmio | 37 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2014–2015 | Internacional | 27 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Total | 478 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
International career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1992–1993 | Brazil U20 | 12 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1996 | Brazil Olympic | 17 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1995–2006 | Brazil | 91 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
At international level, Dida earned 91 caps in eleven years with the Brazil national team, winning the FIFA World Cup and an Olympic medal, while he is the most successful player in the history of the FIFA Confederations Cup. He notably broke a color barrier during the 1999 Copa América by being the Seleção's first Afro-Brazilian starting goalkeeper since Moacyr Barbosa half a century earlier, and, in 2006, became the first black goalkeeper to start for Brazil in a FIFA World Cup finals tournament since 1950. He retired from international play after Brazil were eliminated in the quarter-finals.
Considered one of the best goalkeepers of his generation, Dida was the inaugural FIFPro Goalkeeper of the Year, the first Brazilian keeper to be nominated for the Ballon d'Or, is a seven-time nominee of the IFFHS World's Best Goalkeeper award and the sixth-best keeper overall, of the 21st century by IFFHS, in addition to being one of ten players to win both the Champions League and the Copa Libertadores. He is additionally rated among the all-time greats in the position for Brazil alongside Marcos, Rogério Ceni, Cláudio Taffarel and Gilmar.[nb 2] Dida has been credited with helping end the prejudice against black goalkeepers in Brazilian club football due to his success in Europe, and upon joining Internacional in 2014, became the first Afro-Brazilian keeper to play for the club in 43 years.
Early life
Nélson de Jesus Silva was born on 7 October 1973 in the city of Irará in the northeastern Brazilian state of Bahia,[4] and was raised in Lagoa da Canoa in the smaller neighboring state of Alagoas, to where his family had moved when he was three months old.[18][19] His first sport of choice was volleyball,[20] until he discovered football by way of futsal and pickup games.[21] His preferred position was that of goalkeeper,[22] despite its longtime unpopularity in Brazilian football and the country's history of discrimination against black players in the position.[23][24]
A supporter of Rio de Janeiro-based club Flamengo,[25] Dida helped form an amateur squad called Flamenguinho ("little Flamengo") at age thirteen,[26] which marked his first experience in organized team play.[21] He took his future playing name from Flamengo striker Dida,[27] while his footballing idols were goalkeepers Rinat Dasayev[21] and future Seleção teammate Cláudio Taffarel, who had enjoyed successful runs in Italy and Turkey and whom Dida later considered a pioneer in the growing acceptance of Brazilian keepers into European clubs.[28]
Club career
Vitória, Cruzeiro, and Corinthians
"[Bahian football] teams featured many homegrown talents. Vitória ... had players like Dida, Vampeta, Giuliano, Rodrigo, Paulo Isidoro, Alex Alves. A nineteen-year-old goalkeeper in Dida, defending a club like Vitória, though he was black. And whenever a black goalkeeper played [in Brazil], he was under suspicion."
—Former Vitória teammate João Marcelo, 2014[29]
In 1990, at age 17, Dida made his club football debut with Alagoan team Cruzeiro de Arapiraca.[30] Two years later, he joined the youth academy of hometown team and 1992 Campeonato Baiano winners Vitória.[31][32] In 1993, after starting in Brazil's FIFA World Youth Championship victory, Dida made 24 starts in goal for Vitória's senior squad as they finished runner-up to Palmeiras in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, and he became the youngest recipient, at 20, of Brazilian football magazine Placar's annual Bola de Prata award as the Série A's best goalkeeper.[32]
Dida was then acquired by Minas Gerais-based club Cruzeiro in 1994, and in a span of five seasons, he won four state titles, the 1996 Copa do Brasil and the 1997 Copa Libertadores, and two more Bola de Prata goalkeeping awards. However, in January 1999, he publicly stated his desire to test his skills in Europe and catch the attention of the Brazil national team coaching staff in the process,[33] and therefore took the club to court in order to cancel the remainder of his contract so he could sign with AC Milan, the only European team that had extended him an offer.[34] The ensuing legal battle between the player and Cruzeiro lasted for five months,[34] and a FIFA ruling allowed Dida to be loaned to Swiss club FC Lugano in the meantime so he could keep in shape, though he never played a game. His move to Milan was finalized in May 1999 with a transfer fee of 2.7 billion Italian lire (R$5.2 million) paid to Cruzeiro, which brought the dispute to a close.[34][35]
Dida was the third goalkeeper on Milan coach Alberto Zaccheroni's depth chart behind Christian Abbiati and aging veteran Sebastiano Rossi for the 1999–2000 Serie A season, and he returned to Brazil as he was loaned to São Paulo-based club Corinthians to receive regular playing time. During this stint, his reputation as a penalty stopper came into national renown[36][37] after he saved two separate spot kicks—both taken by Raí—in Corinthians' 3–2 victory over intrastate rival São Paulo FC in the 1999 Campeonato Brasileiro semi-final,[38][39] which earned him a 10 rating from Placar.[19] Dida received his first nomination for the IFFHS World's Best Goalkeeper award that season, finishing eighth in the voting.[40] In 2000, he kept three clean sheets in four matches while allowing only two goals as Corinthians lifted the inaugural FIFA Club World Cup. After the 15 January final against Vasco da Gama ended goalless after extra time, he blocked a Gilberto penalty in the shootout that Corinthians won 4–3 after Vasco striker Edmundo's shot went wide right.[36] Corinthians midfielder Ricardinho revealed to the media afterward that the team was actively seeking to take the match to penalties during the extra period, knowing Dida would save "at least one in five";[41] indeed, BBC News castigated the "poor final" as both teams "never look[ing] like scoring in two hours of open play",[42] while Dida himself criticized penalty shootouts in that they "cause[d] suffering to the players and the fans".[41]
1999–2002: Beginnings with Milan and return to Corinthians
Milan recalled Dida and named him their 2000–01 Champions League starter with first-choice Christian Abbiati on international duty with Italy at the 2000 Summer Olympics. His Rossoneri debut was a 4–1 group stage victory over Beşiktaş on 13 September 2000, but six days later, against Leeds United at a rain-soaked Elland Road, he accidentally dropped a Lee Bowyer strike into his own goal, causing Milan to lose the match 1–0.[43][44] His explanation was that he attempted to absorb the force of the shot and then catch hold of it, but the ball dropped into a puddle and bounced into the net.[3] He started the remaining group stage games and kept his first clean sheet for Milan in a 2–0 win over Barcelona on 26 September,[45] but was then replaced by Abbiati for the second group stage. Dida made his first Serie A start in a 2–0 November loss to Parma, and was unable to beat out Rossi for the starting position after Abbiati was injured. He did not play again save for Milan's 2–0 loss to Galatasaray[46]—who featured his idol Taffarel in goal[47]—on 7 March 2001, as the Rossoneri were eliminated from the Champions League.
Dida returned to Milan for the 2001–02 season, for which he was later suspended by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) for his role in a false-passport scandal and therefore loaned back to Corinthians.[48] He made only eight Série A appearances as the deputy to established first-choice Doni, but began a sustained high run of form in winning the Torneio Rio-São Paulo championship and 2002 Copa do Brasil with the Timão.
2003–2004: Champions League and Scudetto success
"For me, he will always be the first companion I embraced after scoring the penalty against Buffon in that [2003] Champions League final."
Dida was recalled once again by Milan for 2002–03 as a reserve, making his season debut on 14 August 2002 as an injury substitute for Christian Abbiati in the second half of Milan's Champions League third-round qualifier against Slovan Liberec, in which his performance in the 1–0 victory resulted in second-year coach Carlo Ancelotti promoting him to first choice.[43] He made a then-career best 30 starts as Milan finished third in Serie A and exhibited the league's second-best defence that conceded only 30 goals (one behind champion Juventus' 29), while he won his lone Coppa Italia with the Rossoneri in 2003.[49] Dida additionally made fourteen Champions League appearances, missing only the second leg of Milan's semi-final elimination of crosstown rival Internazionale to injury[50] as Milan advanced to face Juventus in the only all-Italian final in competition history.
Dida was relatively untested during the goalless regulation and extra-time periods save for a stop of a late Alessandro Del Piero shot,[51] but saved from David Trezeguet, Marcelo Zalayeta and Paolo Montero in the penalty shootout that saw five of the first seven shots collectively stopped by Dida and Juventus' star goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon.[52][53] After Milan's Andriy Shevchenko slotted the winner, he celebrated by leaping into Dida's arms as they were mobbed by teammates.[54] Juventus coach Marcelo Lippi said after the match that "four or five" of his players had refused to take part in the shootout,[55] while Bianconeri defender Lilian Thuram, who was not a participant, admitted to being affected beforehand by Dida's reputation as a penalty stopper.[51] Dida ended the year by becoming the first Brazilian goalkeeper nominated for the Ballon d'Or,[28] finishing 13th in voting.[56]
Despite his succes, Dida never became Serie A Goalkeeper of the Year. He was nominated for the 1st time in 2004 but lost to rival and legend Gianluigi Buffon, after conceding only 20 goals in 32 appearances in Milan's 2003–04[57] Scudetto-winning season.[58][59] Though Milan's Champions League repeat bid was ended by Deportivo de La Coruña in the quarter-finals, a highlight of their campaign was during a previous group-stage match against Ajax on 16 September 2003, when Dida blocked a point blank-range shot from Rafael van der Vaart at the end of extra time to preserve Milan's 1–0 win.[60][61][62]
2004–2005: Internazionale flare incident and Miracle of Istanbul
Milan started 2004–05 by winning the Supercoppa Italiana, and the first half of the Serie A season saw Dida nearly insurmountable in net. After he was sent off in the Rossoneri's season opener against Livorno,[63] he conceded only ten goals as Milan went unbeaten in 17 of their next 18 league matches, among them a 1–0 win over Chievo on 28 November 2004 in which he had performed an acrobatic save on a Roberto Baronio free kick, changing direction after the ball was deflected midflight.[3][64] Ancelotti later described the save to reporters as "[worth] no less than a goal".[3] Though Dida kept 16 total clean sheets and conceded 25 goals in 36 (out of 38) appearances, Milan faltered by going winless in five of their final eight matches and finished runner-up to Scudetto winners Juventus.[65]
In the Champions League, Dida allowed only three goals in Milan's first ten matches, including a string of five straight clean sheets following a 2–1 group-stage loss to Barcelona on 2 November 2004.[66] The fifth of these came against crosstown rival Internazionale in the quarter-finals on 7 April 2005, in which Dida kept the Nerazzurri at bay with multiple saves, notably that of a top-corner Siniša Mihajlović free kick.[67][68] With Milan leading 1–0 in the return leg on 12 April, Inter midfielder Esteban Cambiasso's second-half header was disallowed by referee Markus Merk due to a foul on Dida by forward Julio Cruz.[69] Inter ultras located in the curva behind Dida's goal reacted to the call by hurling bottles and burning flares onto the pitch.[69] As Dida attempted to resume gameplay by clearing out the debris from his penalty area to take a goal kick, a flare struck him on his right shoulder, missing his head by inches.[69] The match was halted as firefighters worked to clear the pitch while Dida received treatment for bruising and first-degree burns to his shoulder.[69] After a half-hour delay, the game resumed with Christian Abbiati in goal but was abandoned less than a minute later after more projectiles rained down.[70] UEFA officially awarded Milan a 3–0 win, resulting in Dida tying a Champions League record, then shared with Edwin van der Sar and Józef Wandzik, with his sixth consecutive shutout.[71] Inter were later fined €200,000 (£132,000) by UEFA and ordered to play their next four European matches behind closed doors.[72] In the semi-finals against PSV, Dida set a competition record with his seventh consecutive clean sheet in Milan's 2–0 first-leg victory on 26 April,[73] but his scoreless streak ended at 623 total minutes following a Park Ji-sung strike in the ninth minute of the second leg on 4 May[74] as PSV won 3–1, but the Rossoneri advanced to the final on away goals.[75]
Milan charged to an early 3–0 lead in the first half in the 2005 Champions League final in Istanbul against Premier League side Liverpool, who in turn rallied in the second half with three goals in a span of six minutes, the second being a strike from Reds midfielder Vladimír Šmicer that Dida got a hand to but was unable to keep out.[76] The third came on a Xabi Alonso penalty saved by Dida before Alonso netted the rebound.[77] With the match going to penalties after ending 3–3 in regulation and extra time, Dida stopped only from John Arne Riise as Liverpool won the shootout 3–2. He later faced press criticism for what was deemed a poor reaction to Šmicer's shot on goal.[77][78][79] Dida was among five Milan players named to the inaugural FIFPro World XI at the end of the season,[80] while he finished a career-best second for the 2005 IFFHS World's Best Goalkeeper award, behind winner Petr Čech.[81] He also made a nomination for Serie A Goalkeeper of the Year for a 2nd time but once again lost to Gianluigi Buffon.[57] He was additionally shortlisted for the 2005 Ballon D'Or, but did not receive any votes.[82]
2005–2006: Decline in form
In 2005–06, Milan went trophyless in both domestic and European competition for the first time since 2001–02. They finished second and three points behind Juventus in Serie A, before being implicated in the Calciopoli match-fixing scandal. The Rossoneri lost as many matches (five) in the first half of the season as they had the entire previous year while conceding 22 goals in that 19-game span, with Dida not keeping a clean sheet until the fourth matchday, a 2–0 win over Lazio.[83] His form had also begun to visibly decline as he committed noticeable errors such as dropping a cross in Milan's 4–3 win over Parma on 8 January 2006 that allowed Paolo Cannavaro to score the loose ball and give Parma an early 1–0 lead;[84] and attempting an underhand catch of an Andrea Gasbarroni shot that instead bounced off his arm and into goal, resulting in a 1–1 draw with Sampdoria on 28 January that put Milan nine points behind Juventus in the title race.[85] In February 2006, Brazil national team coach Carlos Alberto Parreira, who had previously coached Dida at Corinthians,[86] publicly declared that Dida risked jeopardizing his starting position for the upcoming World Cup if his form did not improve.[87] Milan were eliminated by Barcelona in the 2006 Champions League semi-final on a 1–0 aggregate, but Dida was praised for saves against Samuel Eto'o, Ronaldinho and Henrik Larsson over both legs.[88][89] However, his Champions League clean-sheet record of seven from the previous season was surpassed by Arsenal's Jens Lehmann, who finished the year with ten straight.[90]
2006–2007: Return to Champions League victory
As punishment for their involvement in the Calciopoli scandal, Milan began the 2006–07 Serie A season with an eight-point deficit in the standings, and finished fourth behind Internazionale, Roma and Lazio. Following a strike by Lazio's Stephen Makinwa in Milan's 2–1 season opener on 10 September 2006, Dida did not allow a league goal for the next 446 minutes.[91] He played his 200th match for Milan in a 1–0 win over Ascoli on 20 September.[92] However, 2006–07 was also the first injury-plagued season of his career, beginning with knee ligament damage suffered in Milan's 1–0 loss to AEK Athens on 21 November 2006 that sidelined him for the rest of the year.[93] Reserve keeper Zeljko Kalac deputized until Dida returned on 21 January 2007 in a goalless draw with Lazio.[94] He missed 13 total Serie A matches[94] due to recurring knee and shoulder problems,[95] after having missed ten games in the last three seasons combined.
Milan additionally had to qualify for the 2006–07 Champions League, accomplished by defeating Red Star Belgrade on aggregate, and the Rossoneri then proceeded to top their group as Dida kept four clean sheets and conceded only twice in that six-match span.[94] In the quarter-finals against Bayern Munich, he was criticized for conceding a stoppage-time equalizer from Daniel Van Buyten in the first leg on 3 April that relegated Milan to a 2–2 home draw.[96][97] Dida then kept a clean sheet in the second leg as Milan shut out Bayern 2–0 and advanced to the semi-finals against Manchester United, but he again received criticism for errors resulting in goals (from Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney) in a 3–2 defeat.[98] After the loss, a Milan fan mockingly put Dida up for sale on auction site eBay before the site removed the listing.[99] Dida kept another second-leg clean sheet in Milan's decisive 3–0 home win on 3 May, in addition to becoming the first goalkeeper to register an assist in the Champions League,[100] as the Rossoneri advanced to the 2007 final for a rematch against Liverpool.[101] Dida saved from Jermaine Pennant, Steven Gerrard and Peter Crouch as Milan won 2–1 and he raised his second Champions League trophy, and the Rossoneri's seventh overall, in five seasons.[102]
2007–08: Injury problems, Celtic fan incident, and benching
Dida won his second career UEFA Super Cup after Milan defeated Sevilla on 31 August 2007, and his second FIFA Club World Cup with Milan's 4–2 win over Boca Juniors on 16 December. He had additionally set a record with his sixth match played in the competition, a mark that was broken after several Al Ahly players collectively earned their seventh caps the next year.[103] However, Dida endured his worst season with the club, as ongoing poor form and injuries spelled the end of his tenure as Milan's number one after six seasons,[104] as the Rossoneri finished fifth in Serie A and consequently missed out on Champions League qualification for the following season.
On 3 October 2007, during Milan's Champions League group stage match against Celtic in Glasgow, Celtic striker Scott McDonald scored the match-winner in the 90th minute to seal a 2–1 victory. As the Celtic players celebrated, 27-year-old Celtic fan Robert McHendry entered the pitch and tapped Dida on the shoulder while running through Milan's penalty area. Dida initially gave chase but after a few steps collapsed to the ground while holding the side of his face, and he was stretchered off and substituted.[105] McHendry later turned himself in to police and was given a lifetime ban from Celtic Park,[106] but UEFA charged Dida with breaching rules upholding "loyalty, integrity and sportsmanship", as it was deemed that he had feigned injury.[7] He was punished with a two-match suspension, while Celtic were fined £25,000 for the pitch invasion.[7] Milan appealed the ruling, feeling the sentence "turn[ed] Dida into the protagonist of the incident".[107] Dida never spoke publicly about the incident, but in Milan's first home game following the Celtic match — a 1–0 loss to Empoli on 21 October — he offered a gesture of apology to the fans in attendance by pausing during warmups to bow to each section of the crowd, receiving a round of applause in response.[108][109] His ban was reduced to one match, causing him to miss Milan's 4–1 first-leg victory over Shakhtar Donetsk on 24 October,[110] but he returned for the 3–0 second leg victory on 6 November.[111] The death knell of Dida's campaign came in Milan's 2–1 derby loss to Inter on 23 December, when he inexplicably dived in the opposite direction of Esteban Cambiasso's game-winning goal,[112] for which he was lambasted by fans and the press.[113][114] He started Milan's 5–2 win over Napoli on 13 January 2008, but a knee injury the following week saw him replaced by backup Zeljko Kalac, whose own strong form[115] kept him first choice for the remainder of the season, including the Champions League until Milan were eliminated in the knockout round by Arsenal.[116]
2008–2010: Revival, rivalry, and closure
Dida was among a clog of goalkeepers on the Milan roster at the start of the 2008–09 season that included Kalac, Christian Abbiati, and 2007 signing Marco Storari.[117] He was ultimately named second choice behind Abbiati, with Kalac demoted to third choice after conceding five goals in Milan's Russian Railways Cup loss to Chelsea on 3 August,[118] and Storari being loaned to Fiorentina. Dida was designated to Milan's UEFA Cup campaign, in which he kept only one clean sheet in six matches as the Rossoneri were eliminated by eventual finalists Werder Bremen.[119] On 15 March 2009, Dida played his first Serie A match in over a year after Abbiati suffered a season-ending knee injury during Milan's 5–1 win at Siena.[120] He finished the season as starter, keeping six clean sheets in a career-low ten league appearances[121] as Milan placed third behind Inter and Juventus and returned to the Champions League.
In 2009–10, with Carlo Ancelotti replaced by Leonardo as head coach after nine seasons, Milan finished third behind Internazionale and Juventus in Serie A for the second straight year, and were eliminated by Manchester United on a 7–2 aggregate in the Champions League round of 16. Dida was unable to compete for the starting spot after missing the preseason with injury, and served as Storari's backup until making his season debut as an injury substitute for the third time in his Milan career, in a 2–1 defeat of Roma on 18 October 2009.[122] On 21 October, in his first Champions League appearance of the season against Real Madrid during the group stage, Dida caught an Esteban Granero header in the 18th minute and hurried to move the ball upfield without having complete control of it, causing him to bounce it off his knee and Raúl to slot the loose ball into an empty net.[123] His mistake did not prove costly as Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas erred on two goals that enabled Milan to gain their first victory (3–2) at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium.[123]
"Today is the first day I'm living as a former Rossonero after ten years. I wanted to ... say goodbye to all the Milan fans who in these years were close to me and with whom I have shared joys and bitterness, despite winning everything. A big thank you to Silvio Berlusconi, Adriano Galliani and Sporting Director Ariedo Braida: without them I could never have had such a gratifying experience both from a sporting and human point of view. There are many people I'd like to thank: all the teammates I've had, Milan's managers and co-workers, the Milanello staff. But I especially want to cite Carlo Ancelotti, the coach who allowed me to play in this fantastic team and with whom I spent the biggest part of my Rossoneri life, and Villiam Vecchi, who endured me for all these years. ... Thanks from the heart and Forza Milan!"
—Dida in his goodbye letter to Milan, 1 July 2010[124]
Dida retained the starting spot on the back of strong league performances despite Storari returning to fitness, such as a stoppage-time save from Pablo Granoche in a 25 October 2–1 win over Chievo,[125] and double and triple saves performed minutes apart in a 2–2 draw at Napoli on 28 October.[126] Dida kept four clean sheets and conceded an average of one goal per game as Milan enjoyed an eight-match unbeaten league run in that stretch that ended in a 2–0 loss to Palermo on 13 December.[127] With Dida retaining the number-one jersey into 2010 and Abbiati returning from injury, Storari was loaned to Sampdoria on 15 January.[128] However, after Abbiati returned for his first match in ten months on 31 January, a 1–1 draw with Livorno that Dida missed due to a back injury, both keepers were subsequently juggled in and out of the starting lineup due to Leonardo's difficulty in establishing a definite number one,[129] until Abbiati's heroics in Milan's 2–0 win over Bari on 21 February relegated Dida to the bench.[130] After Abbiati was sidelined with tendinitis on 28 March,[131] Dida started for the rest of the season, finishing with his most Serie A appearances (23) in four years.[127] On 1 May, he played his 300th match in all competitions for Milan in a 1–0 win over Fiorentina,[132] and was substituted for Abbiati in the 88th minute of the Rossoneri's 3–0 season-finale defeat of Juventus on 15 May, receiving a standing ovation as he departed. His final game for Milan was a postseason friendly against Major League Soccer (MLS) team Chicago Fire.[133]
Dida's contract expired on 30 June 2010, ending his decade-long tenure with the club.[124] He made 302 total appearances in goal for Milan, the third-highest number behind Christian Abbiati (380), and Sebastiano Rossi (330).[134] He finished with the currently sixth-highest number of Champions League clean sheets (35)[135] and the second-highest percentage of clean sheets in games played (49%, behind Edwin Van der Sar's 52%),[136] in addition to the fourth-highest unbeaten mark (623 minutes) in Champions League history.[137]
Dida continued to participate in team-related events after his departure.[138][139][140] He joined Milan Glorie (a selection of team alumni) for charity friendlies against other veterans from clubs such as HJK Helsinki and Vélez Sársfield, in which he was often deployed in attack instead of goal.[141][142][143] In May 2012, he represented Milan in the 2012 Mundialito de Clubes beach soccer tournament,[144] in which the Rossoneri were eliminated in the group stage after going winless in three games.
Portuguesa (2012)
After two years of being unable to secure a contract and continue playing in Europe, Dida returned to Brazil to resume his career.[21] On 24 May 2012, Portuguesa signed him for the remainder of the Brasileiro season as a replacement for departing goalkeeper Weverton.[145] He made his debut on 26 June in a 1–0 win over São Paulo,[146] and on 1 July, helped in holding Santos to a goalless draw in a match that was billed as a duel of generations between Dida and Santos' young star Neymar, who was 18 years his junior.[147][148] Dida made 32 starts and conceded 31 goals as Portuguesa avoided relegation from the Campeonato Brasileiro top flight, but he departed after the season when his contract expired.[149]
Grêmio (2013)
On 19 December 2012, Dida joined Porto Alegre-based Grêmio on a deal for an undisclosed duration that was finalized after he accepted a reduction of his original wage request.[150] He was signed at the behest of coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo, who sought an experienced backup to incumbent Marcelo Grohe.[150] By January 2013, Dida had surpassed the 26-year-old Grohe as first choice, allowing 34 goals in 37 league starts as Grêmio finished runner-up to Cruzeiro, while advancing to the semi-final of the Copa do Brasil by eliminating Corinthians in a penalty shootout that saw Dida stop three spot kicks, notably former Milan teammate Alexandre Pato's botched panenka attempt.[151] Grêmio were unable to advance past the round of 16 in the Copa Libertadores after losing on away goals to Independiente Santa Fe, which led to Luxemburgo's firing on 30 June.
Internacional (2013–2015)
After Grêmio turned down his extension request at the end of the season, Dida signed a two-year deal with archrival Internacional on 26 December 2013.[152] He downplayed the rivalry between the clubs, citing that he had wanted to remain in Porto Alegre for family reasons.[153] Due to injury, Dida did not make his debut until 23 February 2014 in a 1–0 loss to Veranópolis,[154][155] but was able to supplant brothers Alisson Becker and Muriel for the starting spot, making 27 total first-team appearances as Internacional would finish third in Série A and win the 2014 Campeonato Gaúcho.
Following a poor performance in a 2–0 loss to his former club Vitória on 10 September,[156] Dida was benched in favor of Muriel for Internacional's 2–0 win over Botafogo four days later, but entered as an injury substitute in the second half.[157] He made six consecutive starts while Muriel recovered from a thigh injury, but lost the job permanently after Internacional were blown out 5–0 by Chapecoense on 5 October, during which he was sent off for a late challenge.[158] Becker was established as the Colorado's number one thereafter,[159] with Dida demoted to third choice. His final appearance was a 2–0 win over Passo Fundo on 5 April 2015 in the first round of the 2015 Campeonato Gaúcho,[158] during which he became the oldest player, at 41 years and six months, to ever take the pitch for Internacional.[160] On 25 August, an online video of Dida performing a series of acrobatic practice saves during a team training session went viral.[161][162][163] In 2016, he unsuccessfully sought a new club with whom to continue playing until the end of the calendar year,[164] and retired thereafter.
Coaching career
After his contract with Internacional expired in 2015, Dida temporarily remained with the club in an internship role as he studied to earn his coaching badges,[165] and took Brazilian Football Confederation-required courses in December 2015 alongside former Brazil teammates Taffarel and Ricardinho.[166][167] He served as an assistant and consultant to China League One club Shenzhen under the invitation of former Milan teammate and then-head coach Clarence Seedorf from October to November 2016.[168] In August 2018, Dida joined the technical staff of Egyptian Premier League side Pyramids FC to provide additional goalkeeper training,[169] and returned to Milan a year later as goalkeeping coach of the team's youth sector.[170] He was promoted in August 2020 to goalkeeping coach of the senior squad for the 2020–21 season.[171]
International career
1993–1996: Youth career, first cap, and Olympics disappointment
Dida is the first major Brazilian goalkeeper to be known by a nickname, as opposed to the tradition of going by either his first or last name.[172][173] He first represented the Seleção at the under-20 level as first choice at the 1993 FIFA World Youth Championship, keeping four clean sheets in six matches and conceding only two goals as Brazil were victorious.[174] After Taffarel was suspended for the first two games of the 1995 Copa América due to a uniform violation,[175] Dida earned his first cap for the senior side at age 21 in a 1–0 defeat of Ecuador,[172] [176] and started in Brazil's 2–0 win over Peru.
He was called up by coach Mário Zagallo as the backup to Danrlei for the 1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup, in which Brazil sent their under-23 squad, and he never left the bench as the Seleção finished runners-up to Mexico. Dida was named the starter for the 1996 Summer Olympics, but Brazil endured a disappointing campaign and finished with a bronze medal, while he gained notoriety for colliding with teammate Aldair in a 1–0 loss to Japan as they chased a long ball into the penalty area, giving Japan the empty-net goal.[177]
1997–2001: First World Cup, and Copa América success
"He will dominate the [goalkeeping] position for many years. I pray that God will protect him."
—Former Brazil goalkeeper Moacyr Barbosa on Dida before the 1999 Copa América final.[178]
Dida was excluded from Brazil's 1997 Copa América roster, but returned to the starting lineup for the inaugural FIFA Confederations Cup that year, keeping five clean sheets and allowing just two total goals as the Seleção lifted the trophy with a 6–0 rout of Australia in the final. Though he was called up for the 1998 World Cup, Zagallo lured Taffarel out of a three-year retirement to be his first choice, and Dida was third behind backup Carlos Germano as Brazil finished runners-up to the hosts. He would not play for the national team in all of 1998,[176] which factored into his decision to leave club team Cruzeiro for Milan at the start of the next year.[34] In 1999, under new coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo, Dida won his lone Copa América with Brazil after a 3–0 defeat of Uruguay in the final. He conceded only two total goals in the competition, and blocked a game-tying Roberto Ayala penalty in a 2–1 victory over archrival Argentina in the quarter-finals.[179] He made his second straight Confederations Cup start that year as Brazil allowed no goals in the group stage and thrashed hosts Saudi Arabia 8–2 in the semi-finals, but were again thwarted by champions Mexico, losing 4–3 in the final.
Dida made his third consecutive Confederations Cup start in 2001, keeping clean sheets in every group stage match for the second consecutive time as Brazil finished second behind Japan with one win and two draws, but lost to eventual winners France 2–1 in the semi-finals and then 1–0 to Australia in the third-place match.
2002–2005: World Cup triumph and Confederations Cup record
With his success at Corinthians gaining the attention of coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, Dida was called up for the 2002 World Cup as the backup to Marcos, whom Scolari had previously coached at Palmeiras, and he and third choice Rogério Ceni never left the bench as the Seleção won its fifth title. On the afternoon of the final, Dida was requested by Ronaldo to keep him company in attempt to avoid a repeat of the events prior to the 1998 final, when Ronaldo had suffered a convulsive fit in his sleep that factored into his poor performance in Brazil's 3–0 loss to France.[180] They spent the time talking and playing golf before departing for International Stadium in Yokohama.[181] Ronaldo scored both goals in Brazil's 2–0 defeat of Germany and won the tournament's Golden Shoe award.
Dida started his fourth Confederations Cup in 2003, where Brazil suffered its worst-ever finish with elimination in the group stage. He returned for his fifth and last Confederations Cup start in 2005, and in Brazil's 1–0 group stage loss to Mexico, he saved a penalty from Jared Borgetti that had to be retaken twice due to repeated player encroachment into the penalty area, after Borgetti scored on the first attempt but hit the crossbar on the second.[182] Dida was rested by coach Carlos Alberto Parreira for a 2–2 draw with Japan on 22 June as Marcos earned his final cap for Brazil.[183] In a 3–2 semi-final victory over hosts Germany, he faced his second penalty of the competition, which Michael Ballack converted despite Dida guessing the right direction.[184] He became the first two-time Confederations Cup winner after the Seleção's decisive 4–1 victory over Argentina in the final, earning him the last trophy of his international career.[185]
2006 World Cup and international retirement
After 86 caps earned and two World Cups as an unplayed reserve,[186] Dida started the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany, making him the second-oldest World Cup goalkeeper for Brazil, at 32 years and eight months, behind Gilmar (35 years in 1966).[187] He was part of Brazil's unheralded defensive unit,[188][189] with Lúcio and Juan, that conceded only one goal in wins over Croatia, Australia and Japan in the group stage. In a 3-0 round-of-sixteen victory over Ghana, Dida performed a point-blank save from John Mensah with his leg,[190] and was 1970 World Cup winner Tostão's personal choice for man of the match.[188] However, Brazil struggled offensively throughout and were eliminated after a 1–0 loss to France in the quarter-finals, with Dida and the defense among the few players avoiding media criticism for the team's disappointing performance.[191][192] He became the first keeper to wear the captain's armband for Brazil, since Émerson Leão in 1978, when Cafu was rested in the 4–1 win over Japan on 22 June.[193]
Dida did not play for Brazil again following the July 2006 hiring of new coach Dunga, and retired from the national team on 1 October.[194] He finished with 91 total caps, third all-time among Brazilian keepers behind Taffarel (101) and Gilmar (94), and allowed 70 goals. Dida is the most successful player in the history of the Confederations Cup, ranking first in appearances (22)[195] and total clean sheets (12),[196][197] while being the only player to have participated in five editions of the competition.[185][198] He faced a total of eight penalties in his international career, saving six of them.[199]
Style of play and reception
While Dida is regarded by several pundits as one of the best goalkeepers of his generation,[200][201] and one of the Brazilian national team's greatest keepers,[nb 2] he received a divided response to his playing style, particularly during his time with Milan,[202][203] where he was noted for excelling as a Brazilian goalkeeper in a country (Italy) renowned for producing quality keepers.[4][98][204] He trained extensively with then-Rossoneri goalkeeping coach Villiam Vecchi, who had previously tutored Gianluigi Buffon at Parma.[202][205][206] Vecchi described Dida as "more reflective" in his gameplay, whereas Buffon acted mainly on instinct.[206] In his prime, Dida was recognized for his shot-stopping ability[207] and command of the area,[207] and for possessing athleticism and reflexes that belied his imposing size,[200][21][86] which enabled him to perform acrobatic "miracle" saves without resorting to histrionics,[6][13] while former coaches have praised him for keeping his emotions in check after conceding a goal.[3][28] Dida's best-known attribute is his expertise in saving penalties,[21][199] which is acknowledged mainly in Brazil due to his accomplishments with Cruzeiro and Corinthians.[208][209][210][211] He is additionally recognized for his reserved disposition both on and off the pitch and his reluctance in granting interviews,[74][98][212][213][214] as well as his physical conditioning and work ethic.[4][21][215]
Dida, however, also faced criticism for lapses in concentration that sometimes resulted in mistakes or goals, with the Leeds goal from 2000 remaining his most prominent example.[3][216][217] He has been scrutinized for suspect footwork,[218] hesitance in coming off his goalline,[200][86][3] and fielding crosses.[200][202][6][219] He was considered one of the world's best goalkeepers at the height of his success with Milan from 2003 to 2005, including a perceived rivalry with Buffon as the best overall in world football,[202][6][220] but the April 2005 Internazionale flare incident is cited as the catalyst behind the end of his high run of form.[6][3][8][221][222] In 2006, The Guardian labeled Dida "Brazil's answer to David James", who himself had gained infamy for goalkeeping errors while playing for Liverpool in the 1990s.[221] He additionally came under fire from former Milan goalkeepers for his drops in performance; Fabio Cudicini opined in 2007 that Dida's mistakes were due to psychological factors,[223] while Enrico Albertosi was more blunt, saying in 2009 that Dida was "never a guarantee" in goal, "even when he was at his best".[224]
Nicknames
Dida earned many nicknames in his club career, first at Cruzeiro with A muralha azul ("Blue Wall"),[225] followed by São Dida ("Saint Dida")[34] and O rei dos pênaltis ("King of Penalties") at Corinthians.[8] Milan Channel announcer Carlo Pellegatti nicknamed him Baghera la pantera (a reference to Bagheera from The Jungle Book) for his acrobatic saves.[6] Dida was called L’Ammiraglio ("The Admiral") by Milan supporters as a play on his first name in reference to Horatio Nelson,[226] but conversely labeled Didastro — a play on disastro, Italian for "disaster" — after poor performances.[227] Placar labeled him a geladeira ("refrigerator") and homem de gelo ("the iceman") for his emotionless in-match personality.[22][228]
Influence
"In his own quiet way Dida has done a great deal to counter the prejudice that may linger on in the generation of Chico Anysio."
—Football journalist Tim Vickery in 2007.[229] Anysio, a Brazilian actor and comedian, had disparaged black goalkeepers in a June 2006 article published in Lance!.[230] The article was reprinted on 31 October 2007, the same day as a match between Flamengo and Corinthians, who respectively started black keepers in Bruno and Felipe.[229]
Dida is the first notable Afro-Brazilian goalkeeper to play for club and country since Moacyr Barbosa, who had starred for Vasco da Gama and earned seventeen caps for Brazil, but bore the blame for Uruguay's winning goal in the 1950 World Cup final, which resulted thereafter in discrimination against black goalkeepers in Brazilian football.[23][231] Dida was hailed by Brazilian media outlets for breaking this barrier after making his 1995 national team debut,[175] starting in the 1999 Copa América,[172][232] and particularly in 2006, when he became the first black keeper in 56 years to start in a World Cup for Brazil.[233] On 27 May 2006, during a press conference in Weggis, Switzerland, where the Seleção were holding public training sessions, Dida called for his countrymen to forgive Barbosa,[234] and to instead remember his positive contributions to Brazilian football.[235] On 11 June, two days before the Seleção's opening match against Croatia, Folha de S.Paulo commented, "Black, Northeastern, and in his thirties, Dida will break barriers for a Brazilian goalkeeper."[187] Though such accolades continued for Dida after the tournament and his international retirement,[229][236] he and Barbosa remain the only Afro-Brazilian keepers to start a World Cup finals match.[237][238][239]
On the club level, Dida's success with Milan is cited as a factor in the increased presence of black goalkeepers on Brazilian teams,[23][240] and, along with Taffarel, influential in the increase of Brazilian keepers in Europe.[240][241][242][243][244] Zero Hora wrote that Dida had become the first black keeper since 1971 to play for Internacional upon his signing with the club in January 2014.[245] Some goalkeepers have adopted his playing name as an homage,[246][247][248] or due to perceived physical resemblances.[249][250][251]
Legal issues
During the 2000–01 Serie A season, Dida was among multiple players, including Juan Sebastián Verón, Álvaro Recoba, and then-future Milan teammate Cafu, who were implicated in a league scandal involving fraudulent European passports.[48] Dida had joined Milan with a Portuguese passport in order to gain EU status, as Milan had already met their limit on non-EU players at the time with Andriy Shevchenko, Serginho, and Croatian midfielder Zvonimir Boban.[252] However, following a routine check that revealed the document was illegal, Milan promptly re-registered him as a non-EU player.[253] In June 2001, the Italian Football Federation fined the club £314,000 and banned Dida from the league for one year,[254] while FIFA imposed a yearlong ban from international play.[255] Milan loaned him back to Corinthians for the 2001–02 season in accordance with the league suspension. On 3 April 2003, following a court appearance in Milan, Dida was handed a seven-month suspended prison sentence.[256]
Media
In 1996, after the Summer Olympics, Dida and Brazil coach Mário Zagallo filmed a Volkswagen Gol television commercial in which Zagallo implores "sai do Gol" ("out of the Gol", a pun on "out of the goal"), while Dida, who is seated inside the vehicle, has no dialogue.[257][258] Italian jewelry manufacturer FIBO Steel featured Dida and Buffon in a 2005 advertising campaign for their "FA1RPLAY" metal jewelry collection,[259][260] and he modeled several items in their online catalog.[261] A longtime wearer of goalkeeping gloves from German sportswear manufacturer Reusch, Dida appeared on the cover of their summer 2006 catalog.[262] He has otherwise featured in few endorsement opportunities in his career; he explained to Placar in 2001 that he was uninterested in commercializing his image.[22] He does not participate in social media.[228]
Dida joined Milan teammates Paolo Maldini, Andriy Shevchenko, Gennaro Gattuso, Massimo Ambrosini, and Alessandro Costacurta in filming a brief appearance in the 2006 Italian comedy Eccezzziunale veramente: Capitolo secondo...me, in which the main character (Diego Abatantuono) selects the Milan side in a dream sequence and wants Dida to play in attack due to his being Brazilian, with Shevchenko in goal instead.[3][263] In a scene from another Italian film released that year, Il caimano, the title character (played by Silvio Orlando) is asked by his son whether Dida or Buffon is the better goalkeeper.[264]
Outside football
On 18 December 2013, Dida gained Italian citizenship.[265][266] That same year, a gymnasium in his home municipality of Lagoa da Canoa was named in his honor,[267] and in April 2014, he met with mayor Álvaro Melo to discuss youth participation in sports.[268] On 11 September 2015, Dida was named an honorary citizen of Alagoas.[269] Former left back Serginho, who played with Dida at Milan from 2000 to 2008, currently serves as his agent and manager.[4]
In 2014, Dida and then-Internacional teammates Juan and Andrés D'Alessandro filmed public service announcements for the Pan American Health Organization, which stressed the importance of vaccinations in order to prevent the spread of disease.[270]
Career statistics
Club
- As of 14 November 2014
Club | Season | League | Cup | Continental | Other | Total | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Apps | Gls | Apps | Gls | Apps | Gls | Apps | Gls | Apps | Gls | ||
Vitória | 1992 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
1993 | 24 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 24 | 0 | |
Cruzeiro | 1994 | 23 | 0 | - | - | 6 | 0 | - | - | 29 | 0 |
1995 | 20 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 0 | - | - | 31 | 0 | |
1996 | 22 | 0 | 9 | 0 | ? | ? | - | - | 31 | 0 | |
1997 | 25 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 48 | 0 | |
1998 | 30 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 14 | 0 | - | - | 49 | 0 | |
Lugano | 1998–99 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Corinthians | 1999 | 25 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 25 | 0 |
2000 | - | - | - | - | 11 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 15 | 0 | |
AC Milan | 2000–01 | 1 | 0 | - | - | 6 | 0 | - | - | 7 | 0 |
Corinthians | 2001 | 8 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8 | 0 |
2002 | - | - | 9 | 0 | - | - | 18 | 0 | 27 | 0 | |
AC Milan | 2002–03 | 30 | 0 | - | - | 14 | 0 | - | - | 44 | 0 |
2003–04 | 32 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 45 | 0 | |
2004–05 | 36 | 0 | - | - | 13 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 50 | 0 | |
2005–06 | 36 | 0 | - | - | 12 | 0 | - | - | 48 | 0 | |
2006–07 | 25 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 13 | 0 | - | - | 41 | 0 | |
2007–08 | 13 | 0 | - | - | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 20 | 0 | |
2008–09 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 | - | - | 19 | 0 | |
2009–10 | 23 | 0 | - | - | 5 | 0 | - | - | 28 | 0 | |
Portuguesa | 2012 | 32 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 32 | 0 |
Grêmio | 2013 | 37 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 60 | 0 |
Internacional | 2014 | 27 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 41 | 0 |
2015 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
Total for Milan | 206 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 86 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 302 | 0 | |
Career totals | 479 | 0 | 45 | 0 | 153 | 0 | 37 | 0 | 723 | 0 | |
International
Brazil national team | ||
---|---|---|
Year | Apps | Goals |
1995 | 3 | 0 |
1996 | 6 | 0 |
1997 | 6 | 0 |
1998 | - | - |
1999 | 17 | 0 |
2000 | 10 | 0 |
2001 | 6 | 0 |
2002 | 5 | 0 |
2003 | 11 | 0 |
2004 | 9 | 0 |
2005 | 12 | 0 |
2006 | 6 | 0 |
Total | 91 | 0 |
Honours
Cruzeiro
Corinthians
- Campeonato Brasileiro Série A: 1999
- Copa do Brasil: 2002
- Torneio Rio–São Paulo: 2002
- FIFA Club World Cup: 2000
AC Milan[226]
- Serie A: 2003–04
- Coppa Italia: 2002–03
- Supercoppa Italiana: 2004
- UEFA Champions League: 2002–03, 2006–07
- UEFA Super Cup: 2003, 2007
- FIFA Club World Cup: 2007
Internacional
Brazil Youth
- South American Youth Championship: 1992
- FIFA World Youth Championship: 1993
- CONMEBOL Men Pre-Olympic Tournament: 1996
Brazil
Individual
- Placar Bola de Prata: 1993 (Vitória), 1996, 1998 (Cruzeiro), 1999 (Corinthians)
- IFFHS World's Best Goalkeeper silver ball: 2005[272]
- IFFHS World's Best Goalkeeper bronze ball: 2004[273]
- FIFPro World XI: 2005
- FIFPro Goalkeeper of the Year: 2005
- IFFHS Best Brazilian Goalkeeper of the 21st Century[9]
- AC Milan Hall of Fame[5][226]
Notes
References
- "FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2007 presented by TOYOTA: List of Players: AC Milan" (PDF). FIFA. 12 December 2007. p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 March 2016.
- "Dida" (in Portuguese). internacional.com.br. Archived from the original on 27 June 2015. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
- Gotta, Roberto (7 April 2006). "Dodgy keeper?". ESPN Soccernet. Archived from the original on 11 January 2015. Retrieved 26 July 2006.
- Werlang, Hector (7 October 2013). "Da propaganda às festas na Bahia: 40 anos de Dida, o 'goleiro calado'" [From advertising to parties in Bahia: 40 years of Dida, the 'silent goalkeeper']. Globo Esporte (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 7 August 2016. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
- "Hall of fame: Nelson Dida". forzamilanonline.com (in Italian). September 2014. Archived from the original on 11 April 2016. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
- Agave, Claudio (23 October 2015). "Nelson Dida, il Dottor Jekyll & Mister Hyde del Milan" [Nelson Dida, the Doctor Jekyll & Mister Hyde of Milan]. contra-ataque.net (in Italian). Retrieved 7 April 2016.
- "Dida gets two-match ban". Football Italia. 11 October 2007. Archived from the original on 13 December 2007. Retrieved 22 March 2008.
- Coppo, Davide (12 July 2013). "Nelson Dida: Una storia incompleta". ultimouomo.com (in Italian). Retrieved 24 March 2016.
- Etherington, Tom (6 January 2013). "Grêmio's Dida ranked best Brazilian goalkeeper of 21st century". Sambafoot. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
- Antonio Lima, Jose (24 October 2013). "Dida, Rogério e Marcos: um trio para sempre" [Dida, Rogério e Marcos: forever a trio]. esportefinal.lance.com.br (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 20 September 2016. Retrieved 8 July 2016.
- Agência Estado (2 February 2016). "Sem renovação de contrato, goleiro Dida segue no futebol e estuda para ser treinador". mg.superesportes.com.br (in Portuguese). Retrieved 20 July 2016.
- Símon, Luís Augusto. Os 11 maiores goleiros do futebol brasileiro. Editora Contexto (2010). ISBN 978-85-7244-546-7, chapter 10.
- Martini, Davide (9 December 2015). "I 10 migliori portieri brasiliani della storia". 90min.com (in Italian). Retrieved 28 July 2016.
- Atkins, Christopher (10 January 2013). "Ranking Brazil's 10 Best Goalkeepers of All Time". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
- Ryan, Danny (15 April 2020). "Football fans have ranked the 30 greatest goalkeepers in history". GiveMeSport. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
- "Alisson já é melhor do que Ceni, Marcos, Dida e cia? Blogueiros opinam..." [Is Alisson better than Ceni, Marcos, Dida and co.? Bloggers say...]. bol.uol.com.br. 21 January 2020. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
- "Taffarel é eleito o melhor goleiro da história da seleção brasileira" [Taffarel named best keeper in Brazilian Seleção history]. uol.com.br. 8 May 2020. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
- "Goleiro Dida recebe título de cidadão honorário de Alagoas" [Dida receives title of honorary citizen of Alagoas]. Diario Penedense (in Portuguese). 9 November 2015. Archived from the original on 25 March 2016. Retrieved 17 March 2016.
- Diniz, Guilhermo (12 November 2018). "Imortais do futebol: Dida". imortaisdofutebol.com. Archived from the original on 31 August 2023. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
- Paiva, Celso (25 September 2010). "Dida prestigia Seleção de vôlei e diz que prioriza propostas da Europa" [Dida honors the volleyball team and says he prioritizes proposals from Europe]. esportes.terra.com.br (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 25 December 2022. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
- "Dida: It's all about preparation". FIFA. 19 October 2012. Archived from the original on 25 October 2014. Retrieved 17 March 2016.
- Rizek, Andre (October 2001). "Ele nem pisca" (He never blinks). Placar, p. 21.
- "After decades of racist stereotypes questioning their ability, black goalies in Brazilian soccer jumps 18.5% in eight years". blackwomenofbrazil.co. 2 February 2013. Archived from the original on 6 October 2017. Retrieved 21 April 2016.
- "Brazil's Soccer Culture Neglects Goalkeeping, At National Squad's Peril". Fox Sports Latino. 18 March 2014. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
- "25 Questions 25 Answers: Dida" (PDF). FIFA Magazine. January 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 May 2012.
- Seixas, Josue; Brito, Rafael (26 August 2019). "Criado em Alagoas, ex-goleiro Dida relembra época na roça e Flamenguinho: "Orgulho de ter começado aí"". Yahoo! Esportes (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 1 November 2019. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
- Jones Lopes da Silva (14 September 2013). "Festeiro e personagem de livro na Bahia: o Dida que ninguém conhece". Zero Hora (in Portuguese). Retrieved 29 March 2016.
- Penido, Marcos (16 November 2003). "Dida: 'I Am the Best at Nothing'". O Globo (translated and reprinted on xtratime.org). Retrieved 14 September 2010.
- Carvalho, Eric Luis (17 October 2014). ""Difícil para o negro": amuleto baiano, ex-zagueiro quer chance como técnico" ['Hard for a black': Bahian talisman and ex-defender wants a chance as coach]. globoesporte.globo.com (in Portuguese). Retrieved 28 July 2016.
- "Álvaro Melo e goleiro Dida discutem importância do esporte em Lagoa da Canoa". Minuto Arapiraca (in Portuguese). 28 December 2014. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
- "Olympic Football Tournament Rio 2016 - Salvador". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on 5 September 2015. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
- Placar #1090 (January 1994), p. 5.
- Rios, Bruno (12 May 2012). "Goleiro Dida quer voltar a jogar futebol". atribuna.com.br (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 19 August 2016. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
- "Nação Defendida" ["Nation Defended"], Placar #1154 (August 1999), p. 50-52.
- "Cruzeiro fecha com Milan e Dida pode parar no Corinthians" [Cruzeiro closes with Milan and Dida free to go to Corinthians]. Diário de Grande ABC (in Portuguese). 26 May 1999. Retrieved 23 August 2016.
- "Corinthians rejoice as Edmundo misses". The Guardian. 15 January 2000. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
- "Who will go down in history?". FIFA.com. 31 December 1999. Archived from the original on 4 April 2016. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
- "Chilavert sets record on goalkeepers' day". The Indian Express. 12 December 1999. Archived from the original on 29 February 2008. Retrieved 22 March 2008.
- Hurrey, Adam (9 April 2015). "Gringo Fiel". goltv.tv. Archived from the original on 31 October 2017. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
- "IFFHS' World's Best Goalkeeper of the Year 1999". RSSSF. 28 January 2001. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
- Bueno, Rodrigo (16 January 2000). ""Não quero mais pênaltis", afirma Dida" ["I don't like penalties," Dida says]. Folha de S.Paulo (in Portuguese). Retrieved 1 August 2016.
- Green, Alan (15 January 2000). "Corinthians crowned world champions". BBC News. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
- "Dida sets the No1 example". uefa.com. 8 March 2005. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
- Hughes, Rob (21 September 2000). "Manchester United Manages a Draw in Kiev". The New York Times. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
- "Milan pick off Barcelona in classy win". ESPN Soccernet. 26 September 2000. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
- Curro, Enrico (7 March 2001). "Sport: Galatasaray e Terim che serata per il Milan". LaRepubblica.it (in Italian). Retrieved 16 April 2016.
- "Do you remember?: Taffarel". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on 10 September 2015. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
- "Report says Milan fielded ineligible Brazilian keeper". Hurriyet Daily News. 31 October 2000. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
- "Al Milan anche la Coppa Italia". LaRepubblica.it (in Italian). 31 May 2003. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
- "Milan march on to Manchester". UEFA.com. 13 May 2003. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
- "Dida and Shevchenko bring back the glory days". iol.co.za. 29 May 2003. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
- "Grande Dida, coppa al Milan ma la Juve piange se stessa". LaRepubblica.it (in Italian). 28 May 2003. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
- Plant, Darren (28 May 2015). "On this day: AC Milan beat Juventus on penalties to win Champions League". SportsMole.co.uk. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
- "AC Milan wins". Taipei Times. 28 May 2003. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
- Fiefeld, Dominic (28 May 2003). "Juventus players 'refused to take penalties'". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
- "European Footballer of the Year ("Ballon d'Or") 2003". RSSSF. 23 December 2003. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
- "Albo d'Oro". Archived from the original on 15 May 2013. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
- "AC Milan - Partite ufficiali 2003-04". magliarossonera.it (in Italian). Retrieved 17 April 2016.
- "AC Milan takes title; Leeds slide". Taipei Times. 4 May 2004. Retrieved 22 March 2008.
- Nisbet, John (16 September 2003). "Beckham cross sets up Real Madrid equaliser". The Independent. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
- "Holders AC Milan owe it to Inzaghi". CNN.com. 17 September 2003. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
- Hughes, Rob (18 September 2003). "Soccer : Zidane shows that genius can rise above love". NYTimes.com. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
- "MILAN-LIVORNO 2-2". acmilan.com (in Italian). 11 September 2004. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
- "Crespo strikes again as Milan win". ESPN. 28 November 2004. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
- "AC Milan - Partite ufficiali 2004-05". magliarossonera.it (in Italian). Retrieved 26 April 2016.
- "Five classic Milan and Barca encounters". FIFA.com. 21 October 2013. Archived from the original on 7 October 2015. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
- "Mighty Milan leave rivals reeling". UEFA.com. 7 April 2005. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
- "AC Milan 2-0 Inter Milan". BBC Sport. 6 April 2005. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
- "Milan game ended by crowd trouble". BBC Sport (with photo gallery). 12 April 2005. Retrieved 22 March 2008.
- Davies, Christopher (12 April 2005). "Milan derby abandoned after flare strikes player". The Telegraph. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
- "Dida aims to keep it clean". UEFA.com. 12 April 2005. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
- "Inter handed stadium ban and fine". BBC Sport. 15 April 2005. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
- "Lehmann looks to extend individual record". Arsenal.com. 12 September 2006. Archived from the original on 17 April 2016. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
- "Dida la Sfinge è pronto a sorprendere ancora" (PDF). Gazzetta dello Sport (reposted on magliarossonero.it) (in Italian). 8 December 2009. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
- "Milan edge through in Eindhoven". UEFA.com. 5 May 2005. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
- "Com reviravolta, Liverpool bate o Milan e conquista a Europa". UOL Esporte (in Portuguese). 25 May 2005. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
- Wallace, Sam (25 May 2005). "Vintage Liverpool produce epic response and triumph in Turkey". The Independent. Retrieved 25 April 2016.
- "AC Milan 3-3 Liverpool (aet)". BBC Sport. 25 May 2005. Retrieved 23 April 2016.
- Mariottini, Diego (25 May 2005). "25 maggio 2005: Milan-Liverpool 3-3. Sei minuti di follia e addio Champions!". Gazzetta.it (in Italian). Retrieved 27 April 2016.
- "FIFPro World XI 2004/2005". fifpro.org. 20 January 2006. Archived from the original on 1 July 2014. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
- "IFFHS' World's Best Goalkeeper of the Year 2005". RSSSF. 28 January 2001. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
- "European Footballer of the Year ("Ballon d'Or") 2005". RSSSF. 29 November 2005. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
- "AC Milan - Partite ufficiali 2005-06". magliarossonera.it (in Italian). Retrieved 27 April 2016.
- "Il Milan vince con qualche brivido 4-3 al Parma e 9 punti calla Juve". LaRepubblica.it (in Italian). 8 January 2006. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
- "Title dream almost over for AC Milan". abc.net.au. 28 January 2006. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
- Marcus, Aaron (September 2005). "Player Profile: Dida". Goal.com (reposted on acmilan-online.com). Retrieved 26 July 2006.
- Livie, Alex (3 February 2006). "Dida warned over form". Sky Sports. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
- Adamson, Mike (18 April 2006). "Milan 0-1 Barcelona". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
- "Barça hold firm to reach final". UEFA.com. 27 April 2006. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
- Yew, Oliver (16 March 2011). "The Highs And Lows of Jens Lehmann's First Spell at Arsenal: From The Invincible Goalkeeper To Seeing Red in a European Final". Goal.com. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
- "Spotlight: Stan the Man". Football Italia. 16 October 2006. Archived from the original on 10 July 2007.
- "TWO HUNDRED GAMES". acmilan.com. 21 October 2006. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
- "AC Milan's Dida out 2-3 months". CBC Sports. 23 November 2006. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
- "AC Milan - Partite ufficiali 2006-07". magliarossonera.it (in Italian). Retrieved 6 May 2016.
- Taglioli, Livia (16 April 2007). "Milan, altro stop per Dida". Gazzetta.it. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
- di Stefano, Gaetano (4 April 2007). "I mille pensieri di Ancelotti". Gazzetta.it. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
- Ordine, Franco (5 April 2007). "Milan vicino alla svolta Dida è da cedere Rischia anche Ancelotti". IlGiornale.it. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
- Eve, James (1 May 2007). "Dida the key to Milan's Champions League hopes". Reuters. Archived from the original on 14 May 2007. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
- "Angry Milan fan puts Dida up for auction". Reuters. 27 April 2007. Archived from the original on 3 May 2007. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
- Bairner, Robin (14 March 2012). "World-class Mandanda & Valbuena keep Marseille's Champions League dream burning". Goal.com. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
- Henderson, Charlie (2 May 2007). "As it happened: AC Milan 3-0 Man Utd". Retrieved 11 May 2016.
- "2007 CL Final Match Report". Anfield Online. 23 May 2007. Archived from the original on 11 October 2008. Retrieved 13 October 2008.
- "Records to rue for River and Real". FIFA.com. 17 December 2008. Archived from the original on 21 March 2016. Retrieved 16 March 2016.
- "Adesso Dida s' infortuna in panchina" [Now Dida injured on the bench]. Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). 17 February 2008. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
- MacDonald, Kenny (3 October 2007). "Milan won't appeal after Dida hit in Celtic win". Reuters. Retrieved 22 March 2008.
- "Service order for pitch invader". BBC News. 2 November 2007. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
- "Dida suspended for two matches over fan incident". ESPN FC. 11 October 2007. Archived from the original on 16 February 2016. Retrieved 22 March 2008.
- "Sceneggiata Glasgow, Dida chiede scusa ai tifosi (photo gallery)". La Repubblica (in Italian). 21 October 2007. Archived from the original on 22 April 2020. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
- Garganese, Carlo (23 October 2007). "Galliani Happy To See Dida Ban Cut". Goal.com. Archived from the original on 23 October 2007. Retrieved 13 October 2008.
- "Dida UEFA ban reduced". Channel 4. 21 October 2007. Archived from the original on 25 December 2007. Retrieved 22 March 2008.
- Harvey, Chris (6 November 2016). "Shak Donetsk 0-3 Milan: Inzaghi sees Milan home". Sky Sports. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
- "Inter 2-1 Milan". Football Italia. 23 December 2007. Archived from the original on 2 January 2008. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
- Olivero, G.B. (27 December 2007). "Il Milan molla Dida: Ora punta su Frey" [Milan give up on Dida, bet on Frey]. Gazzetta.it (in Italian). Retrieved 14 May 2016.
- Taglioli, Livia (27 December 2007). "Vendesi Dida (+ Ronaldo): Sul web si digita l'ironia" [Dida (and Ronaldo) for sale: irony typed on the web]. Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). Retrieved 14 May 2016.
- "Ancelotti confident that Milan can leapfrog Fiorentina". China Daily. 12 February 2008. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
- "AC Milan - Partite ufficiali 2007-08". magliarossonera.it (in Italian). Retrieved 18 May 2016.
- Bocci, Alessandra (2 July 2008). "Abbiati, Dida e Kalac: Troppi per una porta" [Abbiati, Dida and Kalac: too many for one goal]. Gazzetta.it (in Italian). Archived from the original on 19 September 2008. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
- Spiro, Colin (3 August 2008). "Nicolas Anelka's four goals earn manager's praise after Chelsea thrash AC Milan 5-0". The Telegraph. Retrieved 20 May 2016.
- "AC Milan Out of UEFA Cup After Werder Bremen Rally". Goal.com. 26 February 2009. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
- "Abbiati 'out for six months'". Football Italia. 15 March 2009. Archived from the original on 24 May 2009.
- "AC Milan - Partite ufficiali 2008-09". magliarossonera.it (in Italian). Retrieved 20 May 2016.
- "Report: Rene Higuita's Scorpion Kick Behind Milan 'Keeper Marco Storari's Injury". Goal.com. 27 October 2009. Retrieved 23 September 2011.
- Lowe, Sid (21 October 2009). "Pato's double rocks Real Madrid to send Milan top". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
- Dida (1 July 2010). "THANK YOU AND FORZA MILAN!". acmilan.com. Archived from the original on 28 May 2016. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
- Federici, Stefano (25 October 2009). "Chievo 1–2 Milan: Nesta Double Seals Late Diavoli Victory". Goal.com. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
- "Napoli 2–2 Milan". Football Italia. 28 October 2009. Archived from the original on 23 July 2011. Retrieved 23 September 2011.
- "AC Milan - Partite ufficiali 2009-10". magliarossonera.it (in Italian). Retrieved 25 May 2016.
- "Storari joins Sampdoria on loan". UEFA.com. 15 January 2010. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
- Chiatto, Alessandro (10 February 2010). "Dida-Abbiati: ecco come ha scelto Leonardo". MilanNews.it (in Italian). Retrieved 26 May 2016.
- "AC Milan chief Galliani: Abbiati will stay". tribalfootball.com. 23 February 2010. Archived from the original on 30 March 2010. Retrieved 13 September 2010.
- Masiello, Vince (28 March 2010). "Milan Lose Christian Abbiati To Injury Ahead of Lazio's Visit". Goal.com. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
- "300 TIMES DIDA". ACMilan.com. 17 May 2010. Archived from the original on 19 April 2016. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
- Corr, Charlie (30 May 2010). "Fire find positives in 1-0 loss to Milan". ESPN. Retrieved 27 March 2016.
- "20 anni e 150 in rossonero: Donnarumma da talento a fenomeno, con il Milan nel cuore" (in Italian). ilmilanista.it. 11 February 2019. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
- "Record holder Casillas & the keepers with the most Champions League clean sheets". Goal.com. 2015. Retrieved 14 July 2017.
- "Casillas and Buffon in the UEFA Champions League: Did you know?". UEFA.com. 14 March 2017. Retrieved 14 July 2017.
- "Buffon, Juventus come close to Champions League records". UEFA.com. 9 May 2017. Retrieved 14 July 2017.
- de Stefano, Gaetano (24 May 2011). "A San Siro per Borgonovo: Tutti uniti contro la SLA". Gazzetta.it (in Italian). Retrieved 2 June 2016.
- "MILAN AND A GOOD CAUSE". ACMilan.com. 17 September 2010. Archived from the original on 30 June 2016. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
- "FROM PARMA TO BARCELONA". ACMilan.com. 10 June 2011. Archived from the original on 30 June 2016. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
- "VÉLEZ SARSFIELD - MILAN VETERANS". ACMilan.com. 2 December 2010. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
- "THE TOUR CONTINUES". acmilan.com. 5 September 2011. Archived from the original on 10 November 2011. Retrieved 17 March 2016.
- "MILAN GLORIE ROMP TO SUCCESS IN FINLAND". ACMilan.com. 8 June 2014. Archived from the original on 30 June 2016. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
- "Goleiro Dida reforça time do Milan no II Mundialito de Clubes em São Paulo" (in Portuguese). globoesporte.com. 8 May 2012. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
- "Portuguesa anuncia acordo com Dida e tira goleiro da aposentadoria". GloboEsporte (in Portuguese). 23 December 2011. Retrieved 24 May 2012.
- Prado, Marcelo (26 June 2012). "Na estréia de Dida, Lusa vence no Canindé e aumenta crise no Tricolor". GloboEsporte (in Portuguese). Retrieved 3 June 2016.
- Hazan, Marcelo (1 July 2012). "Portuguesa encurrala o Santos, mas clássico no Canindé termina zerado". GloboEsporte (in Portuguese). Retrieved 5 June 2016.
- "Portuguesa x Santos marca duelo de gerações entre Dida e Neymar". GloboEsporte (in Portuguese). 1 July 2012. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
- Lozetti, Alexandre (3 December 2012). "Presidente da Portuguesa coloca goleiro Dida no Grêmio em 2013". GloboEsporte (in Portuguese). Retrieved 14 April 2019.
- Atkins, Christopher (19 December 2012). "Grêmio announce Dida signing". Sambafoot.com. Retrieved 10 June 2016.
- Moretto, Alex (26 October 2013). "Pato denies negligence after penalty miss". Goal.com. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
- Sessions, Georges (26 December 2013). "International announce signing of Dida and Wellington Paulista for 2014". Sambafoot.com. Retrieved 10 June 2016.
- Hammes, Tomás (26 December 2013). "Dida agradece confiança do Inter e vê saída do Grêmio como novo desafio". GloboEsporte (in Portuguese). Retrieved 26 December 2013.
- MacLennan, Stuart (18 February 2014). "World Cup winner Dida still not ready for Internacional debut". Sambafoot.com. Retrieved 11 June 2016.
- "Internacional perde a primera no Gauchão na estreia de Dida". esportes.estadao.com.br (in Portuguese). 23 February 2014. Retrieved 11 June 2016.
- "Dida falha, Inter perde para o Vitória por 2 a 0 e confirma má fase". UOL Esporte (in Portuguese). 10 September 2014. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
- Munari, Cristiano (14 September 2014). "Inter faz 2 a 0 no Botafogo e se mantém no G4". Correio do Povo (in Portuguese). Retrieved 15 June 2016.
- Hammes, Tomás (7 December 2015). "De saída do Inter, Dida faz apenas um jogo em 2015 e fica 8 meses sen atuar". GloboEsporte (in Portuguese). Retrieved 12 June 2016.
- Batista, Daniel (23 March 2016). "Em um ano, Alisson passa de promessa a goleiro titular da seleção brasileira". Diario da Região (in Portuguese). Retrieved 12 July 2016.
- Gomes, Raphael (5 April 2015). "Dida é o jogador mais velho a vestir a camisa do Inter na história". Central de Esportes (in Portuguese). Retrieved 21 July 2016.
- Rawson, Dov (25 August 2015). "41-year-old Dida does an amazing goalkeeper exercise in Internacional training (Video)". 101greatgoals.com. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
- "Ve lo ricordate Dida? A 41 anni vola ancora tra i pali". Tuttosport (in Italian). 25 August 2015. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
- "Así se entrena Dida... a sus 41 años". elconfidencial.com (in Spanish). 25 August 2015. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
- "Dida elogia 'grande potencial' de Alisson e pede clube para encerrar carreira". ESPN Brasil (in Portuguese). 9 June 2016. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
- Staff (16 February 2016). "Inter treina sob os olhares de Dida e deve ter retorno na zaga" [Inter trains under the eyes of Dida and must return in defense]. Gazeta Esportiva (in Portuguese). Retrieved 13 May 2020.
- "Agora efetivado, Deivid participa de curso com outros técnicos brasileiros". GloboEsporte (in Portuguese). 14 December 2015. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
- Gozzini, Alessandra (23 April 2016). "Interview: Dida targets future AC Milan coaching role". gazzettaworld.com. Archived from the original on 25 June 2016. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
- Mohr, Rodolfo (15 March 2017). "A experiência de Dida na China" [Dida's experience in China]. China Brasile Futebol (in Portuguese). Retrieved 14 July 2017.
- Mosaad, Mohamed (8 September 2018). "Dida: Pyramids gave me a chance to start my coaching career". KingFut.com. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
- Staff (5 August 2019). "AC Milan Roll Back the Years With Appointment of Dida as Under-17 Goalkeeper Coach". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on 13 May 2020. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
- Staff (2 August 2020). "Dida taking new Milan role". Football Italia. Archived from the original on 27 August 2020. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
- Bellos, Alex. Futebol: The Brazilian Way of Life (p. 56). Bloomsbury USA (2002), ISBN 1620402440.
- Schulz, Nick (10 June 2006). "How Brazilian soccer players get their names". Slate.com. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
- "Australia 1993: Brazil make it three". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on 22 July 2015. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
- Rodrigues, Fernando; Magalhāes, Mário (7 July 1995). "Dida desafia mito do goleiro negro na seleção" [Dida challenges the myth of black goalkeepers for the Seleção]. Folha de S.Paulo (in Portuguese). Retrieved 1 August 2016.
- "Nelson de Jesús Silva "Dida" – International Appearances". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 1 June 2009.
- "Brazil Ambushed by Upstart Japan, 1-0". Los Angeles Times. 22 July 1996. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
- "Barbosa confia em Dida" [Barbosa trusts Dida]. Diario de Cuiaba (in Portuguese). July 1999. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
- "Missed Penalty Kick Dooms Argentina". The New York Times. 12 July 1999. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
- "I need more time, insists Ronaldo". ESPN Soccernet. xtratime.org. 17 November 2002. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
- Gasport (7 October 2010). "Tutta la Ronaldo Story: La biografia non-autorizzata" [The whole Ronaldo story, an unauthorized biography]. Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). Retrieved 29 June 2016.
- Collett, Mike (20 June 2005). "Borgetti relieved after penalty woes". ESPN FC. Archived from the original on 6 October 2016. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
- PA Sport (22 June 2005). "Zico sticks with misfiring pair". theworldgame.sbs.com.au. Retrieved 27 June 2016.
- "FIFA CONFEDERATIONS CUP: HOST GERMANY LOSE 2-3 AGAINST BRAZIL". dfb.de. 26 June 2005. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
- "South Africa 2009 in numbers". FIFA. 12 June 2009. Archived from the original on 18 June 2009.
- Calderari, Juliana (12 June 2014). "2014 World Cup: Neymar is Brazil's Most Experienced Player". folha.uol.com.br. Archived from the original on 10 April 2020. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
- Eduardo Arruba; et al. (11 June 2006). "Dida quebra tabus na seleção" [Dida breaks taboos for Seleção]. Folha de S.Paulo (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 10 April 2020. Retrieved 13 August 2016.
- "Ronaldo grabs headlines, defenders do the work". timesofmalta.com. Reuters. 29 June 2006. Archived from the original on 10 April 2020. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
- Downie, Andrew (19 June 2006). "The magicians' assistants". ESPN FC. Archived from the original on 18 August 2016. Retrieved 7 July 2016.
- Azzoni, Tales (27 June 2006). "Brazil Wins Behind Ronaldo's Record Goal". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 10 April 2020. Retrieved 7 July 2016.
- "Brasileños enmudecieron tras quedar eliminados del Mundial" [Brazilians fall silent after World Cup elimination]. El Mercurio (in Spanish). 1 July 2006. Archived from the original on 10 April 2020. Retrieved 8 July 2016.
- Placar #1296 (July 2006), p. 18 ("Dida fulfilled his discreet role in the World Cup and ended up escaping the flood of criticism that fell on Parreira's team").
- Ianacca, Márcio (22 June 2006). "Sem Cafu, Dida é o novo capitão da seleção" [Without Cafu, Dida is the new national team captain] (in Portuguese). Globo Esporte. Archived from the original on 10 April 2020. Retrieved 14 September 2010.
- Reuters (29 December 2006). "Dida calls it a day for Brazil". The New Zealand Herald. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 22 March 2008.
{{cite web}}
:|author=
has generic name (help) - "Mixed memories for Confeds record-breaker Dida". FIFA. 26 April 2017. Archived from the original on 26 April 2017. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
- "12 days to go: Unbeatable Dida's outstanding record". UEFA.com. 5 June 2017. Archived from the original on 6 June 2017. Retrieved 14 July 2017.
- "Dida's amazing record". FIFA.com. 17 June 2013. Archived from the original on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
- "FIFA Tournaments: Players & Coaches (Confederations Cup)". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on 14 February 2016. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
- Gonzalez, Ricardo (24 June 2006). "O manual de pegador de pênaltis, por Dida". GloboEsporte.com (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 14 October 2012. Retrieved 14 September 2010.
- Sorrentino, Andrea (9 December 2004). "Fenomeno Dida, un felino tra i pali il portiere che sembrava un bidone". La Repubblica (in Italian). Retrieved 25 May 2017.
- Hautmann, Thomas (14 March 2017). "The 10 best goalkeepers in Champions League history". Fox Sports. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
- Schianchi, Andrea (8 June 2010). "Ciao Dida: Trionfi, papere e poche parole". archiviostorico.gazzetta.it (in Italian). Retrieved 21 April 2016.
- Bresciani, Michele (24 April 2012). "Lettere dal Sud America – Dida e le montagne russe". CalcioSudamericano.it (in Italian). Retrieved 29 April 2016.
- Hall, Richard (24 March 2016). "When Calcio Ruled the World: Walter Zenga". The Gentleman Ultra. Archived from the original on 6 October 2016. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
- "Real Madrid signs top goalkeeping coach". marca.com. 15 July 2013. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
- "William Vecchi: 'Ho allenato Dida e Buffon: sono incredibili'" [William Vecchi: "I trained Dida and Buffon: they're incredible"]. ilportiere.com (in Italian). 2 December 2004. Archived from the original on 16 September 2016. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
- May, John (22 May 2007). "AC Milan Pen Pics". BBC Sport. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
- "Lista relembra defesas marcantes de Dida em cobranças de pênaltis". Globo Esporte (in Portuguese). 25 October 2013. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
- "Com sete pênaltis agarrados no Timão, Dida agora é a esperança gremista". Lance!Net (in Portuguese). 23 October 2013. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
- Chegan, Felipe (15 April 2015). "Relembre pênaltis defendidos por Dida em momentos decisivos". torcedores.com (in Portuguese). Retrieved 18 August 2016.
- Bianchini, Vladimir (11 April 2017). "Rei dos pênaltis, Dida teve 'ajuda secreta' para pegar cobranças de Raí e da final do Mundial; veja quem deu as dicas" [King of penalties, Dida had 'secret help' to collect kicks from Raí and the [Club] World Cup final; see who gave the tips]. ESPN Brazil (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 21 May 2020. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
- "Nelson Dida, un eroe muto" [Nelson Dida, mute hero]. milannews24.com (in Italian). 14 November 2014. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
- "Jefferson revela que Dida foi espelho no início de carreira dele" [Jefferson reveals that he mirrored Dida early in his career]. esportes.opovo.com.br. 4 November 2012. Archived from the original on 6 October 2016. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
- Canônico, Leandro (22 April 2008). "Avesso à fama, Aranha vive 'à la Dida'" [Averse to fame, Aranha lives 'à la Dida']. GloboEsporte (in Portuguese). Retrieved 24 August 2016.
- "Inter se anima com preparo de Dida, e goleiro vira exemplo". Tribuna Hoje (in Portuguese). 14 January 2014. Archived from the original on 26 August 2016. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
- "Worst goalkeeping errors". ESPN Soccernet. 21 October 2009. Archived from the original on 26 August 2016. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
- "Great goalkeeping blunders of recent times". The Guardian. 18 October 2001. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
- "Sai que é sua, Dida!" [Get what's yours, Dida!]. g1.globo.com (in Portuguese). 3 February 2006. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
- Hall, Richard (24 March 2010). "Lessons in Calcio: Walter Zenga". footballitaliano.co.uk. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
- Tallarita, Andrea (15 April 2009). "Club Focus - Roma - Requiem for a dream". footballitaliano.co.uk. Retrieved 3 August 2016.
- Richardson, James (31 January 2006). "Milan strangled by another half-Nelson". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
- Mazzara, Pietro (17 May 2010). "Dida: tra miracoli e papere, otto anni in rossonero". milannews.it (in Italian). Retrieved 27 July 2016.
- "Milan: Cudicini 'Dida? Problema psicologico'" [Cudicini: 'Dida? His problem is psychological']. ESPN FC (in Italian). 26 October 2007. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
- Cerruti, Alberto (18 November 2009). "Albertosi "Dida non dà sicurezza"" [Albertosi: "Dida is not secure"]. archiviostorico.gazzetta.it (in Italian). Retrieved 18 August 2016.
- "Dida, a muralha azul". guerreirodosgramados.com.br. 17 April 2009. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
- "A.C. Milan Hall of Fame: Nelson Dida". acmilan.com. Archived from the original on 22 March 2016. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
- "Da DIDASTRO a eroe di Verona...sentite Di Carlo: "Dida a Verona si esalta sempre"". Goal.com (in Italian). 25 October 2009. Retrieved 20 August 2016.
- Santos, Beto (February 2013). O homem de gelo ("The Iceman"). Placar #1375, p. 43-48.
- Vickery, Tim (6 November 2007). "BBC Sport: Tim Vickery column". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
- "Opinião racista de Chico Anysio no LANCE" [Chico Anysio's racist opinion in LANCE]. casaca.com.br (in Portuguese). 11 June 2006. Archived from the original on 16 September 2016. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
- Saxenal, Siddharth (14 August 2016). "Rio 2016: Brazil's goalkeeper Barbara helps bury Barbosa's ghost". Times of India. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
- Chowdhury, Amlan (21 November 2012). "Uncovering Brazil: 'There Were 11 of Us'". thehardtackle.com. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
- Forrest, Brett (5 May 2014). "Not his country's keeper - the tale of Moacyr Barbosa". espnfc.us. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
- Renee, Diane (12 May 2006). "Dida asks Brazil to forgive Barbosa". Expatica.com. Archived from the original on 30 April 2008. Retrieved 13 August 2016.
- Tozzi, Daniel; Medice, João Henrique (27 May 2006). "Primeiro negro após 50, Dida reclama reconhecimento a Barbosa" [Dida, first black after 50 years, requests recognition for Barbosa]. esporte.uol.com.br (in Portuguese). Retrieved 13 August 2016.
- Sirico, Rodrigo (1 October 2006). "Dida, o homem que quebrou o tabu". GloboEsporte.com (in Portuguese). Retrieved 14 August 2016.
- Duarte, Fernando (10 June 2014). "Júlio César's selection as Brazil's No1 is an uncomfortable statistic". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
- Shaw, Robert (June 2011). "Domestic disputes". When Saturday Comes. When Saturday Comes Ltd. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
- Aredes, Elias (5 May 2013). "Racismo e discriminação racial: um tabu no futebol brasileiro" [Racism and discrimination are taboos in Brazilian football]. bolacomgravata.com.br (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 6 October 2016. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
- Guilherme, Paulo. Goleiros: Heróis e Anti-Heróis da Camisa 1 (Kindle edition). Alameda (2006), ISBN 8598325228.
- Baibich, Andre (25 March 2009). "Exclusive: Renan on Valencia, Economic Crisis, Olympics & 2010 World Cup". Goal.com. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
- Vickery, Tim (28 December 2009). "A South American team for the Noughties". BBC Sport. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
- Bate, Adam (3 October 2018). "Alisson, Ederson, and the rising reputation of Brazilian 'keepers". Sky Sports. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
- Smith, Rory (21 June 2018). "An Oxymoron No More: The Great Brazilian Goalkeeper". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 27 September 2018. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
- Behs, Leandro (10 January 2014). "Com Dida, Inter volta a ter um goleiro negro depois de 43 anos". Zero Hora (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 19 April 2016. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
- Espinoza, David (14 July 2016). ""No tenía sueldo, era un viático y le regalé un TV a mi madre": Monterrey adelanta emotiva entrevista a Alexander 'Dida' Domínguez". futbolecuador.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 3 August 2016.
- "Goleiro Dida, do Metropolitano, realiza sonho e enfrentará o ídolo homônimo" [Goalkeeper Dida, of (Clube Atlético) Metropolitano, realizes dream by facing his idol and namesake]. GloboEsporte (in Portuguese). 2 July 2014. Retrieved 3 August 2016.
- "Deogratius Munish 'Dida'—Nyota wa ligi kuu wenye a.k.a. za wachezaji wa majuu" [The most popular Tanzanian Premier League star: About the major players]. Goal.com (in Swahili). 16 February 2017. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
- Edwin Ramiro Giraldo Ruiz (29 September 2006). "'Dida', el portero de titanio". ElMundo.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 July 2016.
- "Olaroiu: Al Ahli used to playing under pressure". FIFA.com. 20 November 2015. Archived from the original on 20 November 2015. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
- Cerezo, Hugo (1 November 2017). "Moha stays in the first team because of Luca Zidane's absence". Marca. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
- Goss, Patrick (2000). "DIDA WILL MAKE MILAN MOVE". Sky Sports. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
- "UEFA to probe Milan over Dida reports". Sky Sports. 29 October 2000.
- "Bans upheld on appeal in Italian passport scandal". ESPN Soccernet. 18 July 2001. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
- Goss, Patrick (June 2001). "PASSPORT SCANDAL: RECOBA BANNED FOR A YEAR". Sky Sports. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
- "Milan keeper Dida handed suspended sentence". ABC News Australia. 4 April 2003. Retrieved 13 October 2008.
- "1996 Volkswagen Gol commercial". YouTube (in Portuguese). 3 December 2006. Archived from the original on 12 December 2021. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
- Freitas, Bruno (19 October 2012). "Lusa celebra dica de Vampeta sobre Dida e reivindica badalação de Ceni para sue goleiro". esporte.uol.com.br. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
- "Our Ads". fibosteelusa.com. 2005. Archived from the original on 11 January 2006. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
- "Making of FIBO STEEL 'FA1RPLAY' Ad Campaign". Miami Metals (via YouTube). 12 August 2008. Archived from the original on 12 December 2021. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
- "Necklace & Bracelet Sets (p. 10)" (PDF). Miami Steel. 2005. Archived from the original on 7 December 2006. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - "Our Heritage". reuschuk.com. Archived from the original on 6 October 2016. Retrieved 20 August 2016.
- Francesca Romana Domenici (8 November 2005). "Diego Abatantuono, una festa eccezzziunale!". Gossip.it (in Italian). Retrieved 11 August 2006.
- Pastore, Giuseppe (29 March 2013). "La parata (quasi) invisibile". comunquemilan.it (in Italian). Retrieved 14 August 2016.
- Mazzara, Pietro (18 December 2013). "Dida ottiene la nazionalità italiana". milannews.it (in Italian). Retrieved 17 August 2016.
- La Farina, Alessandro (18 December 2013). "EX MILAN, NELSON DIDA DIVENTA CITTADINO ITALIANO: ACQUISITA LA DOPPIA NAZIONALITÀ". calciomercato-milan.it (in Italian). Archived from the original on 6 October 2016. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
- "Álvaro Melo avalia primeiro semestre de sua gestão e anuncia concurs público". Minuto Arapiraca (in Portuguese). 11 July 2013. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
- "Álvaro Melo e goleiro Dida discutem importância do esporte em Lagoa da Canoa" [Alvaro Melo and goalkeeper Dida discuss the importance of sports in Lagoa da Canoa]. Minuto Arapiraca (in Portuguese). 28 April 2014. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
- Roma, Denilson (11 September 2015). "Goleiro do Inter, baiano Dida recebe título de cidadão honorário de Alagoas" [Inter's Bahian keeper Dida receives title of honorary citizen of Alagoas]. Globo Esporte (in Portuguese). Retrieved 18 August 2016.
- "Os Jogadores de Futebol do Brasil e da Argentina participam de campanha da OPAS/OMS que incentiva a vacinação para evitar mais de 20 doenças" [Brazilian and Argentinian footballers participate in PAHO/WHO campaign, encouraging vaccination to prevent more than 20 diseases]. paho.org (in Portuguese). 28 April 2014. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
- "Nelson de Jesus Silva "Dida" – International Appearances". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 23 September 2011.
- Pierrend, José Luis (31 January 2007). "IFFHS' World's Best Goalkeeper of the Year 2005". RSSSF. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
- Pierrend, José Luis (29 January 2006). "IFFHS' World's Best Goalkeeper of the Year 2004". RSSSF. Retrieved 23 October 2015.