The Footballer Who Wasn't – Sports Bizarre

Carlos Kaiser had one of the longest careers in Brazilian football, joining all the big four clubs Botafogo, Fluminense, Flamengo, and Vasco da Gama, plus stints in Mexico, Argentina and France.

However, what made Kaiser’s career remarkable was not its length or being part of so many top sides but the fact that he never played a single game.

Titus O’Reily and Mick Molloy look at the greatest footballer to never play football and examine how he got away with it for so long.

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Research

Kaiser was a hard one to pin down as every source I found seemed to have either differing accounts or outright myths.

Kaiser: The Greatest Footballer Never To Play Football by Rob Smyth was incredibly helpful and is the best book to get on the topic.

Otherwise, there’s a treasure trove online about him.

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