Walter Casagrande

Walter Casagrande Júnior, better known as Casa Grande ( born April 15, 1963 in São Paulo ) is a former Brazilian football player and current television commentator for Rede Globo. He also was one of the most politically active soccer players during the Brazilian military dictatorship in the 1980s.

Career

Walter Casagrande comes from the youth section of Corinthians, where he also played several times in the course of his career. 1980 he received his first professional contract and played until 1986 then also still with the Brazilian clubs AA Caldense and Sao Paulo. There followed the first move to Europe for Portuguese club FC Porto, where Casa Grande at the end though was able to celebrate winning the European Champions' Cup, but in the absence of a parent course had no significant share of the profits of the trophy. In 1987 he moved to Italy to Ascoli Calcio therefore, who had recently won the Mitropa Cup. In Ascoli Casa Grande was very successful and scored many goals. In 1991 he went to league rival FC Turin, which recently also won the Mitropa Cup. At the end of his first season at Turin, he was with the team in the UEFA Cup final against Ajax Amsterdam, which was lost. A year later succeeded in winning the Coppa Italia.

After the successful years in Italy Casa Grande returned in 1993 to his native Brazil, where he launched his career at Flamengo Rio de Janeiro. A year later he moved again to his youth club Corinthians. In 1995 and 1996 he played in the Paulista FC and at AA São Francisco, before he ended his career.

National

For the Brazilian national Casa Grande ran from 1985 to 1986 a total of 19 times on, scoring 9 goals. Amongst others he belonged to the squad in the Football World Cup 1986 in Mexico.

Achievements

• Campeonato Paulista: 1982 and 1983
• European Champion Clubs' Cup: 1986/87
• Coppa Italia: 1992/93

Policy

Walter Casagrande belonged in the 1980s to the most politically active soccer players in Brazil. When workers' club Corinthians movement Democracia name Corinthiana, the democratically voted all simplistic internal affairs, while Brazil was a country in the middle of a military dictatorship was established. Leaders of the movement were the midfielder and political critics 'Doctor' Sócrates, the communist and left-back Vladimir and the then fledgling Casa Grande. They also made the basic political concept further movement, the " Diretas Já ", that ushered in the end of the military dictatorship. During the two championships in 1982 and 1983 Casa Grande and took advantage of the Democracia Corinthiana again the football field to show off their political beliefs, for example, aground in jerseys that " democracy now " carried the slogan. But the young Casa Grande was the youngest and weakest link in the movement, which represented the liberal youth of Brazil. He lived like his teammates for his own protection isolated in a hotel. After winning the championship thought Casagrande, that the dictatorship could no longer harm them now. However, in a careless moment he was attacked and arrested by the police. On the way to the police station numerous state media were informed that make the arrest Casa Grandes publicized and should initiate the destruction of the Democracia Corinthiana. However, lack of evidence, he had to be acquitted. Still to this day the image Casa Grandes in public is influenced by this incident.

Others

• After a serious car accident Casa Grande was launched on 22 September 2007 passed out on the intensive care unit of the Albert Einstein Hospital in São Paulo. A few days later he was brought to a rehabilitation clinic for drug addicts. Only after almost two years Casa Grande returned to television and commented in July 2009 again football games.
• On April 22, 2013, admitted in the Brazilian late-night show Programa do Jô against the Jô Soares moderator that he had drugged several times during his time in Porto.