Zé Roberto took his first step in Europe in January 1997 when he signed for Real Madrid. However, he rarely played under the coaches Fabio Capello and Jupp Heynckes and he returned to Brazil a year later in January 1998, this time to Rio de Janeiro where he played for CR Flamengo.
Shortly after that came the contact with Bayer 04. On 15 August 1998, the Brazilian came off the bench on 61 minutes in the home game against Hansa Rostock on matchday one with the score at 2-1. Over the next four years he was a number one choice for the Werkself and he thrilled the Bayer fans with his technical finesse and tricks. He scored 18 goals in 149 games for our team but also provided many assists. With Bayer 04 he was a runner-up in the Bundesliga in 1999, 2000 and 2002 and he reached the DFB Pokal final but was suspended for Champions League final in 2002 after picking up a yellow card in the semi-final.
After four years Zé Roberto moved on to Bayern Munich in 2002. He was champion of Germany three times with Bayern and also a DFB Pokal winner as many times. After one year at FC Santos he returned to the Bavarian capital and won the double with FC Bayern in 2008.
From the 2009/10 season, Zé Roberto played for Hamburg SV for the next two years. Overall he made 339 appearances in the Bundesliga and scored 38 goals. Zé Roberto did not end his career at the age of 37 but after a one-year offer from HSV he chose to move to Qatar where he played for six months.
He spent the last six years of his career back home in Brazil. After Porto Alegre he played for Palmeiras Sao Paulo in December 2014. He won the Brazilian cup competition with the club in 2015 and the Brazil league a year later. He received a great reception from his teammates and spectators after his last game at the age of 43 in November 2017.
Zé Roberto played 86 games for Brazil and scored six goals.
At the end of his playing career, he was technical adviser to Palmeiras but gave that post up in December 2019 when he became an ambassador of the club.
In 2023 he was part owner of the sports marketing agency Flashforward and with them he bought the Brazilian provincial club Esporte Sao Bento a year later. The long-term target is to win promotion to the Brazilian top-flight. But Zé is primarily interested in promoting youth football. He is not only a smart businessman but also a troubleshooter and a source of support. That made him very popular with his clubs and teammates during his playing career. He still plays at the age of 50. He also has a presence online with a training programme on Instagram as a fitness influencer. He has 2.8 million followers.
In Leverkusen he is still seen as an elegant, dribbling left-back with his strengths more in attack but he was also able to defend well. Ze Roberto was voted into the dream team of 40 years in the Bundesliga by Bayer 04 fans in 2019.
Claus-Dieter, known as ‘Pele’, Wollitz was born in Brakel on 19 July 1965 in Brakel. He earned the nickname of the Brazilian global super star at the age of six because he was able to the juggle the ball for a long time as a child. What was originally meant as a stunt would follow him all his life. Every football fan associates the name Wollwitz with his nickname: Pele.
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José Roberto da Silva Junior, Zé Roberto for short, was born in the Brazilian city of São Paulo on 6 July 1974. He started playing football at the Pequeninos de Joquey soccer school at the age of seven. Via the club Palestra Sao Bernardo, the left footer moved on to the professional club Portuguesa de Desportos where he made his debut in 1994.
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25 years ago, the Bayer 04 U19 team under their two coaches Thomas Hörster and Dirk Dreher were Regional League West champions and thereby participants in the finals of the German championship.
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After promotion to Bundesliga 2, the football boss Hermann Bacall had his hands full putting together a powerful team. For the first training session at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium on 14 July 1975 there were nine new signings including five players who became regular starters in the team that won promotion to the Bundesliga in 1979.
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After the success of the previous year, the gymnastics and sports club Leverkusen hold the ‘Wiesdorfer Sportwoche’ week of sports for a second time (the city of Leverkusen is only founded in 1930). The week of sport started on Sunday, 12 July 1925. In the years before World War I there were municipal gymnastics and games festivals. On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the club in 1924 the board and many helping hands started the week of sports. An internal municipal games festival developed into a national event which made a name for itself after a year particularly due to the relay element.
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