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.
Jacek Krzynowek was born on 15 May 1976 in Kamiensk, Poland, and grew up as a typical country boy. He spent his childhood less in structured training sessions and more on simple pitches, where he spent hours playing football with older boys. He realised early on that he had exceptional shooting power and enormous stamina. But for a long time, he didn't appreciate just how much talent he had. While others dream of a great career, professional football initially seems like a distant world to him that he only knows from television.
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Carsten ‘Calle’ Ramelow was born in Berlin on 20 March 1974. He began his football career in the youth teams at Tasmania 73, Tennis Borussia, SC Siemensstadt and, last but not least, Hertha Berlin. It was here that he reached the DFB Pokal final in 1993 with the Hertha Bubis team, the amateur team at Hertha Berlin, against his future employer Bayer 04 Leverkusen. But even he was unable to prevent the Werkself's 1-0 victory thanks to a goal from Ulf Kirsten.
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The 1995/1996 season brought some innovations. For the first time, each player was given a squad number with his name printed on the back of the jersey. For the first time, coaches were allowed to make three substitutions and for the first time, three points are awarded for a win. And for the first time, I am no longer my team's number 1. I wear it on my back, but Dirk Heinen has taken over me in goal. So at first I sat on the bench a bit offended, but in the Rückrunde I realised I also had to make my contribution to the success of a team.
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In this video you can see impressive and important goals in the history of Bayer 04 from the month of May. It's not always about the beauty of the goals, but also a reminder of special games and players.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen, promoted to the Oberliga West, welcome VfL 99 Köln for the last game of a successful season. This time, the crowd of just 2,000 spectators saw more of a friendly than a championship match. Little fight, little goalmouth action and few moves in midfield to warm the hearts of the spectators. It takes a corner to give Bayer 04 the lead. Peter Röger is on hand with his head and nods home on 43 minutes for the half-time lead. When Karl-Heinz Spikofski increased the lead to 2-0 a quarter of an hour after the restart, the result was settled. The team from Cologne were able to reduce the deficit to 2-1 in the final minute, but in the end the spectators went home looking forward to the first season for a Bayer 04 team in Oberliga West 1.
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