His black curls have turned gray but he still has his earrings. “And my sense of purpose too”smiles Luis, today a coach in a football academy near Venice. “I still play eight-a-side football and I still score my goals. When I see attackers at the highest level who, alone in front of the goalkeeper, shoot straight ahead without looking, I get angry. It’s so easy to feinting. That was my specialty.”
“I had to paint and clean the Anderlecht stadium”
The European adventure of the Brazilian Oliveira began on November 29, 1985, nine days after the famous Netherlands – Belgium which qualified the Devils for the 1986 World Cup. “I was sixteen years old and I remember that I was very cold when I arrived in Belgium. During my first match with the Anderlecht B team, I returned to the locker room after a minute and a half. could no longer.” Oliveira refused to go to school. “Instead, Michel Verschueren made me work for Omer and Monique, the stadium janitors. I had to clean the locker room, paint walls, fold equipment…” Young Luis had fallen in love with Pascale, Michou’s daughter. Luis: “Say hello to them all. It was a lovely time.”
“I smoked, supposedly to keep warm”
Oliveira made his debut at eighteen, with Anderlecht at FC Liège (0-0). “After my first season, I came back late from my vacation in Brazil, I missed my plane. My second summer, Michel Verschueren forced me to spend it in an apartment in Knokke. I went cycling every day. I have to thank Mister Michel: no one was as fit as me when I returned. Oliveira shared an apartment with Jean-Pierre Ngabu Mbemba, whose son Yves is currently a professional boxer. Oliveira: “Jean-Pierre told me that I had to smoke to feel warmer, which was obviously false. I smoked in secret until I was 41. Not many cigarettes a day but still… It’s been fourteen years that I don’t touch one anymore.”
“I refused a cape with Brazil”
It was also Verschueren who, with the help of Enzo Scifo, convinced Oliveira to become naturalized. “Before the Bosman ruling, only three foreigners could be included on the match sheet. So I accepted. At the same time, the federal coach of Brazil (Paulo Falcao) takes me back into his selection. I refused. My dad was angry. It was his dream to see his son play in the Brazilian national team. That’s what told me the first time I went to Brussels.” The attacker did not regret his choice. “I had some magnificent moments in the national team. I obviously remember my hattrick in Turkey in 1997 after the magnificent passes from Scifo and Mpenza, and my goal against Ireland in the play-off matches for the 1998 World Cup. But I I also made a big mistake Before the 1994 World Cup, I asked for a starting place, which Paul Van Himst could not guarantee me. So I followed the World Cup on TV. from Brazil. My heart hurt!” In 1999 he played his last match for the national team. “I was criticized too much at the 1998 World Cup. The journalists felt that since I was playing in Serie A, I should outclass the others in Devils. But I wasn’t in good shape at the World Cup, that’s all.”
These Devils who, like Kompany and Chadli, were selected by Panini but do not make the tournament
“Batistuta often invites me to Argentina”
Oliveira left Anderlecht in 1992, after 141 matches and 47 goals. “I have the most regrets from the final lost against Gothenburg. The coach (Aad de Mos) had put Jankovic in the team and Nilis on the bench. A final, you have to play it to want to win… I saw Luc again when I was coach in Malta, more or less six years ago. He was in Malta on training with PSV (Editor’s note: where he coached the attackers). It was Nice to see him again. He is in the top 3 of the best players I have played with, with Batistuta and Dely Valdes. Batistuta, my teammate at Fiorentina, calls me regularly. He has often invited me to Argentina but I haven’t been yet. A few years ago, I made a call to Emile Mpenza, with whom I played in attack in Diables. For the rest, I no longer have contact with anyone in Belgium. But I follow the results of Anderlecht. I saw that they won in Spain and against Standard. Everything has changed at Sporting eh. Even the Vanden Stocks are no longer there.”
“I was preferred to George Weah”
Oliveira has had some lucky breaks in his career. “When De Mos arrived, he wanted to loan me to Waregem. It was his T2 Jean Dockx who opposed it. Jean was the most important person for me at Anderlecht.” And his transfer for three million to Calgliari, where he played for five seasons, almost did not take place. “Obviously, the club initially wanted George Weah. But since I was younger, coach Mazzone still opted for me.”
“I finally beat Preud’homme, with Cagliari”
His disappointments (a red card after 50 seconds with Cagliari or an exclusion from the European Cup with Fiorentina against Barcelona (0-2)) are much rarer than his moments of happiness. With Fiorentina, he scored both goals at Inter (2-2) and Naples (2-2). And, with Cagliari, he reached the semi-final of the Uefa Cup, the old Europa League, after scoring four goals. “With Anderlecht, I had never scored against Michel Preud’homme against Mechelen (Editor’s note: in five matches). I had to go to Cagliari to beat them in the Uefa Cup. I also scored against Juve, the big favorite for the final victory. We were eliminated by Inter Milan in crisis, who almost went down to Serie B. My goal was not enough.”
“Money in my shoes and under the pitch”
Oliveira has always been very superstitious. “At Anderlecht, I was already playing with money in my shoe. I put a Brazilian note under my sole. And, in Cagliari, I had another tradition. I gave a lira (the Italian currency of the time) to the fanshop storekeeper and he hid it under the central point. He and I were the only ones who knew there was money hidden under the lawn. If I still have my earring, it’s also out of superstition.”
“They still call me ‘The Falcon’”
When he stopped his career at the age of 42, he became a coach. “I was a coach of D3 clubs and I coached in D1 Malta. I never tried to get the Pro License diploma; therefore, I did not aim for Serie A. Now, I do not I don’t have too many ambitions anymore. I train at a football academy near Venice, FC Galaxy. People remember my time as a player. It always makes me happy when they call me: ‘Lulu Il Falco. ‘. My dad had a hawk and after scoring a goal against AC Milan, I imitated a falcon. Oliveira has five children from two marriages. “Only my sons Michael and Ayrton played football but not at the highest level. Now Michael plays at ES Baous in the lower division near Nice, in combination with his job. Ayrton played in Serie D at a club in Cagliari. My brother José still lives in Belgium. If I will feel more Italian or Belgian watching Thursday’s match? I am a Brazilian and I remain so. (Laughs)“
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