Júlio César (football goalkeeper, born 1979)

Júlio César

Júlio César with Inter Milan in 2011
Personal information
Full name	Júlio César Soares de Espíndola
Date of birth	(1979-09-03) 3 September 1979 (age 37)
Place of birth	Duque de Caxias, Brazil
Height	1.87 m (6 ft 1 1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Club information
Current team	Benfica
Number	12
Youth career
	Grajau CC
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1998–2005	Flamengo	130	(0)
2005–2012	Inter Milan	228	(0)
2005	→ Chievo (loan)	0	(0)
2012–2014	Queens Park Rangers	24	(0)
2014	→ Toronto FC (loan)	7	(0)
2014–	Benfica	54	(0)
National team‡
2004–	Brazil	87	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 23 February 2017. ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 12 July 2014

Júlio César Soares de Espíndola (born 3 September 1979), known as Júlio César (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈʒuliu ˈsɛzɐʁ]), is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Portuguese club Benfica.

Regarded as one of the best goalkeepers of his generation, he spent seven years at Italian club Inter Milan, where he won five Scudetti, the 2009–10 UEFA Champions League and the 2010 FIFA Club World Cup. He was awarded the Serie A Goalkeeper of the Year title in both 2009 and 2010, and was nominated for the 2009 Ballon d'Or, where he was voted into 21st place.

Júlio César won 87 international caps for Brazil between 2004 and 2014. He was selected for the 2006, 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cups, in addition to two Copa América tournaments.

Júlio César began his professional career with Clube de Regatas do Flamengo in 1997. In January 2005, he moved to Italian Serie A club Chievo via Inter Milan. Due to Serie A rules that impose a cap on the number of non-EU players clubs can sign from abroad, Júlio César could not join Inter at the time and was subsequently initially registered to Chievo through a deal between the two clubs.