Conceição enjoyed a successful career in Spain, where he played for two clubs—including Real Madrid with whom he won six major titles—and also represented Brazil on more than 40 occasions.

[1] Born in Santa Maria da Serra, São Paulo, Conceição began his career with Rio Branco in 1992.

This caught the attention of Spanish club Deportivo de La Coruña, who paid €5.2 million for him after the 1996 Summer Olympics.

Playing alongside compatriot Mauro Silva in central midfield, Conceição gradually developed into a key force in the Galicians' rise in Spanish football,[2] as he scored four goals in 27 games in the team's 1999–2000 league conquest.

In his first and only season he won the Turkish Cup but failed to make the Champions League, thus activating a clause in his contract which allowed him to leave, and he signed for Panathinaikos of Greece.