In 1992 he transferred to Tuna Luso in Belém, the capital of Pará, where he played on the youth teams until 1995, when he aroused the interest of some of Brazil's biggest clubs.
[citation needed] Gauchinho started playing professionally at age 20 when he still belonged to a youth team, in the 1996 Campeonato Brasileiro Série B, defending Tuna Luso in 3 games and scoring 5 goals.
[citation needed] In 2000 he made the biggest leap of his career, moving to Gremio, however he competed with Ronaldinho for a spot in the offense; not receiving any great opportunities, he ended up leaving.
Starting at Atlético-PR, after a few games he went to play in the Regional Championship of São Paulo State for Botafogo-SP, where he scored important and decisive goals that led the team to the final, which they lost to Corinthians Paulista.
After the first round he was transferred to Avaí FC, where he made several great performances, scoring 12 goals and succeeding in the qualifying stage to lead his team to the semi-finals.
In 2003 he ventured again into international football by playing for Cruz Azul in Mexico, yet after a good start he suffered a fractured cheekbone in a scrum, and required surgery that kept him out of action for months.
He played in 6 games of the 2009 Campeonato Brasileiro Série D, scoring 3 goals for Treze; however the team did not get the necessary points to qualify, finishing third in the group, and was eliminated.