One of the best left-backs of his era, he is best known for his flowing curly blond hair and his performance at the 1974 FIFA World Cup, in which Brazil finished fourth.

At club level he is mostly associated with Botafogo FR of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo FC, but he played for numerous other teams, as well as in the North American Soccer League, in a career which spanned from 1969 to 1987.

He was an attack minded full-back with a powerful shot, and is considered a pioneer, becoming very influential in helping the lateral position evolve into what it is in today's Brazilian football.

He travelled the world and played for many different clubs in Brazil, the United States and Germany, always showing great skill and quality, but not settling anywhere for too long.

In the first year, playing for the New York Cosmos alongside Carlos Alberto Torres and the German legend Franz Beckenbauer, his club lost in the semifinal of the championship to eventual winners Vancouver Whitecaps.

He ended his career as player with a brief stint in Germany where he played in the lowest amateur division, the local "C-Klasse", alongside some outdated former minor Bundesliga celebrities in Augsburg for the short-lived BC Harlekin, named after the chain of gambling halls operated by the quasi owner of the club, Mr Peter Eiba who had grand ideas to taking the club all the way to the first division.

In 1991, he was hired to coach the El Paso Patriots, an amateur team competing in the Southwest Independent Soccer League.