He won two São Paulo State Championships with Corinthians in 1982 and 1983, while playing alongside Sócrates, forming one of the greatest strike partnerships in the history of Brazilian football.

[1][2] He moved to Europe from his home country in 1986 to join Porto, winning a European Cup title in 1987 during his only season with the team.

[1][3][4] He later returned to Brazil in 1993, to play for Flamengo; that year, he was runner-up in the Supercopa Sudamericana with the club, losing in a penalty shootout to another Brazilian team, São Paulo.

[1][2] With the Brazil national football team, Casagrande played in 19 matches between April 1985 and June 1986, scoring nine goals.

Although he was capable of scoring goals, and had a consistent goalscoring rate throughout his career, he was not the most prolific forward during his time in Italy; however, he was a hard-working team player, who usually acted in more of a second striker, that is known as the "centravanti di manovra" (which literally translates to "manoeuvring centre-forward") in Italian football jargon, a precursor to the modern false-nine role, and was capable of operating across the entire front line.

His height, strength, elevation, and heading accuracy enabled him to excel in the air, and saw him score several decisive goals from headers; he also possessed good link-up play, and was known for his ability to play the ball first time, lay it off to other players, or provide assists to teammates through knockdowns with his head or first–time passes.

I missed the adrenaline of the matches and practices and that led me to the compulsive use of drugs," Casagrande said, adding that he became "addicted to heroin."

On 22 April 2013, Casagrande confessed on Programa do Jô that he was ashamed for doping four times while playing for Portuguese club FC Porto, during the 1986–87 season.