Quick Facts
Biography
José Reinaldo de Lima, born on January 11, 1957, is a former Brazilian football player and striker, popularly known as Reinaldo or Rei (The King). Widely regarded as one of the greatest strikers in the history of Brazilian football, Reinaldo played most of his career for Atlético Mineiro, and still holds the record of highest goal average per game in the Brazilian league, with 1.55 goals per match in the 1977 Brazilian Championship, at a time when Atlético Mineiro was regarded to have one of the best teams in the world.
Clubs and Years active
Reinaldo played 30 matches and scored 14 goals for the Brazilian national team between July 1975 and May 1985, including the 1978 FIFA World Cup, where he scored one goal against Sweden. He also scored the qualifying goal for Brazil’s participation in the 1982 FIFA World Cup held in Spain, but was not included on the team, apparently due to injury.
Records and Awards
Reinaldo scored a club record of 255 goals for Clube Atlético Mineiro. He also averaged 1.55 goals per match in the 1977 season—scoring 28 goals in 18 matches— the record average for the Brazilian League, for which Atlético supporters nicknamed him The King ("o Rei", in Portuguese, which also served as a pun on his name).
He won eight Campeonato Mineiro titles including six consecutively: in 1976, 1978–1983 and 1985.
Subsequent career
Reinaldo is still remembered by Atlético Mineiro supporters. In 2004, he was elected in Belo Horizonte to represent the Partido dos Trabalhadores (Brazilian Workers' Party).