Nilson Esidio He is one of the last Brazilian strikers to come to Peru and be successful. He came to our country thanks to the good references of some relatives with extensive experience in their country that included steps in Spanish football. He remains in the memories of Sporting Cristal and Universitario fans not only for winning titles with both kits, but also for details that marked his time with both teams. And do you remember?
A broad resume
Nilson Esidio was born on November 19, 1965 in the municipality of Santa Rita do Passa Quatro, Sao Paulo, Brazil. He made his debut in football at the age of 18 with Sertãozinho in his country’s second division. Then he went to Platinense de Paraná, a team in the same category, and stayed until 1985. Until then he played as an attacking midfielder; However, everything would change after his arrival at XV de Jaú.
In Jaú, Esidio started playing as a striker. He stayed at this club from 1986 to 1988 and had a stint in the black bridge in the last quarter of 1987. He was employed by the Porto Alegre International Mid-1988. With the “red” team, he scored 15 goals in that year’s Brasileirao and was the top scorer at that tournament. He also reached the 1989 final of the aforementioned league and the semi-finals of the Libertadores.
So came the opportunity to cross the pond to European football: he came to Celta de Vigo. He stayed until the mid-1990s, scoring twice in 10 Spanish league games. With almost no pain or glory, Nilson was forced to return to his land, this time to defend the Guild Jacket. He scored 22 goals in the Gaúcho Championship and excelled in the Copa Libertadores and Brasileirao, although that wasn’t enough to get his contract renewed.
Nilson Esidio played the 1998 national final with Cristal. Photo: GLR
So he began touring through various Brazilian and Spanish teams, pointing out that he would only serve one season with those clubs at most. I am going through Portuguese (1991-1992), Corinthians (1992), flamengo (1993), Fluminense (1993), Albacetes (1994), Valladolid (1994-1995), Palm trees (1995) j Vasco da Gama (1996).
For 1996-1997 he reached tiger from Mexico, who was playing in the second division at the time and was aiming for promotion. At the end of the season, the Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León (UNALM) team managed to return to the top flight, but decided not to continue working with the Brazilian forward. In the last quarter of 1997 he played for Athletico Paranaense, with whom he scored three goals.
Adventures in Peru
As mentioned above, Nilson Esidio came to Peru thanks to the good references of his brother Marcelo and cousin Eduardo. The first played for José Gálvez de Chimbote in 1997, the second came to play for the ‘U’. Although the Brewers didn’t have good Libertadores in 1998 (they were eliminated in the group stage), Nilson managed to score three goals.
In the 1998 Apertura he scored 14 goals and in the Clausura he signed another 10. After winning a definition with Alianza Lima in the second half of 1998 to determine the champion of the tournament, he qualified for the final against the ‘U’. . In the first of the two duels, he opened the account for a 2-1 victory in favor of the sky blue. Unfortunately, the story would change for him in the second game.
The Esidios pose together with the U jacket Photo: GLR
Nilson was sent off just 32 minutes into the second final. Due to the numerical inferiority, the game went steeply for the Rimenser, who lost 1:2 against Universitario in the end. The master was determined in a definition by punishments that would consecrate the disciples. Despite his good performance, Esidio failed to reach an economic agreement with the “Bier” leadership and did not continue the following season.
For the second semester in 1999, he landed in Atlético Mineiro and in 2000 he defended the jacket from holy others of the Paulista Second Division. He was hired by the ‘U’ for the final months of this year and won the triple cream championship with his cousin Eduardo. However, he wouldn’t be able to score in the ‘Merengue’ jacket, so he didn’t renew his contract.
Nilson and Eduardo Esidio celebrate three-time Universitario de Deportes championship. Photo: GLR
From then on he went through Santa Cruz to the championship of Pernambuco (2001), Río Branco to the third division of São Paulo (2001), Portuguesa Santista (2002), Atlético Sorocaba to the second division of São Paulo (2003), Flamengo de Guarulhos (2004) and Atlético Clube (2004).