Full name Iván Rocha Lima Playing position Team Apps | Place of birth São Paulo, Brazil Years Team Height 1.85 m | |
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Date of birth (1969-01-14) 14 January 1969 (age 48) | ||
Iván Rocha Lima (born 14 January 1969), known as Rocha, is a Brazilian retired professional footballer who played as a central defender.
Football career
Rocha was born in São Paulo. During his career, he played almost exclusively in Spain: after a short spell with hometown's São Paulo Futebol Clube the 23-year-old joined Real Valladolid, which he helped promote from Segunda División in his first year – having played in only 21 matches the defender scored an impressive nine goals, second-best in the squad with José Emilio Amavisca.
After another season Rocha signed with fellow La Liga club Atlético Madrid, but played very rarely for the Colchoneros, also being loaned several times during his stint in Madrid (Valladolid again, CD Logroñés and RCD Mallorca) and being downed with consecutive injuries.
In the 1998 summer Atlético released Rocha, and he played three more seasons in the country, one apiece with Deportivo Alavés, CD Numancia and Elche CF, the latter in the second division. After two years of inactivity he returned to his country and appeared for modest União São João Esporte Clube, retiring for good at 35.