Cláudio André Mergen Taffarel (Brazilian Portuguese:[ˈklawdʒutafaˈɾɛw]; born 8 May 1966) is a Brazilian former professionalfootballer who played as agoalkeeper. He is the current goalkeeping coach of bothPremier League clubLiverpool, and theBrazil national team.

Cláudio Taffarel

Taffarel withBrazil in 2018
Personal information
Full name	Cláudio André Mergen Taffarel[1]
Date of birth	(1966-05-08)8 May 1966 (age 59)
Place of birth	Santa Rosa, Brazil
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[2]
Position(s)	Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team	Liverpool (goalkeeping coach) Brazil (goalkeeping coach)
Youth career
1984–1985	Internacional
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1985–1990	Internacional	50	(0)
1990–1993	Parma	74	(0)
1993–1994	Reggiana	31	(0)
1995–1998	Atlético Mineiro	73	(0)
1998–2001	Galatasaray	89	(0)
2001–2003	Parma	6	(0)
Total		323	(0)
International career
1988–1998	Brazil	101	(0)
Managerial career
2011–2019	Galatasaray (goalkeeping coach)
2014	Galatasaray (interim)
2014–2023	Brazil (goalkeeping coach)
2015	Galatasaray (interim)
2021–	Liverpool (goalkeeping coach)
2024–	Brazil (goalkeeping coach)
Medal record Men'sFootball Representing Brazil FIFA World Cup Winner 1994 United States Runner-up 1998 France Copa América Winner 1989 Brazil Winner 1997 Bolivia Runner-up 1991 Chile Runner-up 1995 Uruguay Olympic Games 1988 Seoul Team CONCACAF Gold Cup 1998 United States FIFA U–20 World Cup Winner 1985 Soviet Union South American U-20 Championship Winner 1985 Paraguay
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Taffarel began his senior career in 1985 withInternacional in his native Brazil and then played inParma,Reggiana,Atlético Mineiro andGalatasaray. He retired in 2003 after a second spell at Parma.

The recipient of more than 100 internationalcaps, Taffarel played a key role in Brazil's victorious1994 World Cup campaign and also appeared in eight other major international tournaments over the course of one full decade, most notably winning twoCopa América titles in1989 and1997, as well as a World Cup runners-up finish in1998. He also won a silver medal at the1988 Summer Olympics in South Korea.

Born inSanta Rosa, Rio Grande do Sul withItalian Brazilian ancestry, Taffarel began his career playing forInternacional but only appeared in 14Série A games during his five-year spell, being however awarded theGolden Ball award for the1988 season.

In 1990, he played forParma in Italy, a club which had just beenpromoted toSerie A for the first time in their history; according to a 2003 article by Andrea Schianchi ofLa Gazzetta dello Sport, Taffarel's move to Parma was also carried out for commercial reasons, as at the time,Calisto Tanzi, the then–owner ofParmalat – the company that owned the club –, was looking to have the Brazilian goalkeeper become the face of the corporation's new advertising campaign following its recent expansion into Brazil. Taffarel became the first non–Italian goalkeeper to play in Serie A, and proceeded to appear in all 34 league games inthe following campaign under managerNevio Scala, as theEmilia-Romagna side finished in sixth position andqualified to theUEFA Cup. He won theCoppa Italia in1992 and theCup Winners' Cup in1993 during his first spell with the club, although following a series of unconvincing performances, and the regulations at the time that only allowed three non–Italian players in the team's starting XI (withFaustino Asprilla,Tomas Brolin, andGeorges Grün usually being selected to start by Scala), he was relegated to the bench over the course of the next two seasons, initially behindMarco Ballotta and laterLuca Bucci.^{[3][4][5][6][7][8]}

In 1993, Taffarel, now only a back-up at Parma, signed for fellow Serie A teamReggiana, where he was first-choice throughout the following season in anarrow escape from relegation. However, he was subsequently dropped from the first team in 1994, and remained without a professional club in the run up to and following that year's World Cup in the United States, playing instead at amateur level with his local church team, and even featuring as acentre-forward on occasion. Afterwards, he returned to his home country in 1995 and played three years withAtlético Mineiro.^{[3][4][5][8][9][10]}

On 24 June 1998, when still appearing forSeleção at1998 FIFA World Cup tournament in France, Taffarel signed a two-year deal withGalatasaray atDisneyland Paris.^[11][12] Galatasaray paid a transfer fee of around $1.5 million to his former clubAtlético Mineiro. At Galatasaray, he has won six major trophies during his three-year stint, most notably twoSüper Lig titles and the1999–2000 UEFA Cup and2000 UEFA Super Cup; in thefinal of the former competition – a 4–1penalty shootout victory overArsenal following a 0–0 draw after 120 minutes – he was chosen asMan of the match.^[13][14]

He closed out his career with former club Parma, joining the team in 2001;^[7] he mainly featured as a second-choice keeper behindSébastien Frey during his second spell with the club,^[15] but started in both legs of the2002 Coppa Italia final, which saw Parma triumph over the newly crownedSerie A champions,Juventus.^[16] He retired in 2003, after one-and-a-half seasons with the club, at the age of 37, and after having refused an offer fromEmpoli: his car broke down on the way to sign the contract and finalise the deal, which he later described as a "sign of God".^[17][18][19]

Taffarel made his debut forBrazil on 7 July 1988 in theAustralia Bicentenary Gold Cup, playing all four games and conceding two goals as his team won the tournament. He was also in goal forthe following year's Copa América, which Brazil also won (during his ten-year international career, he appeared in five editions of the latter tournament, winning the title for a second time in1997, and collecting runners-up medals in1991 and1995). At the1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, he won a silver medal, saving three penalties againstWest Germany in the semi-finals of the tournament: one in regulation time, and two inBrazil's successful shoot-out.^[3][8] He was also a member of the Brazilian team that took part at the1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy, where Brazil were eliminated in the round of 16 following a 1–0 defeat torivals and defending championsArgentina, with Taffarel conceding only two goals in total throughout the tournament.^[20][21]

Taffarel was the starter for the nation during the1994 FIFA World Cup in the United States, only allowing one goal in the first round and two in the knock-out phases, excluding twopenalty kicks inthe final shootout victory againstItaly.^[3][4][9]Four years later, in France, he helped his national team to a second consecutiveWorld Cup final, which proved to be his final international appearance; on this occasion, however, Brazil lost out 3–0 to thehosts.^[22] In the run-up to the final, Taffarel had notably saved two penalties in the team's 4–2 shootout victory over theNetherlands in the semi-finals.^[3][23][24] He was also a member of the Brazilian side that finished in third place at the1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

In total, Taffarel played 101 times with theSeleção, making him Brazil's most capped goalkeeper of all time, and one of the few Brazilian players to have made at least 100 caps for the national side.^[9][25] Upon his retirement in 2003, coachCarlos Alberto Parreira offered to arrange a farewell match but the player refused, stating that he was not interested in such fanfare; he did return to play alongsideRomário in late 2004 againstMexico, to commemorate the 1994 World Cup victory at theLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

Regarded as one of the greatest Brazilian goalkeepers of all time,^[26][27][28] Taffarel was known to be a rational, effective, and generally consistent keeper, with good fundamental goalkeeping technique, who favoured an efficient rather than spectacular playing style.^[29][30][31] His main attributes were his explosive reflexes, positional sense, and calm composure in goal, as well as his penalty-stopping abilities; due to the muscle power in his legs that he developed while playingbeach volleyball in his youth, he was known for his surprising spring and elevation from a standstill position, despite his modest stature, which gave him significant hang time and aided him in stopping penalties.^{[3][4][29][30][31]} Furthermore, he was known to bequick when coming off his line, and was also highly regarded for his flair and skill with the ball at his feet, having played as aforward in his youth.^{[3][4][5][8][30][32]} Due to his lack of height, however, as well as his poor handling and decision-making, he struggled at times when dealing with crosses, and was not particularly confident or decisive when coming off his line to catch high balls;^[5][33] as such, critical reception of Taffarel was often divided throughout his career. While he drew praise from the Brazilian fans and media for his decisive performances with the Brazil national team, which even earned him the nickname "Saint Taffarel" in the Brazilian media, he also drew criticism at times from Italian pundits over the mental aspect of his game, and his lack of development during his time in Serie A, which made him unreliable and prone to technical errors on occasion, despite his shot-stopping ability and generally high-quality gameplay, as well as his capacity to produce excellent saves. Moreover, his struggles to cope with his nerves are thought to have impeded him from succeeding consistently at the highest level with top European clubs throughout his career, despite his success and reputation. Ahead of the1998 FIFA World Cup final, Mike Penner of theLos Angeles Times speculated that Taffarel, and the goalkeeping position more broadly, was the "weak link" of an otherwise world class Brazil national side, due to the lack of top goalkeepers in Brazilian football at the time; indeed, prior to the tournament,Reuters had dismissed Taffarel as: "One of around a dozen goalkeepers in Brazil of roughly the same standard."^{[3][4][9][8][34][35]} Beyond his playing ability, Taffarel often made a name for himself as a key dressing room personality for his teams.^[36]

Taffarel and his former Atlético Mineiro teammatePaulo Roberto started up a player agency, with the focus mainly on promising youngsters.^[37]

During the 1998 World Cup, when the Brazil national team was training at Trois-Sapins stadium inOzoir-la-Ferrière, a suburb southeast of Paris, the town'smayor proposed renaming the stadium after him.^[38]

In 2004, Taffarel rejoined Galatasaray as goalkeeping coach – under former teammateGheorghe Hagi – returning to the club for the2011–12 season, again withFatih Terim as manager.^[39] Taffarel had two short spells as interim manager before leaving the Turkish side in 2019.^[40]

He currently works as a goalkeeper coach for bothLiverpool, having joined in 2021,^[40] and the Brazil national team, having taken up the role in 2014.^[41] He briefly left the role with Brazil at the end of the2022 FIFA World Cup, but returned to the national team in January 2024 at the request of new Brazil head coachDorival Júnior.^[42]

Born in Santa Rosa, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, Taffarel is ofGerman andItalian descent.^[8]

Taffarel is aborn-again Christian who has actively shared his faith in numerous venues. He was a member of theFellowship of Christian Athletes since 1988,^[43] and has 17 children, 15 of themadopted.^[18]

Parma^[44]

• Coppa Italia:1991–92,^[31]2001–02^[29]
• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup:1992–93^[31]

Atlético Mineiro

• Campeonato Mineiro: 1995^[29]
• Copa CONMEBOL:1997^[29]

Galatasaray

• Süper Lig:1998–99,1999–2000^[29]
• Turkish Cup: 1998–99,^[45]1999–2000^[29]
• UEFA Cup:1999–2000^[29]
• UEFA Super Cup:2000^[29]

Brazil

• FIFA World Cup:1994;^[29] runner-up1998
• Copa América:1989,1997;^[29] runner-up1991,1995
• Summer Olympic Games Silver Medal:1988
• FIFA World Youth Championship:1985

Individual

• Toulon Tournament Best Goalkeeper:1987^[46]
• Bola de Prata: 1987, 1988
• Bola de Ouro: 1988
• FIFA XI: 1998^[47]
• Brazilian Football Museum Hall of Fame
• Man of the Match:2000 UEFA Cup final

• List of footballers with 100 or more caps

• Profile at the Liverpool F.C. website
• Cláudio Taffarel at theTurkish Football Federation 
• Cláudio Taffarel –FIFA competition record (archived) 
• Cláudio Taffarel –UEFA competition record (archive)