Bel (footballer) explained

Bel
Fullname:Isabel Cristina de Araújo Nunes
Birth Date:12 May 1966
Birth Place:Porto Alegre, Brazil
Height:168cm[1]
Position:Winger / Forward
Clubs1:Pepsi Bola
Clubs2:Sport Club Internacional
Clubs3:Torino
Years3:1994
Clubs4:Grêmio
Nationalteam1:Brazil
Pcupdate:11:51, 28 March 2018 (UTC)
Ntupdate:11:51, 28 March 2018 (UTC)

Isabel Cristina de Araújo Nunes (born 12 May 1966), commonly known as Bel, is a Brazilian former footballer who played as a winger or forward for the Brazil women's national football team.

Club career

While playing for Inter, Bel came to notice for her physical attractiveness and was declared the most beautiful player at the 1985 Brazilian Cup. She was described as "an icon of sensual femininity in football".[2] She was also a skilful attacker, often likened to the male player Renato Portaluppi who was also from Porto Alegre and wore the number 7 shirt.[3] [4] Bel was pictured on the cover of Placar on four separate occasions.[5]

In 1987 Inter abolished their women's team and Bel played futsal for local teams called Bruxas and Chimarrão. In 1994 she transferred to Torino of the Italian Serie A, where she was provided with a car and lodged with Antonella Carta. She returned to Brazil for personal reasons after only three months, when an affair with the club president Roberto Goveani "got complicated". Her final season of club football was in 2001 with Grêmio.

International career

Bel was named as part of Brazil's squad for the 1995 South American Women's Football Championship in Uberlândia. She scored in the team's 15–0 win over Bolivia.[6] With the national team she was a reserve to Roseli de Belo and Pretinha.

Following a dispute with the team's chief of delegation Rosilene Gomes, Bel was not selected for the 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup in Sweden.[7]

Personal life

A year after retiring from football, Bel gave birth to her son Luiz Felipe. She was treated for breast cancer in 2017, while working as a physical education teacher in Florianópolis. In July 1995 Bel posed nude for Playboy (Brazil). The publication had originally approached her when she was 17 years old, but at that stage she rejected the offer to appear nude and wore a bikini.

Notes and References

  1. O charme da conquista . 24 February 1984 . Portuguese . . 28 March 2018. 44. 718. Abril . Editora .
  2. Book: Soccer, Women, Sexual Liberation: Kicking off a New Era. Women's Football in Brazil: Progress and Problems . Frank Cass. 2004. Sebastião. Votre. Ludmila. Mourão. 260.
  3. O charme vai a campo . 13 July 1984 . Portuguese . . 28 March 2018. 24. 738. Abril . Editora .
  4. News: Villar. Sergio. A história de Bel, a ex-jogadora do Inter e da seleção que venceu a luta contra o câncer de mama. 28 March 2018. Rádio Gaúcha. 24 June 2017. Portuguese.
  5. Web site: Goellner. Silvana Vilodre. Joras. Pamela Siqueira. Ramos. Suellen dos Santos. Depoimento de Isabel Cristina de Araújo Nunes [Bel]]. Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul. 28 March 2018. Portuguese. 2 March 2016.
  6. Web site: South-American Women's Championship 1995. Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 29 April 2013. 28 January 2001. Erik. Garin. José Luis. Pierrend.
  7. O dono do Radar . 1 September 1996 . Portuguese . . 28 March 2018. 26. 1119. Abril . Editora .