Carlos Henrique Raposo wanted to be a soccer player, but he didn't want to play soccer. For twenty years he was a player for top Brazilian (and not only) clubs, but he never played a single official match in his entire career. He shared locker rooms with such legendary players as Edmundo, Renato Gausho, Romário, Branco, Bebeto and Carlos Alberto Torres.

Carlos Kaiser is a nickname he earned because of his outward resemblance to German soccer legend Franz Beckenbauer. Carlos always knew that he had the physique of a professional soccer player, but lacked the talent and skills. Therefore, he resorted to various tricks to create a reputation as a great player that all teams were after.

At the age of 23, when he didn't know what to do with his life, Raposo asked his good friend Mauricio, an idol of Botafogo, if he could contract him to the team. He was hired. He then moved to one of Brazil's most popular clubs, Flamengo. In 1979, during training, he impressed the scouts of the Mexican club Puebla and spent several months abroad without playing a single official match. It was after his return to Brazil that his great farce began.

His lack of athletic ability was more than compensated for by his social skills. Carlos befriended a number of high-profile players from various clubs, as well as journalists, whom he used as a network to build his image without ever taking the field in official matches. Unlike 99% of players, he was very friendly with reporters and gave them information for articles. Reporters believed what he said and portrayed him as a player who was down on his luck due to injuries.

Carlos has always signed short contracts and stated from the start that he needed to work on his fitness to become match ready.

This gave him about five weeks to impress the club staff. To hide his poor soccer skills, he often faked hamstring injuries. If club officials wanted to investigate further, he had a doctor who always confirmed the diagnosis.

Such elementary deception tactics wouldn't work these days, but in the 1980s, technology didn't allow clubs to check whether players were faking injuries or not. Thus, Carlos Kaiser managed to spend several months at the club without taking the field in official matches. But that was only part of his scam.

The untalented soccer player also enlisted the help of journalist friends to promote himself with fake articles about what a great player he was. One article claimed that he had played so well at Puebla that he had been offered a Mexican citizenship, and another that he was the top scorer for French club Ajaccio, where he had allegedly played for eight seasons.

Raposo's friend, Fabio "Fabinho" Barros, who actually played four seasons at the French club, later confirmed that he had never even been to Corsica.

Another way Carlos Kaiser self-promoted was by using toy cell phones to simulate conversations in foreign languages and publicly reject fictitious transfer offers. He once used pictures of himself wearing an Ajaccio jersey given to him by his friend Barros. And he even made himself a French club ID card.

The only time Carlos Kaiser was really close to taking the field was during his time at Brazilian club Bangu. Tired of Carlos Kaiser constantly practicing but never playing, club owner Castor de Andrade ordered the coach to put him in the lineup regardless of his physical condition. During warm-ups, Kaiser began looking for ways to avoid playing and found his salvation in the opposing fans.

Seeing a group of fans verbally abusing his teammates, Carlos Henrique Raposo rushed straight towards them and got into a fight, for which he immediately received a red card before he could get on the pitch. The coach rushed to the locker room in a rage. And Carlos said an amazing phrase: "God gave me a father and then took him away from me. Now that God has given me a second father, which is you, mister, I will not allow any fan to insult you." The coach kissed him on the forehead and asked the board to extend his contract for another six months.

During his incredible career, Carlos Kaiser was a player for several famous Brazilian clubs, including Vasco da Gama, Independiente, Fluminense and Flamengo, but never played a single official match for any of them.

Carlos Henrique Raposo's soccer career was so incredible that it prompted the writing of a book and a popular documentary titled "Kaiser! The Greatest Soccer Player Who Never Played Soccer."