Do you think it is possible that a person without any kind of ability to play football can pretend for 20 years to be a professional footballer? This is the story of the Brazilian Carlos Henrique Raposo, a fake football player who cheated the world of football.

It all started in 1986, when Carlos was 23 years old and dreamed of being a successful footballer, or rather, living one's life. At that time, he put his plan into action and went to the most famous discotheques in Brazil in search of elite footballers. It was there where he met Mauricio de Oliveira Anastácio, an emblem of the Botafogo club. Carlos spilled charisma and sympathy, which was enough to convince Anastácio to become his representative and convince the Botafogo managers to hire him.

The first thing they did was get him a nickname, "Kaiser", due to his physical similarity with Franz Beckenbauer. He was given a false curriculum where he said that he had been part of the Independiente champion of the Libertadores and the Intercontinental Cup in 1984, taking advantage of the fact that in that team there was a player named Carlos Henrique and that they had a certain physical resemblance. They got a photo that supposedly proved this, and that's it: Carlos Kaiser was a Botafogo player and the biggest lie football history had started.

But this guy did not have any kind of skill and, supposedly, was a forward. Would not they notice in the club immediately that it was a farce? It is here where the great cleverness of Carlos Kaiser comes into play. "I went to the training and after a few minutes of exercise I touched my thigh or calf and asked to go to the infirmary. For 20 days I was injured. At that time there was no magnetic resonance, "Carlos admitted. And so the months passed between false injuries. Thanks to his great personality, he managed to make friends with the Brazilian crack Renato Gaúcho, who got Flamengo to sign him, where he continued with his scams.

During his stay at Flamengo, he arrived at training sessions talking on cell phones in English with alleged European agents and feigning injuries to avoid entering the field. This is how he achieved his first international experience. Thanks to his good contacts and a great relationship with the press, he got Puebla de México interested in him. There were other times, there was no internet. A good false article written in his favor and some good words from his colleagues were enough. His stay in Mexico was short, so he moved to the United States where he signed with El Paso Patriots, all without a single minute of play.

After this he returned to Brazil from the hand of the Bangú in 1989 and it is here where we collect the best anecdote of his career. His team lost 2-0 and his coach tells him to enter the game, which was an express request of the club president. While Carlos was getting ready to warm up, he thought of how to get out of entering. That's when he saw that some fans were insulting the team behind the fence, so he jumped the fence and fought with them. He was obviously expelled before he could enter the field. At halftime the President is angry to look for him, but Carlos spoke first and showed his power of conviction: "Before I say anything, God gave me a biological father and gave me another, so I will never allow that the fans say that my father is a thief, that he does bad things and that is what the fans said about you ... Sorry doctor, from here to 15 days he will get rid of me ". The President embraced him and had him immediately renewed for another 6 months.

Finally fulfilled the dream of every South American footballer: reach Europe. Ajaccio of France signed him in 1990 as a star. But as soon as he landed, he found a problem in his presentation at the stadium, as he had to train in front of the fans. "They were going to realize that it was horrible, so I started grabbing the balls and kicking the fans while I waved and kissed the shield, the fans went crazy," Carlos recalls. And when he played debut he only played 20 minutes, when he faked a muscle tear and asked to continue on the field despite the pain for "love of the shirt", the fans melted for him.

After his experience in France, he returned to Brazil where he managed to play in great clubs such as America, Vasco da Gama, Fluminense, Palmeiras and Guaraní; and he shared costumes with legends such as Ricardo Rocha, Renato Gaúcho, Romario, Bebeto and Branco. He finally decided to retire at 38, putting an end to the biggest farce in the history of world football. He did not become a millionaire, but for 15 years he lived the life of excesses of a professional soccer player without touching a ball.

"I do not regret anything, the clubs cheat the players a lot, some had to take revenge on them."