Footballer Adi Rocha, who is 184 cm tall, participated in the team's training session on Thursday morning, but he missed the match against Beer Sheva's "Hapoel" due to fatigue after a long journey from Brazil.
A. Rocha started his professional career at his hometown club "Nacional" in San Paulo. In 2007, the striker moved to Europe and signed a contract with LASK Linz in Austria.
After a year, the Brazilian became a member of another Austrian club - "Austria Karnten" in Klagenfurt - and scored 10 goals in 17 matches in the country's championship. After such a successful season, the striker was acquired by "Energie Cottbus" in Germany. Unfortunately, Rocha only played one match in Germany over 3 seasons due to a serious injury.
In 2012, A. Rocha had to start everything from scratch. The striker chose "Concordia Chiajna" in Romania for a fresh start. In this team, the Brazilian scored 8 goals in 15 matches and helped them secure a place in Romania's top league.
Such results led to an offer for A. Rocha to join "Steaua Bucharest". In the 2012-2013 season, the striker spent time at Romania's most famous club and scored 9 goals in 16 matches in the country's championship.
In the summer of 2012, A. Rocha also visited Vilnius. During the Europa League qualifying matches, "Steaua" faced Panevezys "Ekranas", who played their home matches at the capital's LFF stadium. The first match in Vilnius was won by "Steaua" with a score of 2:0, and the return match in Bucharest ended with a 3:0 victory. A. Rocha scored the first and third goals for the Romanians.
Later, "Steaua" played in the group stage of the Europa League, and the Brazilian faced teams such as London's "Chelsea", Amsterdam's "Ajax", "Stuttgart", "Kobenhavn", and "Molde".
Last season, the newcomer of "Zalgiris" played in Japan. In the sweltering country's championship, the Brazilian scored 9 goals in 13 matches for Osaka's "Gamba" team.
"I am glad that 'Zalgiris' managed to acquire a high-level experienced striker who was sought after by several well-known European clubs. The competition was really high," said 'Zalgiris' sports director Mindaugas Nikoličius. "It's great that Adi decided to choose to play in Vilnius, and we have very high hopes for him."
A. Rocha is expected to make his debut for 'Zalgiris' on Sunday in the match against APOEL Nicosia.
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