The 2001-02 season went down in Italian football history for its shocking final, with Inter losing the title, which ended in Juventus, in the last 90 minutes. Crazy, but even crazier things happened that year, focusing on a team that was making its debut in Serie A.
Chievo, the team of a district in Verona, known as the "Flying Donkeys", would become the "Kiev of Wonders" with Luigi Del Neri on the bench and players on the field that the Italians then began to learn. Or so they thought, because 23-year-old Brazilian Eriberto da Conceiçοo Silva, who was a breath away from Sergio Cranioti's transfer to Lazio, would become 27-year-old Luciano Siqueira de Oliveira μέσα in a few months…
Basically, to tell the truth, 27-year-old Luciano Siqueira de Oliveira is the one who played 23-year-old Eriberto da Conceiçοo Silva, in a story that has different versions but two facts: Luciano had a talent for football from a young age, but no , growing up under the protection and financial support of his sister and her husband. Up to a point though.
Having reached the age of 20, without a job and with the dream of a football career fading, since his age was forbidden to be tested as a talent in the country's teams, he will have the luck or "luck" to fall on the manager Reninson Gomes Barreto Filio, who immediately recognized the talent. And then he distinguished the way in which Luciano would become a footballer: He would simply turn into Eriberto and from a 20-year-old he would become a 17-year-old.
How did this happen;
Others say with fake documents made by an acquaintance of Reninson, others with a proposal to the real Eriberto, who took money and gave all his papers. The version that has prevailed is the second, but in any case, Luciano did not concern him then. Tested on Palmeiras as a 17-year-old, he signed, played and transferred to Italy, specifically to Bologna.
There he had his ups and downs, mostly off the field after he was caught driving drunk, to end up in Kiev of Serie B. And from there, the take-off to the glory he always wanted… The Veronese go up to Serie A, go to Turin to face Juventus as champions, finish in 5th place having impressed with their football and especially Eriberto and Manfredini as extreme, right and left respectively.
The Brazilian, who in the meantime has also played in the national under-21 national team of his homeland, although he was older, leaves everyone with his mouth open due to his speed, which is sometimes… faster than the ball, with transfer scenarios not to be late. And the one who would give the most to Kiev, as was often the case in those years, was Lazio of Cranioti.
The Romans offer 18 million euros, get the "yes" of the Veronese, give the footballer a 5-year contract with money he never imagined and he disappears… He leaves for Brazil, remains there, makes no statement and eventually everyone will understand that something serious is happening, when his manager will inform the press that the matter is legal.
At this point, there are again two versions. Either the real Eriberto or the one who made the fake documents was constantly blackmailed as the footballer Eriberto became more and more famous or rich, or Luciano felt remorse drowning him and decided to tell the truth about himself and his son.
"My name is not Eriberto but Luciano, I am not 23 years old but 27, I can no longer pretend and I want my son, at least he, to have his real name", he will declare on August 21, 2002 and will shock Italians and Brazilians. In his homeland, the matter will be taken to court, which will decide that Luciano should give a good compensation to Eriberto. In Italy, the footballer will be punished with a one-year ban, which will be reduced to six months due to confession.
The transfer to Lazio, of course, never took place, but again the Brazilian, with his real name now, will have his chance at the highest level, when he will sign in Inter a year later. Eventually it turned out that as Eriberto he was better, since he never managed to convince the Nerazzurri, making the decision to return home. In Kiev. Where he would remain until 2013, that is, his 38 years. The real…