Born in Presidente Prudente, a city of the state of São Paulo, also having Italian origins, Zago began playing professional football with São Paulo FC, where he remained for three years, and then signed to Albacete Balompié, Spain, where he stayed for only one season. He returned to his homeland, this time to Palmeiras, another team of São Paulo and a rival to his previous Brazilian team. After three years with the club, he emigrated once again, this time to Japanese club Kashiwa Reysol, where once again remained for only one year before returning to play in São Paulo, but this time at Corinthians, being one of the few players who have played in all the three biggest teams of the city and archrivals as well. In January 1998, Zago moved to the Italian capital to join Roma, at the request of the club's manager Zdenek Zeman, who was looking to reinforce the team's defensive line. In his Serie A debut with the club, on 11 February 1998 at Lecce, he was sent off after only a few minutes of play; his performances with the giallorossi soon improved, however, and he was able to demonstrate his quality and skill, leading to him being recalled to the Brazilian national side in 1999. Zago played for five seasons with Roma, and was also part of the 2001Scudetto-winning team; Zago partnered with compatriot Aldair and Argentine Walter Samuel to form a sold back-line, which aided Roma in claiming the Serie A title. Due to his success and performances with Roma, Zago still remains a popular figure with the romanista fans, who nicknamed him Terminator during his time at the club. In November 1999 Zago was the protagonist of a shocking episode, when he spat on Lazio player Diego Simeone's face during a derby match. The outcome was a positive attitude towards him by the fans, who paid tribute to his action in the song "Brusco", the phrases "Zago: spits fire as a dragon" and "people can only keep their mouth shut, otherwise AC Zago will spit at them". Zago is also one of the few Brazilian players who is known with his name and surname. During the years he spent to Rome he had chosen his name on the shirt to be written in different ways, the first "ANTÔNIO CARLOS", then "AC ZAGO" then simply "ZAGO." In 2002, after nearly joining Bolton Wanderers, Zago left Roma. After a year of inactivity, he went to Turkey and signed with Beşiktaş, before returning to Brazil in August 2004 to Santos. In 2005 and 2006, he played with Juventude. He ended his career with Santos in 2007.
International career
Zago debuted with the Brazil national team on 30 October 1991, in a 3–1 win against Yugoslavia, and remained within the national squad until 1993. After a period of mixed success at club level, however, he has no longer called up to the national side; only after moving to Roma, did he manage return to the national team with his stand-out performances for the club. Between 1998 and 2001, he collected 26 caps for Brazil and scored two goals; he was also part of the squad that won the 1999 Copa América. In total, he made 37 appearances for Brazil between 1991 and 2001, scoring three goals.
Managerial career
In June 2009, after an unsuccessful experience as technical director at Corinthians, Zago signed a deal as a manager with São Caetano. As a coach, he had a promising start in the 2010 Paulista Championship and enjoyed a historic win against his former team Palmeiras at Parque Antarctica. The feat brought him close to the traditional Palmeiras leaders and on 18 February 2010, he signed with Parque Antarctica club. However, issues with the squad and criticism against Palmeiras' poor performances motivated his resignation three months later. In January 2013 he returned to Roma, this time as an assistant coach. On 16 October 2013, he was appointed by Shakhtar Donetsk as their new assistant manager joining his former Beşiktaş coach Mircea Lucescu. On 12 December 2016, Zago was appointed as the new head coach of Porto Alegre side Internacional, replacing Lisca, who was sacked on 11 December, only hours after the team were relegated for the first time in Brazilian history. On 28 May 2017, he was dismissed. On 20 August 2017, Zago was announced the new coach of Fortaleza. He helped the side return to Campeonato Brasileiro Série B after an eight-year absence.
