Born in Palmeira d'Oeste, Brazil to an Italian Brazilian mother and second generation Japanese Brazilian father, Tulio moved to Japan at age 15 to complete his high school studies. After graduation from Shibuya Makuhari High School in Chiba Prefecture in 2001, Tulio joined the J1 League club Sanfrecce Hiroshima. In opening game in 2001 season on March 11, he debuted as substitute defender in the 10th minutes instead Tony Popovic was injured, and scored a goal in the 16th minutes After the debut, he played many matches as center back in 2 seasons. However Sanfrecce was relegated to J2 League end of 2002 season. In 2003, Tulio moved to fellow J2 League side Mito HollyHock. On 10 October 2003, Tulio obtained his Japanese citizenship. Although he played as center back, he scored 10 goals in 2003 season. In 2004, after a season at Mito, Tulio returned to the J1 League, joining Urawa Red Diamonds. After the strong performance in 2006 season, which led Urawa to win their first ever J1 League title, he received J.League Most Valuable Player. In 2007, Urawa won their first Asian champions in AFC Champions League. On 22 December 2009, after falling out with the management at Urawa as he was deployed in an unfamiliar position at the back, Tulio joined Nagoya Grampus. He played 168 games and scored 37 goals for his ex-club in 6 seasons and was selected Best Eleven every seasons. In his first season in Nagoya, Nagoya won the champions in 2010 J1 League first time in the club history. Nagoya also won the 2nd place in 2011 season. On 9 January 2016, Nagoya Grampus announced that the club and Tulio are parting ways. Nearly nine-months later, on 28 August 2016, Tulio re-signed for Nagoya Grampus under new manager Boško Gjurovski, before leaving Nagoya Grampus at the end of the 2016 season upon the expiration of his contract. In the off-season of the 2016–17 season, at the age of 35, Tulio signed with J2 club Kyoto Sanga FC.
National team career
Tulio obtained his Japanese citizenship on 10 October 2003. He played for Japan U-23 national team at the 2004 Olympic Games. He played as center back in full time in all 3 matches. Tulio made his debut for the Japan's senior national team on 9 August 2006, against Trinidad and Tobago. He scored his first goal for Japan on 15 November 2006 in a 2007 Asian Cup qualifier against Saudi Arabia. But he missed 2007 Asian Cup finals due to an injury. His absence was a big blow to the Japan national team. He was selected Japan for 2010 World Cup. On 30 May, he scored for Japan against England in the 7th minute of a World Cup warm-up, and also scored for England against Japan in the form of an own goal 67 minutes later. As Japan's captain Yuji Nakazawa later did the same thing, the game finished 2–1 for England. On 4 June, he scored for Ivory Coast against Japan in the form of an own goal in the 13th minute of a friendly match. Three minutes later, he injured Côte d'Ivoire attacker Didier Drogba's elbow which was fractured by high challenge from Tulio. At 2010 World Cup, he played full time in all 4 matches as center back with Yuji Nakazawa. Japan qualified to the knockout stage. This tournament is his last match for Japan. He played 43 games and scored 8 goals for Japan until 2010.
