
Isaias was a Brazilia-born midfield playmaker who had a Portuguese passport and was signed from Benfica for £500,000 by Ron Atkinson in the summer of 1995. Rumoured to have the hardest shot in Portuguese football, he had been the star of Benfica’s European Cup victory over Arsenal in 1991, scoring three goals in the two legs against the Gunners. He demonstrated his silky skills in an impressive home debut against Manchester City but sadly his good performances were few and far between, although he did score the first opposition goal at Middlesbrough’s Riverside Stadium. A cartilage operation in early 1996 set him back and although he had an excellent pre-season in 1996-97 he played only ten more minutes of league football. Strachan’s ascendancy to the manager’s chair in November 1996 signalled the end of the classy but enigmatic Brazilian.







































