With all of the formalities in Brazil finally completed, last Saturday, 17.06.2008, Carlos Alberto was able to make his debut appearance in the league championship for Botafogo Rio de Janeiro. In a 0:1 defeat to Cruzeiro Belo Horizonte, the 23 year old midfielder was selected to play in the starting eleven.
“It’s positive for us that Carlos can now play for Botafogo. It’s important that he regains full health and that he can gather some match practice,” commented Werder Bremen’s general manager Klaus Allofs following the completion of the transfer to 1995 Brazilian champions Botafogo, and the Werder manager is convinced the move is a sensible one: “I’m quite sure that things will work out better for him at Botafogo than they did at FC Sao Paulo as he is able to partake in the championship from the very beginning.”
Allofs went on to explain the positive aspects of the deal from the Werder point of view: “We will definitely profit from it. Either he will be able to make a new start following his loan deal with Botafogo, or he will tweak the interest of some other clubs.” The loan deal between Botafogo and Werder Bremen is valid until 30.06.2009.