Club Career
Cacau's career in Germany started with fifth-division side Türk Gücü München in the 2000–01 season, after which he went on to join 1. FC Nuremberg's reserve team. Following his good performances with the reserves, he was given his Bundesliga debut against Hansa Rostock on 18 November 2001. In only his second Bundesliga match, against Bayer 04 Leverkusen on 8 December 2001, he scored two goals in Nuremberg's 4–2 defeat. He finished his first Bundesliga season with six goals in 17 appearances, but failed to repeat the success the following season, when he only scored two goals in 27 appearances and Nuremberg were relegated.
Having already signed a contract with VfB Stuttgart in January 2003, Cacau joined the club for the 2003–04 season. In his first season with Stuttgart, he also made four appearances in the UEFA Champions League In the 2004–05 season, he scored 12 Bundesliga goals and was the club's second-best goalscorer. In the first part of the same season, he also had a successful UEFA Cup campaign, netting three consecutive braces in Stuttgart's first three matches of the competition.
After an unsuccessful season in 2005–06, in which he only scored four Bundesliga goals for Stuttgart, he went on to be one of the key players in the club's run to the league title in 2007, once again becoming their second-best goalscorer with 13 goals, crucially netting both goals in their 2–0 win over Bayern Munich as well as the winning goal in a 3–2 away win over VfL Bochum in the final five rounds of the season. During the 2006–07 season, he also helped Stuttgart reach the final of the DFB-Pokal, scoring five goals in six matches, including the opening goal in the final against his former team Nuremberg. However, he was sent off 11 minutes later and Stuttgart went on to lose the final 3–2 after extra time.
In the 2007–08 season, he made further five appearances for Stuttgart in the UEFA Champions League and also scored his first goal in the competition, netting the equaliser in a 3–2 win over Rangers. He also helped the club finish sixth in the Bundesliga, netting nine goals in 27 appearances during the season. In 2008–09, he scored seven Bundesliga goals in 25 league matches, helping Stuttgart to finish third in the league.
On 20 February 2010, Cacau scored 4 goals in a 5–1 victory in an away game against 1. FC Köln. On 30 April Cacau scored his final goal of the season in a 2–1 win away at TSG Hoffenheim. This brought his tally to eight Bundesliga goals on the campaign. Following this on 1 May 2010, Cacau extended his contract with VfB Stuttgart until the summer of 2013.
Cacau started the 2011–12 Bundesliga campaign in good form, scoring on a header against Schalke 04 on 6 August helping his side to a 3–0 win. He was called up to the German squad for their game against his native Brazil the following Wednesday.
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