Cacau - International Career

International Career

Although Cacau was born in Brazil, he was never called up by the Brazilian national team.

In February 2009, he became eligible to play for Germany after he acquired a German passport having lived and played in Germany for over 8 years.

On 19 May 2009, Cacau was called up by the German national team's coach Joachim Löw for their friendly matches against China and the United Arab Emirates. He made his international debut on 29 May 2009 in Germany's 1–1 draw against China, playing 27 minutes as a substitute for Mario Gomez. He also appeared in Germany's 7–2 win against the United Arab Emirates four days later, playing the entire second half as a substitute for Lukas Podolski and providing an assist for Mario Gomez's third and Germany's fifth goal of the match just over a minute into the second half. He opened his account with the German national team, scoring a brace in a 3–0 win over Malta on 13 May 2010. He scored his first International Goal for Germany in the group stage of the 2010 FIFA World Cup on 13 June 2010, coming on as a substitute against Australia, and scoring in 1 minute 52 seconds to make it 4–0. He later received a yellow card for diving in the match. In the third place World Cup game, Germany faced Uruguay on 10 July 2010. Cacau started for his German side, but was eventually subbed out. Germany defeated Uruguay 3–2, taking third place at the 2010 South African World Cup.