Wanderley, a Brazilian who ended up acquiring Spanish nationality, was born in Niterói on 3rd June 1938. He started out with teams from his city such as Manufatura de Niterói, as well as historic Brazilian outfit Vasco de Gama.
Midway through the 1962/63 season, Wanderley signed to Levante UD, where he remained for five seasons, becoming a key player in the team’s first ascent to the First Division. After five years with Levante, he signed to CD Málaga, newly promoted to the elite. His Blue and White debut in an official match was on 8th October 1967 in the First Division clash between CD Málaga-Real Zaragoza (2-2), with Ernesto Pons as Malaguista coach.
His best performance as a Malaguista occurred on 30th November 1969, on the day of Viberti’s debut, when he scored 4 out of 5 goals in the victory against RCD Espanyol. That season ended with the Malaguistas moving up to the top flight. As a CD Málaga player, he played 62 official matches and scored 23 goals.
In 1970 he signed to Hércules de Alicante, where he coincided with his brother Waldo, a Valencia CF legend, retiring from football the following season. In addition, he was an international with Brazil’s Under-23s, participating in the Olympic Games in Rome in 1960, scoring one goal.
