Garrincha
Brazilian association football player (1933-1983) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Manuel dos Santos (28 October 1933 – 20 January 1983) was a Brazilian football player. He played for the Brazil national team. Garrincha, the nickname, "little bird", he got from his sister. He won the 1962 World Cup in Chile with Brazil after Pelé was injured. He is regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time and considered one of the best dribblers and by many the greatest dribbler ever.[1]
Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Full name | Manuel Francisco dos Santos | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Date of birth | (1933-10-28)28 October 1933 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Place of birth | Magé, Brazil | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Date of death | 20 January 1983(1983-01-20) (aged 49) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Place of death | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.69 m (5 ft 6+1⁄2 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Position(s) | Right-winger (retired) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Youth career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1947–1952 | Pau Grande | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1949–1950 | Cruzeiro do Sul FC | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1951 | Serrano | 22 | (5) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1953–1965 | Botafogo | 238 | (84) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1965–1966 | Corinthians Paulista | 13 | (2) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1967 | Portuguesa | 33 | (7) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1968 | Atlético Junior | 1 | (3) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1969–1970 | Flamengo | 20 | (4) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1971 | Red Star Paris | 10 | (1) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1972–1973 | Olaria | 7 | (7) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Total | 344 | (113) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
National team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1955–1966 | Brazil | 50 | (12) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Honours
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* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only |
Garrincha's best talent consisted in his very particular dribbling, a game that he performed in making two different types of movements: cutting towards the inside of the field or, typically, widening to the right, always starting with the ball placed near the sideline of the pitch. Garrincha, after receiving the ball on the wing, aimed at the direct opponent and then stopped, causing the marker to stop in turn, after which he threw himself to the right, subsequently folding on the opposite side. He repeated the play more than once, when he decided to overtake the now disoriented defender with a definitive acceleration again on the right. Dribbling was made particularly effective by the explosiveness of the shot and the unpredictability of the movements due to the asymmetry of the lower limbs. Garrincha often abused this skill, as he used to dribble opponents and wait for them to retrace their steps so as to overcome them a second time, for pure pleasure; in a match for the Rio-San Paolo tournament that Botafogo played against América, the referee threatened to expel him due to the excessive number of dribbles carried out at the expense of full-back Ivan.
Despite having been afflicted with several birth defects (he had strabismus, an imbalance of the pelvis, six centimeters of length difference between the legs; the right knee had valgus and the left varus), Garrincha, "The Anjo de Pernas Tortas", was one of the main players in the 1958 FIFA World Cup and the 1962 FIFA World Cup, when, after Pelé's injury, he became the main player of the Brazilian team. Of Brazil's 14 goals in the competition, six (42%) went through his feet (he scored four and provided two assists for goals). In this tournament, he became the first player to win the Golden Ball (best player in the tournament), the Golden Boot (the competition's top scorer) and the World Cup trophy. Because of this, the 1962 World Cup is known in Brazil as "The Garrincha Cup".
Included in the World Team of the 20th Century by 250 of the world's most respected football writers and journalists, he was selected in 1994 for the FIFA World Cup All-Time Team and ranked seventh in a vote among FIFA experts. about the best player of the 20th century.[2]