Garrincha

From Free net encyclopedia

Manuel Francisco dos Santos (October 28, 1933 - January 20, 1983), known as Garrincha, was a Brazilian footballer who played in the World Cup winning teams of 1958 and 1962. He is known to have fathered at least 14 children.Template:Ref and is considered the greatest dribbler in world football.

He was born in Pau Grande, a district of Magé, on the state of Rio de Janeiro, in 1933. He was born with his left leg bent inwards and his right leg six centimetres shorter and curved outwards. The name Garrincha itself means "songbird". Besides women, songbirds were one of Garrincha's greatest passions. He is regarded as one of the game's greatest players (many experts say he was the most skillful footballer to have come out of Brazil), and is remembered for his amazing dribbling skills and outrageous showmanship. At club level, he played 581 games and scored 232 goals for Rio club Botafogo. He also played for Corinthians (in 1966), Portuguesa (in 1967), Flamengo (in 1968 and 1969) and Olaria (in 1971 and 1972) of Brazil, and Atlético Junior (in 1968) of Colombia. His professional career stretched from 1953 to 1972.

He played sixty international matches for Brazil between 1955 and 1966, representing his country in the 1958, 1962 and 1966 World Cups. He played in only one losing international side (a 3-1 loss to Hungary at the 1966 World Cup). Brazil never lost when he and Pelé were on the same team.

1 Botafogo
2 1958 World Cup
3 1958–1962
4 1962 World Cup
5 Flamengo
6 Death
7 Quotes
8 References
9 Notes
- 9.1 Further reading

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Botafogo

Garrincha signed for Botafogo in 1953, and immediately demonstrated his confidence by dribbling the ball through the legs of Nilton Santos, a Brazilian international defender. He played in a 5–0 win for Botafogo's reserves and then scored a hat trick on his first-team début against Bonsucesso on 19 July 1953. He continued to play well, but Brazil had many talented players in his position (right-wing) so he was not named in the squad for the Template:Wc. He helped Botafogo win the Brazilian championship in 1957 and this convinced the national team selectors to name him in the squad for the Template:Wc.

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1958 World Cup

Garrincha was not picked for Brazil's first two matches in this tournament, but started their third match against the USSR. The USSR were one of the favourites for the tournament, and the Brazilians had been nervous about playing them. Their manager decided to attack directly from the kick off, and his instructions were "The first ball goes to Garrincha."Template:Ref Garrincha received the ball on the right wing, beat three opposing players and took a shot which hit the post. With the match still less than a minute old, he set up a chance for Pele, who hit the crossbar, and continually caused problems for the Soviet defence resulting in a third-minute goal for Brazil. Brazil went on to win the match and the tournament, and Garrincha became one of the most famous players in the world.

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1958–1962

Garrincha put on weight after the world cup, partly because he was fond of sweets and partly because he was drinking,Template:Ref so he was dropped from the national team for a friendly match in Rio against England on 13 May 1959. Later that month, he went on tour with Botafogo in Sweden and got a local girl pregnant.Template:Ref When he returned to Brazil, he drove home to Pau Grande and ran over his father, Amaro. He drove off without stopping, with an angry mob chasing him, and when they caught up with him they found him "drunk, almost catatonic, and with no grasp of what he had done."Template:Ref In August, his wife, Nair, gave birth to their fifth child, and his mistress Iraci announced her first pregnancy. His father died of liver cancer on 10 October having been dependent on alcohol for years. Garrincha was to suffer a similar fate.

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1962 World Cup

Garrincha was the outstanding player of the Template:Wc. When Pelé suffered an injury after the second match and was sidelined for the rest of the tournament, Garrincha played a leading role in Brazil's triumph, he arguably won the World Cup single-handedly with his extraordinary dribbling skills and explosive pace. He was particularly astonishing against England and Chile - taking them on 'single-handedly' again and again.

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Flamengo

Garrincha played for a whole season, between November 1968 and April 1969 for the most popular team of Brazil, Flamengo.

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Death

Garrincha died a forgotten hero in 1983, aged 49, of alcohol abuse, after a series of taxation and marital problems. His epitaph reads "Here rests in peace the one who was the Joy of the People — Mané Garrincha."Template:Ref

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Quotes

Pele was the best but Garrincha was better. Pele was a machine, Garrincha was an artist. Garrincha was Stanley Matthews, Tom Finney and a snake charmer all rolled into one. Template:Citation needed

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