| Named to the World Team of the Twentieth Century by 250 journalists from across the world in June, 1998, Garrincha is the greatest dribbler of the soccer's history. With his curved legs - the left one was bent inwards and the right was six centimeters shorter and curved outwards - he made some of the most beautiful soccer's performances ever. Manuel Francisco dos Santos was born in Pau Grande, a small city near Rio de Janeiro, on 28 October, 1933 and died on 20 January, 1983 in Rio de Janeiro. World champion twice, in 1958 and 1962. Garrincha was the main player of the World Cup in Chile. When Pele had an injury after the second match and was out for the rest of the tournament, Garrincha made the major role in Brazil's conquest. The name Garrincha itself means songbird. Besides alcohol and women, the songbirds was one of Garrincha's greatest passions. Mane - short name for Manuel - played 60 games for the Brazilian team. The first one was in 1955 against Chile in the Maracanã. His only defeat was in his last game, for the 1966 World Cup, in Liverpool, when Brazil lost to Hungary by 3 x 1. With Garrincha, Brazil won 52 games and had 7 draws. Brazil never lost with him and Pele playing together. For Botafogo, his first professional team, Garrincha played 581 games, scoring 232 goals. His first match was in 19th July 1953. This day, he scored three goals in the victory of 6 x 3 over Bonsucesso.
He was champion of the Carioca League in 1957, 1961 and 1962 and of Rio-São Paulo league in 1962 and 1964. In that time, there was no Brazilian championship, and the Rio-São Paulo joined all the best Brazilian teams. Garrincha's Botafogo made against Pele's Santos some of the best games of the history of Brazilian soccer. Garrincha also played for Corinthians, Flamengo, Olaria and some other Brazilian and foreign teams in the end of his career. His last appearance as a player was at Christmas time in 1982. |
Brazil