Garrincha
Biography - Introduction - As
one of his teammates said in an interview,
Garrincha should have never become a soccer player. He was dependant on
alcohol, he had some natural problems on one of his feet and he was
nearly crippled and most importantly, he oftentimes seemed very
unfocused of what was happening on the pitch. His left leg was 6
centimeters shorter than his right one and it was curved outwards,
while his right foot was bent inwards.
Yet, despite all these, he is
regarded as one of the best footballers in Brazil's
soccer history. One has to wonder what would have become to
Garrincha if he hadn't had all those problems...But you'll find out all
about it in this biography.
Full
name
Manoel
Francisco dos Santos
Date
of birth
October
28, 1933
Place
of birth
Pau
Grande, Brazil
Height
5.7FT
- 1.69M
Playing
position
Forward
Botafogo - Born in Pau Grande in Rio de
Janeiro, He
managed to surpass his birth defects and play soccer with the other
kids. He started playing on an organized level at the age of 15, when
he was taken in to SC Pau Grande's youth team. However, he had no
intention to play soccer professionally and by the
time Botafogo signed him for their senior squad in 1953, he was already
married and a father.
In his first training
session
at Botafogo he impressed everyone with his dribbling skills and he
scored a hat-trick on his debut, against Bonsucesso.
Season
Club
Games
Goals
1953-1965
Botafogo
581
232
1966
Corinthians
10
2
1968
Atletico
Junior
1
0
1968-1969
Flamengo
15
4
1972
Olaria
10
1
World Cups - Although he played brilliantly
for
Botafogo on
his first two seasons as a professional soccer player, he was not
called for the 1954 World Cup, mostly because he was still new to the
scene and Brazil already had several quality players on his position.
He did still play well for Botafogo, helping the team in their rampant
run each year and he finally forced the hand of the Brazilian
national side staff into taking him in for the 1958 World
Cup.
His contribution
to Brazil
winning the World Cup was enormous and although Pele
took the frontlines with his high goal tally, Garrincha
was the man from the shadows who provided the perfect assists for his
teammates.
Four years later,
Brazil went
to Chile to defend their 1958 World Cup title and that they did, again thanks
to Garrincha. His passes helped Brazil out of a tough group
stage, but he truly shined in the knockout matches.
He scored two
beautiful goals
in the Quarter against England, taking Brazil to the semis where he
would get a double again, this time against hosts Chile. Unfortunately,
a fever that stroke him just hours before the grand final against
Czechoslovakia affected his performance in that match, but nevertheless
Brazil won 3-1, thus adding a second consecutive World Cup to
Garrincha's trophy room.
Years
National
Team
Games
Goals
1955-1966
Brazil
50
12
End
of Career - After having a
lot of
alcohol related
problems, his game had to suffer and in 1965 he would leave Botafogo,
the club that he played for in 12 consecutive seasons, scoring 232
goals in 581 matches. The following years found him playing
sporadically for other Brazilian teams such as Corinthians, Atletico
Junior, Flamengo or Olaria, where he ended his career in 1972, after an
unremarkable season.
His last
years had been
unhappy as he suffered from marital & financial problems but
his biggest problem was his liver
disease. He died when he was just 49
years old and his funeral drew thousands of fans for a walk, from the
Maracana to Pau Grande to show the respect and the love for the
Brazilian soccer hero, who remains in the history of Brazilian soccer
as one of the artisans of the two consecutive World Cups in 1958 and
1962.
