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Manuel Francisco dos Santos (October 28, 1933 – January 20, 1983), known by the nickname "Garrincha" (Portuguese pronunciation: [ɡaˈʁĩʃɐ], "little bird"), was an association football right winger and forward who helped the Brazil national team win the World Cups of 1958 and 1962. He played the majority of his professional career for the Brazilian club Botafogo.
The word garrincha itself means wren. Garrincha was also known as Mané (short for Manuel) by his friends. The combined "Mané Garrincha" is common among fans in Brazil. Due to his immense popularity in Brazil, he was also called Alegria do Povo (Joy of the People) and Anjo de Pernas Tortas (Angel with Bent Legs).
Garrincha is regarded as the best dribbler in football history.[5] In the Estádio do Maracanã the home team room is known as "Garrincha," while the visiting team room is known as "Pelé."
Garrincha was born in Pau Grande, a district of Magé, in the state of Rio de Janeiro, in 1933. His father was an alcoholic, drinking cachaça heavily, a problem which Garrincha would inherit. He had several birth defects: his spine was deformed, his right leg bent inwards and his left leg six centimeters shorter and curved outwards, none of which impeded his ability to play football at the highest level.
1958 World Cup
One month before the 1958 World Cup finals started, Garrincha scored one of his most famous goals, in Italy versus Fiorentina when he beat 4 defenders and the goalkeeper, and then when faced with an open goal, rather than scoring, he waited for another defender to get back and dribbled past him before scoring. Despite his stunning performance his coaches were upset at what they considered an irresponsible move and this likely led to Garrincha not being picked for Brazil's first two matches of the 1958 tournament. However he did start their third match against the USSR; this match marked the debut of both Garrincha and Pelé. The Soviets were one of the favourites for the tournament, and the Brazilians had been nervous about playing them.[3] Their manager, Vicente Feola, decided to attack directly from the kick off. 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 Pelé, who hit the crossbar,[3] and continually caused problems for the Soviet defence. Brazil were so impressive in the opening moments that the games start is often referred to as "the best three minutes of football of all time". Brazil won the match 2–0.
Following the Brazilians' narrow 1–0 quarter-final win against Wales on June 19, 1958, Mel Hopkins (the fullback who faced him that game) described Garrincha as "a phenomenon, capable of sheer magic. It was difficult to know which way he was going to go because of his legs and because he was as comfortable on his left foot as his right, so he could cut inside or go down the line and he had a ferocious shot too."[4]
In the final against Sweden, Brazil fell behind 0–1 early, but rapidly equalized after Garrincha surpassed his marker on the right wing and sent a cross for Vavá to score. Before the end of the first half, Garrincha made a similar play, again setting up Vavá to make the score 2–1. Brazil ended winning the match and its first World Cup trophy, with Garrincha being one of the best players of the tournament; he was voted to the "Best XI" for the competition.
Garrincha never bothered about the 'details' of the game. As his team-mates were celebrating the World Cup win, he was initially bemused, having been under the impression that the competition was more league-like and that Brazil would play all the other teams twice.[10]
1962 World Cup
Garrincha was the most outstanding player of the 1962 FIFA World Cup. 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, excelling particularly against England and Chile, scoring 4 goals in those two matches.
After one win and one draw, Brazil faced Spain, without Pelé. The South Americans were losing 0–1 in the second half. Amarildo, Pelé's substitute for the remainder of the tournament, scored the equalizer. Five minutes before the end, Garrincha took the ball on the right flank, dribbled past a defender and paused. Then he dribbled past the same man and another defender,[15] and sent a cross to Amarildo, who scored again to win the match.
In the quarter-finals against England, Garrincha opened the score with a header off a corner kick. England equalized before half time. In the second half, Vavá scored Brazil's second goal off a rebound of a shot by Garrincha; minutes later, Garrincha received a ball outside the penalty area, paused, and sent a curved shot – known as the "banana" shot – into the bottom of the net. Brazil won 3–1 and advanced to the semi-finals. The British football press said he "was Stanley Matthews, Tom Finney and a snake charmer all rolled into one."
During the quarter final, a stray dog ran on to the pitch and evaded all of the players' efforts to catch it until England striker Jimmy Greaves got down on all fours to beckon the animal. Though successful in catching the dog, it managed to urinate all over Greaves' England shirt. Greaves claimed that Garrincha thought the incident was so amusing that he took the dog home as a pet.[16] Ruy Castro's book expands upon this, by clarifying that the dog was captured by an official, and raffled off to the Brazilian squad, a raffle which Garrincha won. The dog was named "Bi".
He scored two more goals in the semi-final against the hosts, Chile, as Brazil went on to win 4–2. His first goal was a 20-yard left-foot shot; the second one, a header.[17] A subsequent headline in the Chilean newspaper El Mercurio read: "What planet is Garrincha from?"[18] Garrincha was sent off that match after 83 minutes for retaliating after being continually fouled. However, he was not suspended for the following match.
Brazil faced Czechoslovakia in the final. Garrincha played despite suffering from a severe fever,[19] but that did not prevent Brazil from winning 3–1 and him from getting voted player of the tournament.[18] It was the second consecutive World Cup won by Garrincha and Brazil.
Better than pele, for me and most people that were able to witness them both playing. But wasn't as midiatic, not to mention his sad ending in obscurity, dying from liver cirrhosis due to his alcohol problems.
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