{"id":358147,"date":"2024-01-07T18:35:44","date_gmt":"2024-01-07T19:35:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=358147"},"modified":"2024-01-07T21:01:47","modified_gmt":"2024-01-07T21:01:47","slug":"tributes-flow-for-godfather-of-brazilian-football","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=358147","title":{"rendered":"Tributes flow for 'Godfather of Brazilian football'"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mario Zagallo, who won two World Cups<\/a> as a player, one as a coach and another as an assistant coach for Brazil<\/a>, has died. He was 92.<\/p>\n

The first person to win the World Cup both as a player and a manager, Zagallo is for many Brazilian football<\/a> fans synonymous with patriotism, grit and glory.<\/p>\n

The only person to ever win four World Cup titles was also the last living member of Brazil's starting team in its first championship victory in the tournament in 1958.<\/p>\n

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Zagallo died of multiple-organ failure as a consequence of multiple comorbidities, Hospital Barra D\u2019Or in Rio de Janeiro said in a statement. Local media reported he was hospitalised after Christmas.<\/p>\n

\"Brazil's<\/p>\n

Brazilian football confederation president Ednaldo Rodrigues said in a statement confirming Zagallo's death that Zagallo \u201cis one of the biggest legends\u201d of the sport.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe offer solidarity to his family members and fans in this moment of grief for the departure of this great hero of our soccer,\u201d Rodrigues said. Several Brazilian clubs where Zagallo played and coached also expressed their sorrow for his death.<\/p>\n

Zagallo\u2019s social media channels called him \u201ca dedicated father, a loving grandfather, a caring father-in-law, a loyal friend, a victorious professional and a great human being".<\/p>\n

\u201cA gigantic hero. A patriot that leaves us a legacy of great achievements,\u201d the text added, without giving more details about Zagallo\u2019s death.<\/p>\n

One of the most charismatic and superstitious figures in Brazilian football, he also was known for his fondness of the No.13 and constant use of the phrase \u201cYou will have to put up with me\u201d \u2014 voiced loudly at critics.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/BrasilEdition\/status\/1743687406824431942?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw<\/a>https:\/\/twitter.com\/FIFAWorldCup\/status\/1743607247249211744?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw<\/a>https:\/\/twitter.com\/Oficial_RC3\/status\/1743597084400349609?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw<\/a><\/p>\n

He said 13 was his lucky number because it carries the last two digits of his birth year: 1931. He always highlighted any link, however coincidental, between 13 and his football successes.<\/p>\n

Zagallo played a role in nearly every major chapter in Brazilian football history, from its first World Cup title in 1958 to the tournament it hosted in 2014. Former Brazil coach Tite visited him to hear his advice before taking the team to the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.<\/p>\n

Senator Rom\u00e1rio Faria, the former Brazil striker who famously spent most of his career at odds with Zagallo, said the man nicknamed \u201cOld Wolf\u201d has \u201cthe same importance of Pel\u00e9\u201d for his nation. The 1994 World Cup winner openly criticised Zagallo for leaving him out of the 1998 tournament for medical reasons.<\/p>\n

Two-time World Cup winner Cafu, who played for Zagallo in the 1994, 1998 and 2006 editions of the tournament, said \u201che was not only a coach, but a friend, a father, a companion who taught me a lot".<\/p>\n

\u201cThat image of joy and commitment will remain,\u201d he told TV channel GloboNews. \u201cWe love the national team so much, and when we speak about Zagallo it is about the national team.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Mario<\/p>\n

Zagallo was Brazil\u2019s forward when it won the World Cup in 1958 in Sweden and 1962 in Chile, and one of the first players to act as a false winger, playing between midfielders and strikers.<\/p>\n

He stopped playing professionally in 1965 and began his coaching career with Rio de Janeiro club Botafogo the following year.<\/p>\n

Named national team coach in 1970, just before the World Cup in Mexico, he inherited a squad that included Pel\u00e9, Jairzinho, Gerson, Roberto Rivellino and Tost\u00e3o. Brazil crushed Italy 4-1 in the final, becoming the first three-time champion.<\/p>\n

He also coached Brazil in 1974, but without Pel\u00e9, the team finished in fourth place.<\/p>\n

Zagallo was assistant coach to Carlos Alberto Parreira when Brazil won the 1994 World Cup in the United States, again beating Italy in the final. Parreira many times said he felt as if the team had two coaches, such was Zagallo's influence in his squad.<\/p>\n

And he was back at the helm four years later for the World Cup in France, when Brazil lost 3-0 to the hosts in a final marked by striker Ronaldo\u2019s unexplained convulsions before the game. Zagallo was criticised for letting Ronaldo play.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was cleared to play by the doctors,\u201d Zagallo said. \u201cAnyone in my position would have done the same thing. I wasn\u2019t going to be the one keeping him from playing in a World Cup final.\u201d<\/p>\n

His final coaching role with the national team was as Parreira\u2019s assistant in 2006. Brazil was a pre-tournament favourite to win its sixth World Cup title in Germany. But the squad led by Ronaldinho, Kak\u00e1, Ronaldo and Adriano fell to France in the quarter-finals.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe story of the FIFA World Cup cannot be told without M\u00e1rio Zagallo," the governing body's president Gianni Infantino said in a statement. \u201cHe will be remembered as the Godfather of Brazilian football and his presence will be sorely missed by everyone in the game but especially here at FIFA".<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mario Zagallo, who won two World Cups as a player, one as a coach and another as an assistant coach for Brazil, has died. He […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":358149,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358147"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=358147"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358147\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":358152,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358147\/revisions\/358152"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/358149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=358147"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=358147"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=358147"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}