Mario Zagallo, Brazilian Football Legend, Dies at 92
- AFP/GABRIEL BOUYS
Brazil – The Brazilian football legend and the first person to win the FIFA World Cup as both a player and coach, Mario Zagallo died at the age of 92 on Friday local time.
He plays a significant role in Brazil's rise as a world football power. Before he died Zagallo was the only remaining member of the Brazil team that lifted the 1958 World Cup trophy, his country's first title and eased the pain of a traumatic defeat to Uruguay at the Maracana eight years earlier.
Emerging from the amateur ranks in the 1950s, Zagallo, a diminutive left winger, embodied Brazil's attempt to combine attacking flair with defensive solidity, combining his exquisite technique with admirable commitment.
He won five Rio de Janeiro state championships with Flamengo and Botafogo. Zagallo only made his Brazil debut at age 26, shortly before the 1958 World Cup in Sweden, but became an integral member of the team, winning 37 caps.
The tournament, which brought a 17-year-old Pele onto the world stage, ended with Brazil beating the hosts 5-2 in the final. Zagallo scored his team's fourth goal and then set up Pele for the final goal.
Four years later, Mario Zagallo played every minute as a Garrincha-inspired Brazil overcame an injury suffered by Pele in the group stage to retain their crown, coming from behind to beat Czechoslovakia 3-1 in Santiago.
After retiring, Zagallo returned to playing as a manager, taking over his former club Botafogo, and leading them to two more state titles in a country under military dictatorship.
Joao Saldanha had guided the national team to the 1970 World Cup in Mexico but was removed before the tournament and replaced by Zagallo.
Saldanha fell out with Pele and refused to bow to the demands of the then president, Emilio Garrastazu Medici, regarding squad selection, and as a Communist sympathizer, his fate was already sealed.
Mario Zagallo, then just 38, inherited a very talented squad, including Pele, Carlos Alberto, Jairzinho, and Rivelino, and made it six wins from six games as Brazil claimed the title for the third time in four attempts.
Years ahead of his time as a player, Zagallo quickly demonstrated his abilities as a coach. He later reflected on the fabled 1970 World Cup, dominated by Brazil's spectacular performance, as his greatest memory as a manager.
A counter-intuitive type who believed in the number 13, Zagallo's hunger for success led to further domestic titles with Fluminense and Flamengo before he ventured abroad to Kuwait, winning the Gulf Cup in 1976 and reaching the final of the Asian Cup that year.