Popular Footballer And Four Times World Cup Winner Is Dead

Brazilian football legend, Mario Zagallo, who won four World Cups as a player and coach, has died aged 92.

Zagallo was a winger in the Brazil team who won back-to-back World Cups in 1958 and 1962, starting in both finals.

He managed the side widely regarded as the greatest international team of all time, including Pele, Jairzinho, and Carlos Alberto, to glory in 1970.

Zagallo’s final World Cup triumph came as Carlos Alberto Parreira’s assistant coach in 1994.

He returned as Brazil manager after that tournament and led them to the final in 1998, where they were beaten by hosts France.

Zagallo was the first person to win the World Cup as both a player and a manager – a feat that has since been matched by Germany’s Franz Beckenbauer and France’s Didier Deschamps.

“With enormous sadness, we inform you of the death of our eternal four-time world champion Mario Jorge Lobo Zagallo,” a statement on his official Instagram account said.

“A devoted father, loving grandfather, caring father-in-law, faithful friend, victorious professional, and a great human being. Giant idol. A patriot who leaves us a legacy of great achievements.”

 

Popular Footballer And Four Times World Cup Winner Is Dead

 

The tournament, which launched 17-year-old sensation Pele on the world stage, ended with Brazil beating the hosts 5-2 in the final. Zagallo scored his team’s fourth and then set up Pele for the final goal.

Four years later, Zagallo played every single minute as a Garrincha-inspired Brazil overcame an injury sustained by Pele in the group stage to retain their crown, coming from behind to beat Czechoslovakia 3-1 in Santiago.

After retirement, Zagallo returned to the game as a manager, taking over former club Botafogo and leading them to two more state titles in a country under a military dictatorship.

Joao Saldanha had guided the national team to the 1970 World Cup in Mexico but was cast aside before the tournament in favor of Zagallo. Saldanha fell out with Pele and refused to bow to demands of then-president Emilio Garrastazu Medici on squad selection and, as a known Communist sympathizer, his fate was sealed.

Zagallo, just 38 at the time, inherited an exceptionally gifted squad — including Pele, Carlos Alberto, Jairzinho, and Rivelino and oversaw six wins from six games as Brazil captured the title for a third time in four attempts.

Years ahead of his time as a player, Zagallo quickly demonstrated his merit as a coach. He later reflected on the fabled 1970 World Cup, dominated by a spectacular Brazilian display, as his “greatest memory as a manager”.

A counter-intuitive type who believed in the number 13, Zagallo’s unabating hunger for success brought further domestic titles with Fluminense and Flamengo before he ventured abroad to Kuwait, winning the Gulf Cup in 1976 and reaching that year’s Asian Cup final.

After taking the United Arab Emirates to Italy in 1990, Zagallo was called on by Brazil for a final time, as technical director for the 1994 World Cup in the United States.

Together with his protege, Carlos Alberto Perreira, he guided the side to another world title after a dull final against Italy led to a penalty shootout.

His tilt at a fifth success fell agonizingly short in 1998 when Ronaldo, the pre-eminent player of his generation, suffered a mysterious fit before the final and Brazil slumped to a 3-0 defeat to hosts France.

Zagallo’s durability and lasting aura ensured he was a natural choice to stand in briefly for the departed Luiz Felipe Scolari following Brazil’s fifth World Cup victory in 2002.

“He was one of the greatest Brazilian players of his generation and, after winning the World Cup four times, he has left a permanent mark on Brazilian football,” said Ronaldo of the man nicknamed “The Professor”.

His wife of 57 years, Alcina de Castro, passed away in 2012.