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| Manuel Francisco dos Santos (Garrincha) -The Bent Legged Angel |
9. Manuel Francisco dos Santos (Garrincha)
He
had two famous nicknames in his country; Brazil. One was Alegria do
Povo –which means people’s joy– while the other nickname was Anjo de
Parnas Tortas –which means Bent-Legged Angel. These two nicknames show
how Brazilian people regarded him. He was even believed to be better
than Pele by many of football fans. His name was Manuel Francisco dos
Santos but he was popularly known as Garricha. He played three FIFA
football world cups –from 1958 to 1966– among which two tournaments were
won by Brazil. He proved himself to be the best replacement for Pele in
1962 FIFA World Cup when Pele injured out of the tournament and
Garrincha led the team not only to victory but also received both the
Golden Ball –for being the best player of the tournament– and the Golden
Boot –for being the leading goal scorer in the tournament.
Interestingly, Brazil never lost a match with both Pele and Garrincha in
the field. Born on 28th October, 1933 and died on January 20 1983 at
the age 49, Garrincha holds the 9th position in the list of all time best footballers.
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