Garrincha, the joy of the people
Manoel Francisco Dos Santos, better known to world as Mané Garrincha was born on October 28, 1933 in Pau Grande in the state of Rio de Janeiro. Garrincha, was born a simple disabled boy who grew into a great and famous player, but the fame and fortune would come at a price for the man they called the "little bird". Problems with money, injury, alcohol and women provoked his sharp decline and premature death.
At his prime Garrincha was simply unstoppable, indeed Brazil never lost when both Garrincha and Pelé played together. He always remained popular in Brazil and is rightly remembered as the best winger that modern football has produced, with his ability to dribble with the outside of his right foot followed by amazing acceleration which left his opponents for dead, destroying defenses and his amazing crosses that always found their target.
[photo=garrincha.jpg id=167 align=right]This is all the more amazing as Garrincha was born with several disabilities, one leg shorter than the other (6cm shorter) and knees that broke down throughout his career due to osteoarthritis, but this certainly didn’t prevent Garrincha from having an immensely successful career filled with national and international titles.
Garrincha’s career began playing for an English owned textile factory’s team, for whom he worked. Scouts from Botafogo – which would become his life long beloved club – spotted the young Garrincha and he signed his first professional contract on June 21, 1953. Playing his first game, a friendly meeting, against Avelar in which the young winger scored.
The “Fogão" idol was first called up to the Seleção by Coach Zézé Moreira on September 18 1955 for a game against Chile in the Maracanã. But it would be at the World cup in Sweden in 1958 that Garrincha would become internationally famous, under the coaching of Vicente Feola. He was such an awkward customer to defend against; in one move he would take the ball under his close control. In the next move, he would tease the defenders with his body movements, making even the coolest defenders to wonder whether it was a feint or not. Then, all out of a sudden, he would accelerate and get passed the one or two defenders marking him, leaving them standing in bewilderment, much to the amusement of the Swedish crowd.
[photo=garrincha2.jpg id=167 align=right]In 1962 in Chile, Pelé was wounded in the second game against Czechoslovakia and Aymoré Moreira (brother of Zézé) placed all the hopes of his team on Garrincha. But in the semi-final, Mané was sent off for retaliating for the many fouls the Chilean committed on him. But FIFA decided he could still play in the final thanks to the great influence of the C.B.D. After beating Czechoslovakia 3-1, Garrincha was voted the Player of the Tournament. He was also joint top-scorer, with 4 goals to his credit.
In 1964, "the small bird" joined Corinthians in São Paulo where he would stay for 3 seasons. But already alcohol and injury were starting to hamper his game.
In 1966 just prior to the world cup finals in 1966 World Cup, Garrincha was involved in a bad car crash that killed his mother-in-law. The Little Bird was no longer the same force. Still picked for the squad in the first match against Bulgaria, Garrincha scored a beautiful free-kick to help Brazil win. But in the next match, Brazil were beaten for the first time since 1954 ironically, by the same nation. 1966 was Garrincha’s last World cup with premature elimination at the end of the first round, Brazil’s earliest exit from the tournament before or since.
Garrincha next left Brazil and signed for Colombian side Atlético Barranquilla where he stayed for only one season, before returning to Brazil and joining Flamengo, but by now the osteoarthritis was corroding his knees, more and more he was relying on alcohol to help ease the pain. He spent the majority of his time at Flamengo injured or out of the team.
In 1972 Garrincha joined his last team Olaria thanks to an influential friend who realized the importance of staying in the game for Garrincha’s health. But by now the alcohol had taken its toll on his body and he was no longer recognizable as the player who FIFA now regard as the eighth best of all time and the fourth of South America.
Garrincha’s career lasted about 12 years with 579 games and 249 goals, winning three carioca championships 1957, 1961 and 1962 and two Tournaments Rio-São Paulo 1962 and (1964 with Corinthians).
On the 20th of January 1983, Mané died, aged only 49. His coffin was draped with the colors of Botafogo, and was escorted across Rio, where thousands of people lined the streets and Maracanã to pay homage to him. Twenty Years after Garrincha"s death he was elected the best player in the world for 1962.
