On March 20, 2014, Bellini left us at the age of 83, with an unforgettable career worthy of entering the most beautiful pages of football history books. The first World Cup-winning captain for the Brazilian National Team in 1958, the defender achieved the second title in 1962 alongside Mauro, the captain of that triumph.
Born in Itapira (SP), Hilderaldo Luís Bellini left his mark on the sport not only through his 57 appearances with the Seleção, achieving 42 victories and scoring eight goals, along with 11 draws and three defeats. Nor was it solely for his idolatry at Vasco da Gama, where he played for 11 years and became a three-time Rio de Janeiro State champion (1952, 1956, and 1958) and won the Rio-São Paulo Tournament in 1958.
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Bellini immortalized a gesture associated with victories: lifting the trophy above his head to celebrate. To this day, players around the world repeat this movement to celebrate winning a title. The image of the captain is immortalized at one of the entrances of the Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, one of the great stages of world football.
Although it may seem natural now, he admitted that the action happened by chance.
“I didn’t think about lifting the trophy, in fact, I didn’t know what to do with it when I received it from King Gustav of Sweden. During the Jules Rimet trophy presentation ceremony, there was a lot of confusion, with many photographers trying to find a better position. It was then that some of them, the shorter ones, started shouting: ‘Bellini, lift the trophy, lift it Bellini!’ since they were having trouble taking pictures. That’s when I raised it,” he explained.
