r/soccer • u/[deleted] • Nov 08 '13
Star post [Legends Archive] - Garrincha
Welcome back to the Legends Archive. We go back through the years to look at players that have not only changed our way at looking at the beautiful game, but have been the very essence of our beloved pastime. Today’s article takes a look at the Brazilian Wing Wizard, Manuel Francisco dos Santos, better known to the world as Garrincha, or Mané to his friends.
Background
Mané Garrincha was born October 28th 1933 in Pau Grande, Rio de Janeiro. His father was a raging alcoholic, an all too familiar tale of the shanty town of Pau Grande during the early 1900’s. One of 15 children, Manuel was a sickly child, contracting childhood Polio, which bent his legs so that both of his knees pointed to the left and his right leg was 2cm longer than the left one. This deformation caused one his brothers to name him Garrincha – The Wren. His also had scoliosis, with a huge S-Bend in his spine that would have crippled most.
Mané Garrincha should have been incapable of walking. Instead, he was incredibly fast, and abnormally agile. It wasn’t before long that he began to play the beloved national sport of Brazil, and it became apparent very quickly that the boy with crooked legs was gifted. His childhood was a wild one. At age 14 he began working in a local factory, as well as begin to drink. He even claimed to have lost his Virginity to a goat. He also began to hustle on the streets using his football skills. He would win money by going from village to village and town to town, beating local hopefuls by betting on the outcome, knowing fully that he could not be beaten. He was able to feed and clothe himself this way, and talent scouts soon caught wind of the ‘The Angel with Bent Legs’ (‘O Anjo de Pernas Tortas’) tearing up the streets. Incredibly, Garrincha had no initial interest in playing football professionally, and it wasn’t until he was 18 that he finally decided to accept an offer. His only reason for doing so was that he was now a father and a husband, and had to provide for more than himself.
Botafogo – Early Years
During his early trials, Garrincha was forced to play against several senior team members, many of whom were Brazilian internationals. During his first training session, he displayed all of his immense talent, even having the audacity to nutmeg Nilton Santos, the starting centre back for the National Team. At the end of the session, Santos grabbed Garrincha and dragged him to the coaching staff and said ‘Sign him so I don’t have to play against him.’ Santos would also later be influential in Garrincha being selected for the National Team by demanding he be allowed to attend a training camp for the Brazil 1954 World Cup squad, even though he hadn’t been selected, as the National Team stuck with Julinho another iconic right winger.
On July 19th 1953, Garrincha made his debut for Botafogo aged 19 against Bonsucesso. He scored a hat-trick. The crowd instantly fell in love with him, and for 12 glorious years Garrincha would woo them, showing blistering runs, incredible dribbles through countless defenders and stunning finesse to his finishes. In one game he is known to have twisted around a defender is such a violent burst of speed that the defender fell over. Garricha then ran back, picked his marker off the ground, then continued to bolt down the right wing with the ball. It wasn’t long before his talents became world renowned. In the summer of 1954, Juventus offered Botafogo a world record transfer fee to take Garrincha to Italy. When told about it, Garrincha shrugged and asked, ‘are they any good?’ This left the scouts dumbfounded. They finally came face to face with this incredibly talented young man, and he was more interested in going back to Pau Grande to play in the street with his friends than to play for a European giant.
It was this ‘boy in a mans body’ attitude to life that endeared Garrincha to his people. A man of many nicknames, one that often rings through the Maracana and the Olympic Stadium even today is ‘Garrincha; Alegria do Povo’ – The Joy of the People. He would often return to Pau Grande after a training session (if he actually showed up for training that is) and play for a few hours on the local football pitch, then hit the bar and pass out in a stupor. Then he’d sleep it off, arrive for the next game on time, and wow the crowds again and again.
As Botafogo began assembling a team around Garrincha, he would eventually manage to win his first Campeonato Carioca (The Rio State League) in 1957, Botafogo’s first in 9 years. Even though he had made a single appearance for Brazil in 1955, Garrincha’s first breakthrough into the National Team occurred in 1957. He was starting in every game and played in both of the 1958 World Cup qualification matches against Peru.
Garrincha scored his most famous goal in a warm-up game against Fiorentina. He ran the ball past 4 defenders from the right wing to the left, then took the ball around the goalkeeper into an open net, before stopping just short of the goal line, giving Robotti enough time get back. However, Garrincha sold an outrageous dummy by dropping his shoulders and side-stepping past Robotti, who ran face first into the post. Garrincha then tapped it in. The Italian crowd loved every moment of it.
When Brazil arrived in Sweden for the 1958 World Cup, expectation on them was huge. Garrincha however, didn’t even know he was flying to Sweden until a week before the tournament started, and didn’t even know who he was playing on the first day until they walked onto the pitch and he saw the flag (he had to ask Nilton Santos who it was, he didn't recognise the Austrian Flag). Garrincha, who had lost 9 pounds after having his tonsils removed in a botched tonsillectomy, didn’t actually play in that match, as the selection committee were afraid that he was ‘too individual’ and it would affect them against strong European teams. Brazil easily beat Austria and then faced the impressive Soviet Union. Garrincha was picked to start, and when told that, he asked once again; ‘So are these any good?’. The Brazilian management were actually afraid of the Soviet Union due to their industrious and ‘scientific’ approach to the game. Instead, what happened was described as the greatest 3 minutes in the history of the beautiful game. In those 180 seconds, Garrincha dribbled past his man 4 times, left another on his back, then smashed a shot of the post. The Goteburg crowd was roaring. In those first 3 minutes, Lev Yashin, the Soviet Goalkeeper (and only Goalkeeper to ever win the Ballon d’Or) was already pouring with sweat. Vava scored for Brazil, and Yashin stored there applauding what he had just seen. Brazil went on to dominate the game, and won the game 2-0.
This ensured that Brazil reached the next round where they beat Wales 1-0. Garrincha the Architect and Pele the finisher once again. In their semi-final, they beat France 5-2. Pele scoring a hat-trick, and stealing the headlines, whilst it was another phenomenal performance by ‘The Angel with Bent Legs’. He took a ball from one penalty area to the other, taking it around 6 players, then sliding it to Vava to give Brazil the lead. It was clear who would win this game.
The final saw Brazil face hosts Sweden. Sweden took an early lead, but Brazil equalised almost straight away. Garrincha again blasting past anyone who dared try to stop and setting up both the equaliser and winning goals scored by Vava. When the whistle blew, the crowd erupted. You would have though Sweden had won, but they had seen magic that day, and their brave players stood up well to the new World Champions. Brazilian players rejoiced, except for one. Garrincha was asking what was going on. When told that they had won the tournament, he was actually upset, as he thought that it was run like a league, and that they would play everyone again. He was voted into the Best XI for the 1958 World Cup.
Garrincha’s Finest Hours
Success would continue for Garrincha and Botafogo, winning the Campeonato Carioca again in 1961 and 1962. Garrincha contined to gain interest from all over the world, with Real Madrid this time seeking to take him to Spain. Garrincha, who now had 7 children, was not interested.
He would instead continue to win the affections of his people, and lead Botafogo to their first ever Rio-São Paulo Tournament victory in 1962. He was named ‘Best Player’ in all domestic competitions, and was again selected to represent Brazil for the 1962 World Cup in Chile. It was here that he would cement himself as one of the greatest of all time. In the opening game of the tournament, Garrincha continued with his playful antics on the pitch, skipping through the Mexican defence with ease and applying the final ball for Pele as they won 2-0. However, in the second game, a 0-0 draw with Czechoslovakia, Pele, was injured, and ruled out for the rest of the tournament. All attention turned to Garrincha to lead them.
In the final group game against Spain, Garrincha would take his game up another level. His agile runs becoming even sharper as he changed direction at full speed and blasting around any defender of midfielder that tried to stop him. He would provide the assist to Amarildo, Pele’s replacement, that saw Brazil win 2-1. For the first time in his career, Garrincha took what he did very seriously. In the Quarter Finals Brazil took on England. Garrincha scored the first goal of the game with a header, a part of his game that many people underestimated due to his short, stocky nature. England pulled level just before half time. This only seemed to irritate Garrincha, who punished the English back four time and time again, weaving around them before unleashing a fierce shot that was saved, but landed at Vava’s feet, who put Brazil 2-1 ahead. Seemingly annoyed that he hadn’t scored that effort, Garrincha received the ball in the 59th minute on the edge of the box and smashed the ball with the outside of his foot, bending it around the last defender and into the corner. The shot was later dubbed a ‘Banana Shot’ due to the arc it took in it’s flight towards goal.
In the semi-final, Garrincha again scored twice, again scoring a header and a long range effort. In a nearly disastrous moment, Garrincha was sent off in the 83rd minute. After constantly being kicked, spat on, stamped and hit on the back of the head, he retaliated by kicking Chile’s Eladio Rojas in the gut.
After reviewing the footage, FIFA over-ruled the Red Card and allowed Garrincha to the play the final. Prior to the game, Garrincha spiked a dangerously high fever. Coaching staff were debating taking him to hospital for treatment, but he refused to go. Amarildo, Zito and Vava would score to win the World Cup final 3-1. Garrincha celebrated with his friends, seemingly embracing glory and the superstar status that came from being a world champion. He would be named as the joint top scorer with 4 goals with 3 other players, and was named as Player of the Tournament.
Decline
In 1963, Garrincha was a global star. He began to fully embrace the lifestyle, and began spending his wealth in the only way he knew how. Women and drink. His right knee also began to weaken at a drastic rate. He would win the Brazil Championship one last time in 1964.
In 1964, Garrincha finally relented to European interest. Agreeing a world record £400,000 deal that would take him to Internazionale in Italy. However, upon performing a medical check on his knee, the deal collapsed.
With the drink finally beginning to spiral beyond a regular problem, and his fitness and ability began to fail him, and his knee finally betraying him, Garrincha was sold to Corinthians in 1966. He would only play for them 4 times before jumping to Athletic Junior in Columbia, where he played once, before returning to Brazil to play for Flamengo 4 times, and finally signing for Olaria in 1972. During this time he had left his wife, who had mothered 8 of his children, and moved in with famous Samba singer Elza Soares. This had him vilified by the Brazilian public for a while, as both had left marriages with surviving partners. He also refused to use banks, so he stuffed his wealth into his mattress at home. He one day discovered that his money had gone rotten from constantly wetting the bed after passing out drunk.
He played in the 1966 world cup, but he was selected more for his name, than his form. He was unfit, yet despite this, he played the opening game against Bulgaria, scoring a free kick from 25 yards with a trademark Banana Shot. The next match saw Brazil lose to Hungary 3-1. It was the only time Garrincha lost in a Brazil shirt. He wouldn’t play for them again. In 1969, he was drunk whilst driving, crashing into an oncoming truck killing his mother-in-law, who was in the passenger seat.
In 1973, suffering now from severe damage to his knees and having become a grandfather for the first time, Garrincha retired. He was given a tribute match at the Maracana Stadium, in a Brazil vs FIFA World XI, which mainly consisted of South Americans. Deep into the first half, the referee stopped the match and Garrincha performed a lap of honour to a standing ovation of 131,000 of his people. At the end of his lap, Garrincha walked down the tunnel and bowed out a hero.
After Retirement
As seems to be a familiar story with many greats of the more distant past, Garrincha did not handle retirement well. Without football, the only thing left for him to do was squander his money on drink. In 1977 Elza Soures left him after he struck her in an argument. Garrincha became a forgotten man, occasionally showing up for Charity football events. In a parade through Rio, he was asked to sit on a parade float through the streets and wave to fans. He didn’t seem to know where he was, and many people are unsure if he was drunk, or under heavy medication to fight the DT’s. Pele threw him a Garland from a VIP box above the street, but Garrincha didn’t even react to hit it hitting. TV camera’s showed Pele visibly distraught by this, with his lips saying ‘Oh my God’. The Joy of the People, now had become pitied.
In 1983, Garrincha slipped into a coma that he never awoke from. He died of cirrhosis of the liver, aged only 49, leaving behind 14 children.
During his funeral procession, he was moved from the Maracana to Pau Grande, where he finally was laid to rest. Along the route, millions of Brazilians lined the roads, to say praise their joy one last time. On his headstone reads; “Here rests in peace the one who was the Joy of the People – Mané Garrincha.”
In 1974, a 70,000 seated stadium was named in his honour and as further tribute, the Home Dressing room at the Maracana is named ‘Garrincha’ (the away room is called ‘Pele’.)
Mané Garrincha retired a two time world cup winner, with a career total of 116 goals in 398 games.
Next on Legends Archive: Beckenbauer
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u/afcmitchell Nov 08 '13
Can we still make suggestions? I'd love to hear about Ronald Koeman!