The Greatest Brazilian Players of All Time – 50s and 60s

by Bhris Mann
soccerlens.com; 2009.07.13

In this series I will be looking at some of the greatest Brazilian players to have graced the game of football over the last sixty years, using the 1950s, the decade in which Brazil marched to their first World Cup triumph, as a starting point.

In part one, I take a look at the finest footballers to have pulled on the yellow and green jersey of the Selecao during the 1950s and 60s. Part two will analyse players from the 70s and 80s, whilst part three will deal with the 1990s and players plying their trade today (links at the end of the article).

These selections will doubtless spark debate, so please make suggestions and let us know if you think differently. (…)

Garrincha (50 Caps, 12 Goals)

With crippled, twisted legs, there was never a more unlikely candidate to be such a skilful and mesmeric winger, but Manuel Francisco dos Santos, known colloquially as Garrincha, the “little bird” was the original maestro, a Brazilian hero and a Botafogo legend. Despite a number of personal battles off the field with alcoholism and financial irregularities, Garrincha has been immortalised in footballing history as one of the greatest dribblers and creative influences ever to have taken to a football field.

Both on and off the field Garrincha was a carefree, bohemian, almost chaotic figure who shunned order and convention in all he did. No better was this attitude displayed than when he inspired Brazil to World Cup success in 1958 and 1962, the displays of genius for which he is remembered as one of the finest, most imaginative players the game has ever seen.

Nilton Santos (75 Caps, 3 Goals)

Modern players such as Daniel Alves, Maicon and Javier Zanetti owe everything to the pioneering wing-back play of Nilton Santos. Nominally a defender, Santos broke down the predominant stereotypes associated with defending and transformed himself into a potent attacking weapon, bombing down the left flank and involving himself in much of Brazil’s forward play in the process.

Santos was named in four Brazilian World Cup squads (1950, 1954, 1958 and 1962) and was a particularly important and influential player during the 1954 and 1958 competitions, Brazil’s first truly modern wing-back. As well as being a regular in the yellow and green jersey, Santos was a Botafogo stalwart, making over 1,000 appearances for the Rio de Janeiro outfit during an incredible 36-year tenure as a professional footballer.

Didi (68 Caps, 20 Goals)

Waldyr Pereira, more commonly known as ‘Didi’, represented his country 68 times, playing as an instinctively creative midfielder during the ’54, ’58 and ’62 World Cups. Didi has been described as having had superb positional sense and vision from midfield, also being known for his innovation at set-pieces. Didi is recognised as having pioneered the “dry leaf”, a sharply bending and dipping free-kick more recently associated with Ronaldinho and Shunsuke Nakamura.

Didi was also one of the first Brazilian footballers to ply his trade in Europe, moving to Real Madrid for a season in 1959 before moving back to Botafogo, a club he played for in four separate spells during his career. He was a true footballing pioneer and is looked upon as one of the finest Brazilian midfield players of all time.

Fontehttp://soccerlens.com/best-brazilian-footballers/31408/