If you buy just one football book this Christmas make it this one - Garrincha: The Triumph and the tragedy of Brazil's forgotten footballing hero.I took five footy books on our honeymoon last year and this was by far the best. Before Best and Gazza was Manuel Francisco dos Santos, affectionally known by Brazilians as 'Garrincha' (the little bird) - a young lad from a pauper's village who had a deformed spine and 'bent' legs (his left knee bent out and his right knee bent out but doctors said there was nothing that could be done for him).
Garrincha was known amongst footballing scouts in the Rio Grande region but many simply would not believe that there was a unknown footballer "who lived in the woods and had bent legs who was totally unmarkable and who could dribble like the devil", he was overlooked until his late teens. It's a story not too disimilar to Lionel Messi's who suffered from a growth defect as a young boy in Argentina.
Garrincha was known amongst footballing scouts in the Rio Grande region but many simply would not believe that there was a unknown footballer "who lived in the woods and had bent legs who was totally unmarkable and who could dribble like the devil", he was overlooked until his late teens. It's a story not too disimilar to Lionel Messi's who suffered from a growth defect as a young boy in Argentina.
Garrincha played for his local factory team until Botafogo signed him up in 1953. In his first training session, he demonstrated his extraordinary skills by dribbling the ball through the legs of Nilton Santos, a Brazilian international defender and defensive midfielder with 16 international caps, who then requested himself for Garrincha to be hired. He played in a 5-0 win for Botafogo's reserves and then scored a hat trick on his first-team début against Bonsucesso on 19 July 1953.
Garrincha went on to play 50 international matches for Brazil between 1955 and 1966, and was a starter for the national team in the 1958, 1962 and 1966 World Cups. Brazil never lost a game when Pele and Garrincha were in the same line up (the only loss in 1966 against Hungary was when Pele was injured).
Garrincha went on to play 50 international matches for Brazil between 1955 and 1966, and was a starter for the national team in the 1958, 1962 and 1966 World Cups. Brazil never lost a game when Pele and Garrincha were in the same line up (the only loss in 1966 against Hungary was when Pele was injured).
Veteran football writers say that the start of the 1958 World Cup quarter final between Brazil and the fearsome USSR marked 'the greatest three minutes in the history of football' during which time Garrincha ran riot and Brazil hit the woodwork three times. But he wasn't interested in goals; he was interested in dribbling.
(Clips of Garrincha in action):
Garrincha would often beat a man and then track back with the ball to have another go, driving his fellow players to frustration. He wasn't interested in money, he was often taken advantage of by clubs who got him to sign blank contracts and then underpaid him. He was a pure and raw football talent who lived for the moment and had as many twists and turns off the pitch as on it with multiple marriages (including his last to a Brazilian samba queen), battles with drink, footballing comebacks and personal tragedies.
I won't ruin the read but suffice to say, this book totally overshadows the vast majority of mundane ghost written half baked efforts punted out by modern day footballers. Pele was great but it is Garincha who is mostly fondly held in Brazilian hearts.
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