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Didi (footballer, born 1928)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other footballers named Didi, see Didi (disambiguation).
"Waldir Pereira" redirects here. For the football player born in 1986, see Waldir Lucas Pereira.

Didi
Didi in 1958
Personal information
Full name Waldyr Pereira
Date of birth (1928-10-08)8 October 1928
Place of birth Campos dos Goytacazes, RJ, Brazil
Date of death 12 May 2001(2001-05-12) (aged 72)
Place of death Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
Height 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position(s)
Youth career
1944 São Cristóvão
1945 Industrial
1945 Rio Branco
1945–1946 Goytacaz
1946 Americano
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1947–1949[1] Madureira 32 (8)
1949–1956 Fluminense 150 (51)
1956–1959 Botafogo 64 (40)
1959–1960 Real Madrid 19 (6)
1960–1962 Botafogo 44 (19)
1962–1964 Sporting Cristal 32 (4)
1964–1965 Botafogo 11 (1)
1965–1966 CD Veracruz 29 (4)
1966 São Paulo 4 (0)
International career
1952–1962 Brazil 68 (20)
Managerial career
1962–1964 Sporting Cristal
1967–1969 Sporting Cristal
1969–1970 Peru
1970–1971 River Plate
1972–1975 Fenerbahçe
1975 Fluminense
1977 Cruzeiro
1977–1981 Al-Ahli
1981 Botafogo
1981 Cruzeiro
1982–1983 Al-Shabab[2]
1985 Fortaleza
1986 São Paulo
1986 Alianza Lima
1989–1990 Bangu
Medal record
Men's Football
Representing  Brazil
FIFA World Cup
Winner 1958 Sweden
Winner 1962 Chile
Copa América
Runner-up 1953 Peru
Runner-up 1957 Peru
Runner-up 1959 Argentina
Panamerican Championship
Winner 1952 Chile
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Waldyr Pereira (8 October 1928 – 12 May 2001), also known as Didi (Brazilian Portuguese: [dʒiˈdʒi]), was a Brazilian footballer who played as a midfielder or as a forward. He played in three FIFA World Cups (1954, 1958, and 1962), winning the latter two.

An elegant and technical player, Didi was renowned for his range of passing, stamina and technique. He also was a free-kick specialist, being famous for inventing the folha seca (dry leaf) dead ball free kicks, notably used by modern-day players such as Juninho and Cristiano Ronaldo, where the ball would swerve downward unexpectedly at a point resulting in a goal.[3][4][5]

During his career, he was part of Fluminense between the end of the 1940s to the mid-1950s and one of the main players of the iconic squad of Botafogo in the early 1960s with other world champions such as Garrincha, Nilton Santos, Zagallo and Amarildo.

Early life

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Didi was born into a poor family in the city of Campos dos Goytacazes, 150 miles north of Rio de Janeiro. As a youngster, he sold peanuts in order to help his family, and began playing football in the streets [4][5] and nearly had his right leg amputated when he was 14 due to a severe infection following an injury to his knee. He later recovered and played for local clubs in his hometown.

Playing career

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Celebration after final whistle in 1958 FIFA World Cup Final. From the left, Didi, Pelé and Gilmar.

He became professional playing for Madureira and came to prominence when he joined Fluminense in 1949. At Fluminense, Didi played between 1949 and 1956, the club for which he played the longest time without interruption, having played 298 matches and scored 91 goals, being one of the main responsible for winning the 1951 Carioca Championship, in addition to scoring the first goal in the history of Maracanã for the Carioca Selection in 1950, defending his childhood club, and leading the Brazil National team in winning the 1952 Panamerican Championship, disputed in Chile, in the first relevant achievement of the Brazil national team abroad, having played alongside Djalma Santos, Castilho, Waldo, Telê Santana, Orlando Pingo de Ouro, Altair and Pinheiro, among others. During seven seasons with the club he won the Campeonato carioca in 1951 and 1952 Copa Rio.[4][5] On 16 June 1950, in a friendly match involving Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo youth state teams, Didi (aged 21), playing for Rio de Janeiro, scored the first ever goal at the Maracanã Stadium.[6]

During the 1954 World Cup he scored goals against Mexico and Yugoslavia, before Brazil's defeat to the favorites Hungary. This match was known as the Battle of Berne; Didi was involved with the brawl that followed this bad-tempered match.

At club level, he moved to Botafogo, winning the Campeonato Carioca (Rio state championship) in 1957. Didi had previously promised to walk from the Maracanã to his house, in the neighbourhood of Laranjeiras (9,4 km), in his kit, if Botafogo won the championship; 5,000 Botafogo fans joined him as he did so.[7]

His greatest achievement came at the 1958 FIFA World Cup where he was player of the tournament.[7] From midfield, he masterminded the first of his two FIFA World Cup successes for Brazil. In 68 international matches he scored 20 goals,[8] including a dozen using his trademark free-kicks.

In 1959, he was signed by Real Madrid of Spain, playing alongside many historical players such as Ferenc Puskás, Alfredo Di Stefano and Francisco Gento.

Despite his great reputation after the 1958 FIFA World Cup, he played only 19 matches with six goals for the Spaniards and often clashed with the team leader Alfredo Di Stéfano, who felt offended by the divide in the fans' attention with this newcomer; this situation precipitated his exit from the club. Nevertheless, despite his brief stint as a player for Real Madrid, he was able to participate in the victorious campaign of 1959–60 European Cup, becoming the first Brazilian player to win both the FIFA World Cup and the European Cup.

After Real Madrid he came back to Botafogo being part one of the most successful Brazilian teams at club level of all times. The Botafogo in the early 60s with the well-known Garrincha, Nilton Santos, Zagallo, Amarildo, Quarentinha and the very promising youngsters such as Manga, Gérson, Rildo and Jairzinho. At the time, Botafogo was the only club in national level able to compete against the Santos of Pelé.

After almost three successful years with Botafogo, he signed with Sporting Cristal from Peru in 1963, and returning once again for Botafogo for the last time in 1964. Botafogo was the club for which Didi played the most matches: he played 313 games and scored 114 goals. He was Rio champion for the club in 1957, 1961 and 1962 and also won the 1962 Rio-São Paulo Tournament, the same year he won the Pentagonal of Mexico and, in 1963, the Paris Tournament.

In 1965 he moved to the Mexican league to play for C.D. Veracruz. In 1966, at the age of 38, he signed with São Paulo expecting to lead the team with his experience, but he played only four games. After that, he decided to become a coach and retired as a player.

Managerial career

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After retiring as player, he began a coach career with Sporting Cristal, and was called to manage the Peru national team in the 1970 FIFA World Cup, successfully guided the Peruvians qualifying at the expense of Argentina, repaying the debt for eliminating Peru from 1958 FIFA World Cup.[9] That team included stars like Teófilo Cubillas and Héctor Chumpitaz were eventually defeated in the quarter-finals by Brazil. In 1971, he managed the top Argentine club, River Plate, when he accepted a lucrative position, and had his apex in his coaching career with Turkish Giant Fenerbahçe, guiding the team to two consecutive Turkish First Division (later named Süper Lig) titles in 1973–1974 and later in 1974–1975.

He also coached important Brazilian clubs like Bangu, Fluminense, Botafogo, Cruzeiro, Peruvian club Alianza Lima, the Kuwaiti national team and Al-Ahli.

Later years

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In October 2000, he was inducted into the FIFA Hall of Champions.[10] By this time he was quite ill and died the following year in Rio de Janeiro, at the age of 72, after contracting pneumonia from complications arising from intestinal cancer.[4]

Career statistics

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International

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Appearances and goals by national team and year[11]
National team Year Apps Goals
Brazil 1952 5 1
1953 5 0
1954 7 2
1955 2 0
1956 10 2
1957 10 9
1958 8 1
1959 7 3
1961 4 1
1962 10 1
Total 68 20
Scores and results list Brazil's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Didi goal.
List of international goals scored by Didi
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition Ref.
1 16 April 1952 Estadio Nacional, Santiago, Chile  Uruguay 1–0 4–2 1952 Panamerican Championship [12]
2 16 June 1954 Charmilles Stadium, Geneva, Switzerland  Mexico 2–0 5–0 1954 FIFA World Cup [13]
3 19 June 1954 Stade Olympique de la Pontaise, Lausanne, Switzerland  Yugoslavia 1–1 1–1 1954 FIFA World Cup [14]
4 15 April 1956 Praterstadion, Vienna, Austria  Austria – 3–2 Friendly [15]
5 9 May 1956 Wembley Stadium, London, England  England 2–2 2–4 Friendly [16]
6 13 April 1957 Estadio Nacional del Perú, Lima, Peru  Chile 1–1 4–2 1957 South American Championship [17]
7 2–1
8 3–1
9 23 March 1957 Estadio Nacional del Perú, Lima, Peru  Colombia 5–0 9–0 1957 South American Championship [17]
10 6–0
11 28 March 1957 Estadio Nacional del Perú, Lima, Peru  Uruguay 2–3 2–3 1957 South American Championship [17]
12 31 March 1957 Estadio Nacional del Perú, Lima, Peru  Peru 1–0 1–0 1957 South American Championship [17]
13 21 April 1957 Estádio Municipal, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil  Peru 1–0 1–0 1958 FIFA World Cup qualification [18]
14 11 June 1957 Estádio Municipal, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil  Portugal – 2–1 Friendly [19]
15 24 June 1958 Råsunda Stadium, Stockholm, Sweden  France 2–1 5–2 1958 FIFA World Cup [20]
16 10 March 1959 Estadio Monumental, Buenos Aires, Argentina  Peru 1–0 2–2 1959 South American Championship [21]
17 15 March 1959 Estadio Monumental, Buenos Aires, Argentina  Chile 3–0 3–0 1959 South American Championship [21]
18 21 March 1959 Estadio Monumental, Buenos Aires, Argentina  Bolivia 4–2 4–2 1959 South American Championship [21]
19 7 May 1961 Estadio Nacional, Santiago, Chile  Chile – 2–1 1961 Copa Bernardo O'Higgins [22]
20 21 April 1962 Estádio Municipal, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil  Paraguay – 6–0 1962 Taça Oswaldo Cruz [23]

Honours

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Player

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Botafogo

Fluminense

Real Madrid

Brazil

Individual

[edit]

References

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  1. ^ "Jornal dos Sports". Biblioteca Nacional Digital (in Portuguese).
  2. ^ "الشباب يلغي معسكره فالشرقية".
  3. ^ "Kings of the free-kick". FIFA.com. Retrieved 20 May 2014
  4. ^ a b c d Brian Glanville (15 May 2001). "Didi". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 February 2017.
  5. ^ a b c "Didi". The Telegraph. 15 May 2001. Retrieved 21 February 2017.
  6. ^ Maracanã Stadium, Sambafoot
  7. ^ a b Bellos, Alex (2002). Futebol: the Brazilian way of life. London: Bloomsbury. ISBN 0-7475-6179-6.
  8. ^ Waldir Pereira "Didi" – International Appearances and Goals, RSSSF, 6 September 2006
  9. ^ "Ricardo Gareca y Waldir Pereira, los verdugos y héroes de Perú". 19 November 2017.
  10. ^ "Rivaldo on top of the world". FIFA. Archived from the original on 13 December 2006. Retrieved 4 March 2007.
  11. ^ "Didi". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 24 October 2024.
  12. ^ "I. Panamerican Championship 1952". The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 24 October 2024.
  13. ^ "Brazil vs. Mexico". National Football Teams. Retrieved 24 October 2024.
  14. ^ "Brazil vs. Yugoslavia". National Football Teams. Retrieved 24 October 2024.
  15. ^ "Austria v Brazil, 15 April 1956". 11v11. Retrieved 24 October 2024.
  16. ^ "England v Brazil, 09 May 1956". 11v11. Retrieved 24 October 2024.
  17. ^ a b c d "Southamerican Championship 1957". The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 24 October 2024.
  18. ^ "Brazil v Peru, 21 April 1957". 11v11. Retrieved 24 October 2024.
  19. ^ "Brazil v Portugal, 11 June 1957". 11v11. Retrieved 24 October 2024.
  20. ^ "Brazil vs. France". National Football Teams. Retrieved 24 October 2024.
  21. ^ a b c "Southamerican Championship 1959 (1st Tournament)". The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 24 October 2024.
  22. ^ "Chile v Brazil, 07 May 1961". 11v11. Retrieved 24 October 2024.
  23. ^ "Brazil v Paraguay, 21 April 1962". 11v11. Retrieved 24 October 2024.
  24. ^ a b c "Didi, the unflappable genius". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on 10 September 2015. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
  25. ^ "1982 FIFA World Cup Technical Report" (PDF). FIFA Technical Group. 1982. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 January 2010.
  26. ^ a b IFFHS' Century Elections Archived 12 January 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  27. ^ "The Best of The Best" Archived 26 January 2010 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved on 17 November 2015
  28. ^ "The other two Ballon d'Or Dream Team XIs: Zidane, Cruyff, Iniesta, Di Stefano... but no Casillas". MARCA. 15 December 2020. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
  29. ^ "IFFHS South America Men's Team of All Time".
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