Welcome to the fifth in the "A Tribute To..." series. Today's tribute is to the man who many consider to be the forgotten hero of Brazilian football: Garrincha.
Garrincha is perhaps the most underrated player ever. Some fans may not have even heard his name before. Yet he is considered among experts to be the equal to even Pele. He is probably the greatest dribbler of the ball in footballing history. By the time you realised he had beaten you he was halfway down the field.
His crossing abilities and dead-ball skills are also among the best football has ever witnessed.
Born Manuel Francisco dos Santos on October 28, 1933, "Garrincha" was born with several defects. His left leg was six centimetres shorter than his right leg, and curved unnaturally outwards. His right leg bent inwards, and his spine was deformed.
Obviously, with those defects, no-one thought he would grow up to become one of the best football players ever.
Nor did Garrincha think that he would become a legendary footballer. At first he didn't even want to.
Scouts all over Brazil knew of him, and he was something of a legend between them. Many refused to believe the stories about him until they saw him themselves. One is quoted as saying "there is an unknown player who lives in the woods, has bent legs, is totally un-markable and dribbles like the devil."
Eventually scouts saw him, then believed. His immense talent was showing through at even this young age. However, it took time to convince Garrincha to play professionally. At 19 years old, he signed a contract with Botafogo. He was already married with a child.
In his debut first-team game of his career he scored a hat-trick. Garrincha had arrived.
Despite terrorizing defences every week for Botafogo with his electric pace, deceptive dribbling and powerful shot, he was overlooked for the 1954 Brazil World Cup squad. This was due to Brazil's new system they played, which it was thought Garrincha may not fit into, and because they had other talented right-wingers to choose from.
Garrincha continued to put in jaw-dropping performances, however, helping his team to success in the O'Higgins Cup in 1955.
It was this year when he gained his first Brazil cap. He was finally judged to have impressed enough to make it into the national squad and was given his debut against Chile.
For the next few years, Garrincha was in and out of the Brazilian team and continuing to mesmerize the fans with his ball control. In 1957 he helped Botafogo to win the Campeonato Carioca.
The following year he was selected in the Brazilian squad for the 1958 World Cup. However, he was left out of the first two games, reportedly due to his coaches punishing him for irresponsible play in a goal he scored a month previously.
This is one of his most famous goals. He was facing Fiorentina and got the ball, dribbled past four defenders and then the 'keeper. With the goal gaping in front of him, Garrincha didn't put the ball in. He wasn't finished toying with the defenders yet.
He waited for the defence to come back, before dribbling it around another defender and only then did he put them out of their misery.
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