Football Needs a Smile To Return to Its Fans, Football Needs a Garrincha

Am I the only one slightly disillusioned with football at the moment? Aren’t we all sick of the nastiness, the back stabbing, the refs, the added time debates, the diving, the money, the commercially driven chairmen, the bans, the sponsors, and even the rivalries?

I know I am. I wish the game were simpler, don’t you? A pitch, a ball, goals, and an abundance of talent. Who can we adore anymore?

How many players can we refer to as “The Joy of The People”? How many players nowadays are hailed by a nation, and revered long after they have passed away?

Garrincha was one such player.

Recently after reading a biography of the Brazilian, I felt I had to share his story with those that may know very little of the man nicknamed “Anjo de Pernas Tortas,” or “Angel with Bent Legs.” After all, he’s probably one of the very few players that I’ve read about that returned a smile to my face—a smile which all football fans seem to have lost to the modern game and its demons.

Garrincha was born in Pau Grande, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil in 1933, an impoverished area. When he was born, it was noticed that he had several birth defects ranging from his spine to his legs.

Yet, it was this deformation of his legs that would serve to create his legacy. His right leg bent inwards, while his left leg was six inches shorter than his right, and bent outwards. They looked as if “a gust of wind had blown them out of position.”

Although his hometown of Pau Grande was impoverished, it is said Garrincha enjoyed a very wild and activity-filled childhood. He would spend hours away from home, hunting animals, diving into the lake, and, most importantly, playing football with his friends.

It was on these streets that Garrincha honed his talents, dribbling in between pot holes and trees, the close control impeccable thanks to his extremely strangely shaped legs, which seemed to glide in and around the ball.

It was also on these streets that Garrincha started to become noticed by some small local teams. Garrincha, always picked first when the teams were decided, was easily spotted by the scouts because, simply, Garrincha dominated these games. Time after time, the onlooker would see a barefoot boy dribble around players with ease, before stopping, letting his opponent gather, and beating him again.

It was apparent that the youngster found joy in the simple art of beating an oncoming opponent. Though, I doubt very much if Garrincha saw it as an art, but just as fun, as football should be played, according to his nature and his instinct.

Some others had of course spotted his talents, and Garrincha sometimes travelled far to have trials with clubs, such as Cruzerio and Fluminense. However, time after time, they sent him packing for numerous reasons, one being that he turned up one day without boots.

However, when one day Garrincha was playing a game for one of the local sides, he showed his enormous talents to exactly the right person. The referee for the game was none other than Botofogo right back Araty Vianna, who, upon seeing the No. 7, a boy with crooked legs, score three goals in the first half hour, before adding another two before the final whistle loudly acclaimed, “This guy is a hundred times better than any winger at Botfogo!”

Months later, Garrincha found himself at Botofogo for a tryout, not that it bothered the youngster, now 19 years old and married. He had seen these trials come and go, and football to Garrincha was not about glory or money, it was just about a ball and your next opponent to beat.

However, they decided to see what Garrincha was really made of, and faced him with an enormous challenge. “Put him up against Nilton Santos,” the trainer demanded. Santos, at the time, was regarded as one of the most complete defenders of his age.

At 28 years old, Santos, powerful and experienced, approached the buzzing youngster slowly to intercept him. Suddenly, Garrincha was past him like the crack of a whip, before stopping again ready to take on Santos again.

The defender tackled powerfully, however, Garrincha passed him again.

Later on in the game, the two met again. Garrincha nutmegged him. Santos has never been nutmegged by anyone. The onlookers stood amazed…but smiling. It was one of those moments of pure footballing beauty. How could you not smile?

They knew a star was born.

Botafogo signed him immediately, and in his first game for his new club, Garrincha scored in a 1-0 win over Avelo.

In his second game, Garrincha dribbled around the entire defence of Cantagalo, including the goalkeeper before passing in front of an empty net for a teammate to score. They stood bewildered. Why do all that dribbling, exposing an empty net, and then pass it?

As Ruy Castro said, “For Garrincha, the fun was in dribbling. Just dribbling.”

Garrincha would go on to become one of the greatest players ever to grace the earth. Some still argue that he was much better than Pele, who officially holds that award.

He went on to play for Botafogo for 12 years, scoring 232 goals in 581 games, winning the Carioca Championship three times, and becoming a cult legend. He also won two World Cups, one in 1958 and another in 1962.

But throughout his career, Garrincha brought joy to those who watched him. The people would sing his name from the stands.

The people related to Garrincha. While Pele was undoubtedly one of the best players to grace the earth, his fame brought him wealth, while Garrincha was always the boy from Pau Grande.

He made people laugh uncontrollably when he took on defenders (he once got sent off for dribbling past a defender too many times), and some of the same people who were laughing were people that Garrincha was no different from. They might have been people from Pau Grande.

Can we say the same thing of the footballers today? Can we relate to them like the people of Rio, and other parts of Brazil related to Garrincha? When is the last time a player brought a smile to your face?

Wayne Rooney, snarling and spitting venom at the opposition? William Gallas, sitting in protest on the pitch? Cristiano Ronaldo, rolling about the pitch in pain created in his mind to create a set-piece?

Recent players may have brought joy to you of course. Ronaldinho was similar to Garrincha in many ways. He tricks and flicks, makes us laugh at the opposition and smile in amazement at his talent. He smiled when he played.

Now, he lurks among an A.C. Milan team, struggling to find form. Adriano, another Brazilian who promised greatness, has returned to his home to find the happiness that made him want to play football in the first place, to find the connection that Garrincha felt with the people, and the joy that people in return felt for him.

The same too applies to Ronaldo, now wowing crowds at Corinthians. Only now, upon his return, has he rediscovered the simple joys of football in the country that made us all realize its beauty in the first place.

For the sake of football, and the reasons we all watched it in the first place, let's hope for another generation of Garrinchas, Ronaldos, Adrianos, and Ronaldinhos.

Someone to make us happy about football again.