and they had a good relationship, but the friendship never went beyond the pitch, perhaps due to differences in personality. In the 1962 World Cup, in Chile, the King was injured in Brazil’s second game and never took the field again. Reports from two-time world champion players indicate that Mané was very sad about the absence of his teammate.
Garrincha played for him and for Pelé: he scored with his head and even with his left leg, with brilliant performances that led the national team to another title. The “genius with the bandy legs” would have turned 92 years old this October 28th, but he died young, at the age of 49, in 1983.
Before the World Cup in Chile, the governor of Guanabara, Carlos Lacerda, promised to give the player a Mainá bird, in case he won the Jules Rimet cup. Upon returning to Brazil, the report from Carioca Diary recorded the moment when Mané arrived in Pau Grande, in Rio de Janeiro, his hometown, with the bird: “The famous player’s entire large family and neighbors gathered around the cage, organizing an enthusiastic crowd that cheered intensely with the talking bird’s ‘rants’ (…)”. According to the newspaper, Mainá said: “Say Manuel”, “Vasco”, “the key, the key”. One of the objectives was to teach the bird to say “Botafogo”, Mané’s team, and forget about Vasco da Gama! During the World Cup, the Sports Journal gave the following headline: “Brazil is big because it has a demon called Garrincha”.
The sports chronicle usually analyzes his performance in 1962 as the greatest individual performance by a player in World Cups, much compared to Maradona’s in 1986, in Mexico. Manuel Francisco dos Santos, or simply Garrincha, popular name for a bird, is one of the geniuses of world football and one of the most popular players in history. Simple-minded, but not always as naive as many labeled him, Mané Garrincha, the “genius with bowed legs”, amazed the world in 1958. In 1962, he showed an even greater repertoire. For Garrincha, sometimes called the “Charlie Chaplin of football”, no matter the opponent, football was simply a game.
Constant knee injuries, alcoholism and financial difficulties marked his career and personal life. Mané played in the 1958, 1962 and 1966 World Cups. He entered the history of Brazilian and world football, being considered one of Botafogo’s greatest idols. In São Paulo, he had a discreet spell at Corinthians, as, at the time, he was already facing physical problems. The 1962 World Cup marked the beginning of Garrincha’s relationship with singer Elza Soares.
Below, a link to listen to the broadcasts Young Panstill Radio Panamericana, in that World Cup.
