The player had already been facing physical difficulties, in addition to problems with alcoholism.
In the second half of 1982, Garrincha (1933-1983) was in poor health due to alcoholism. For Paulo Machado de Carvalho, head of Brazil’s delegation at the 1958 and 1962 World Cups, problems with drinking began to worsen in the mid-sixties, when Mané began to face physical difficulties and was sidelined.
The statement by the leader, who died in 1992, is in a special program that TV Bandeirantes aired at the end of 1982. Paulo Machado de Carvalho, who, at the time, was the owner of TV Record, revealed: “In 1966, Garrincha came here, together with Elza Soares and she, in tears, said that only I could save Garrincha, including him in the 1966 team. [para a Copa]but ‘we know that if you ask for it, the business will work out’. Then, I was forced to say: ‘Garrincha, you can’t go, your knee isn’t working anymore. Physically, you can do whatever you want, but you can’t go anymore. (…).”
In 1966, in England, Paulo Machado de Carvalho was no longer the head of the delegation. The player was called up for the World Cup, but was visibly weakened. The report, shown by Bandeirantes, features images from the film “Garrincha, the joy of the people” and testimonies from journalist Osvaldo Sargentelli and Wanderléa, Garrincha’s last companion. Another rarity in “Memória da Pan”:
*This text does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Jovem Pan.
