Mário Zagallo

Zagallo

Personal information
Full name	Mário Jorge Lobo Zagallo
Date of birth	August 9, 1931 (1931-08-09)
Place of birth	Maceió, Brazil
Height	1.67 m (5 ft 5 1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Inside Forward, Left Winger
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1948–1949	America
1950–1958	Flamengo
1958–1965	Botafogo
National team‡
1958–1964	Brazil	33	(5)
Teams managed
1966	Botafogo
1967–1968	Brazil
1969	Botafogo
1970–1971	Brazil
1971–1972	Fluminense
1972–1973	Flamengo
1974	Brazil
1975	Botafogo
1976	Kuwait
1977–1978	Botafogo
1979	Al-Hilal
1980–1981	Vasco da Gama
1981–1984	Saudi Arabia
1984–1985	Flamengo
1986–1987	Botafogo
1988–1989	Bangu
1989–1990	United Arab Emirates
1990–1991	Vasco da Gama
1991–1994	Brazil (assistant)
1994–1998	Brazil
1999–2000	Portuguesa
2001	Flamengo
2003–2006	Brazil (assistant)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 9 August 2011. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 9 August 2011

Mário Jorge Lobo Zagallo (born August 9, 1931 in Maceió) is a Brazilian former football player and manager.

Biography

Mário Jorge Lobo Zagallo was born in Maceió, Alagoas, to a family of Lebanese and Italian heritage.

Zagallo started his football career with América in 1948, and he later played for Flamengo and Botafogo.

He won the World Cup as a player with Brazil in 1958 and 1962.

He also won the World Cup as a manager (1970), and as assistant coach (World Cup 1994), both with the Brazilian national team. He also coached his country to a fourth-place finish in the 1974 World Cup and to a second-place finish in the 1998 World Cup.

Zagallo guided the United Arab Emirates to their first World Cup in 1990, but was dismissed from his post before the tournament. Zagallo was assistant coach (as in 1994, the main coach was Carlos Alberto Parreira) of the Brazilian team in the 2006 FIFA World Cup, which was eliminated by France.

In 1970, Zagallo assumed the national team after the previous coach João Saldanha resigned alleging that he was suffering external pressures to include players in the team. Zagallo had the task – and succeeded in performing it – of finding a place in the team for a group of outstanding players such as Pelé, Gérson, Tostão, Jairzinho and Rivelino. In his 1977 autobiography, Pelé writes that Zagallo initially restricted his team from playing their attacking game at the 1970 World Cup. Based on a chess format, Zagallo organized a sophisticated method, which he ultimately had to abandon due to player complaints. His side won all six of their matches, scoring 19 times in the process. It was the first time football had witnessed a 5-3-2 formation that could seamlessly transform itself into a 3-5-2 and back again.

He is famously superstitious about the number 13, believing that the 1958 and 1994 World Cups were special for him (and therefore for Brazil), because 5+8=13 and 9+4=13. Regarding the 1994 victory, he used to state that the phrase Brasil Campeão ("Champions Brazil") has 13 letters.

Quotes

• "I accept criticism, but what hurts is mockery. In Germany, I was elected the best coach in the world. In Brazil, I'm ridiculed."

• "I've lived football for 50 years, and this is my happiest moment. After 40 years, our flag will tremble again in Europe"

• "You gonna have to stand me!"

• "He was one of the greatest Brazilian players of his generation and, after winning the World Cup four times, he has left a permanent mark on Brazilian football. It is an honour for me to have worked with him" - Ronaldo

• "Brasil campeão (champions Brazil), has 13 letters!"

Honours

Brazil Honours as Player and Manager

• FIFA World Cup
  • Winners: 1958, 1962, 1970
  • Runners-up: 1998
  • Fourth Place: 1974

• FIFA Confederations Cup
  • Winners: 1997

• Copa América
  • Winners: 1997
  • Runners-up: 1959, 1995

• CONCACAF Gold Cup
  • Runners-up: 1996
  • Third Place: 1998

Minor Honours

• Oswaldo Cruz Cup: 1958, 1961, 1962
• Bernardo O'Higgins Cup: 1959, 1961
• Atlantic Cup: 1960
• Roca Cup: 1963, 1971 (Shared)
• Brazilian Independence Cup: 1972
• Umbro Cup: 1995
• Tournoi de France Runners-up: 1997

Player

Botafogo

• Paris Intercontinental Tournament: 1963
• Rio-São Paulo Tournament: 1962, 1964
• Rio de Janeiro State Championship: 1961, 1962

Manager

Botafogo

• Taça Brasil: 1968
• Rio de Janeiro State Championship: 1967, 1968
• Guanabara Cup: 1967, 1968

External links

• Iranian 70's singer Zia Atabay singing for Mario Zagallo after Iran's victory against Kuwait in World Cup Qualification match in 1977

Sporting positions
Preceded by Alf Ramsey	FIFA World Cup winning managers 1970	Succeeded by Helmut Schön