From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This is a Portuguese name; the first family name is Reis and the second is dos Santos.
| Nílton Santos |
 |
| Personal information |
| Full name |
Nílton Reis dos Santos |
| Date of birth |
16 May 1925 (1925-05-16) (age 84) |
| Place of birth |
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
| Height |
1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) |
| Playing position |
Defender |
|
* Appearances (Goals)
|
Nílton Reis dos Santos (born May 16, 1925) is a Brazilian former football defender. He was born in Rio de Janeiro. He was a left wing-back who could play anywhere on the left wing. He was best known for his attacking ability.
He was called The Encyclopedia because of his knowledge of the sport of football. Nílton was a key player in defence during the 1954, 1958 and 1962 World Cup finals (he was also in the Brazilian squad for the 1950 finals, but made no appearances) and became famous for scoring a magnificent goal in the 1958 tournament when Brazil played Austria. Dribbling his way through the whole field, he finished with a superb shot, driving his coach Vicente Feola crazy (he kept on insisting for Nílton to retreat to the defensive field, but was ignored until the goal was scored).
Pelé named him in his "top 125 greatest living footballers" in March 2004.
Nílton Santos played for only 2 teams in his professional career; Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas and the Brazilian national team collecting 75 caps and scoring 3 goals; he is regarded as one of the best left wingbacks in the history of the game.
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