Jaguaré (footballer)

Jaguaré Bezerra de Vasconcelos - in Brazil generally known as Jaguaré and in France as Jaguare de Besveconne Vasconcellos (14 May 1905 in Rio de Janeiro - 27 August 1946 in Santo Anastácio (SP)), was a Brazilian association football goalkeeper. With CR Vasco da Gama he won the championship of Rio de Janeiro. He also played for FC Barcelona, Sporting CP and SC Corinthians Paulista. He had his most successful time in the 1930s with the French club Olympique Marseille. In Brazil he is also considered the person that made gloves for goalkeepers known.

In Brazil, Spain and Portugal

Jaguaré was stevedore at the port of Rio without any formal education. In his time of he enjoyed physical exercise and played football on the grounds of his neighbourhood Saúde - a quarter close to the port which still today is marked by the simple accomodation of the local labourers. There he impressed Espanhol, a defender of CR Vasco da Gama beeindruckte, who took him in 1928 to a training session of his club. Also there he impressed and established himself immediately - after he has been told how to write his name so that he could inscribe himself in match reports - as new goalkeeper of Vasco. Already in 1929 he was part of the team that won the championship of Rio de Janeiro. Most prominent team mates were the elegant midfielder Fausto dos Santos, considered the best of his era in Brasil, and Russinho, who both should participate with Brasil at the World cup of 1930.

Also Jaguaré was called up for the national team, however between 1928 and 1929 he played only in three inofficial matches against club teams from Scotland and Argentina.

Between June and August 1931 Vaso da Gama and several players from Botafogo FC such as Nilo and Carvalho Leite also from Rio, went on a trip to Europe - the only second trip to Europe by a Brazilian club since the one of CA Paulistano in 1925. In twelve matches in Portugal and Spain - among others against FC Barcelona, FC Porto, and SL Benfica and Sporting CP in Lisbon - the team of Vasco, coached by Harry Welfare, won eight times.

Jaguaré and Fausto dos Santos must have impressed in the two matches against FC Barcelona, as both were given contracts to play for the club as professionals. In Brazil back then football was still amateur sport. However, Jaguaré, soon nicknamed Araña Negra, "black spider", and dos Santos could only be used in about a dozen friendly matches as the rules of the association prevented foreigners from participating in official matches. FC Barcelona attempted to convince both players to naturalize and take up Spanish citizenship, however, both refused despite the excellent financial conditions on offer.

Dos Santos moved on to Switzerland and Jaguaré returned to Brazil. There it is reported, he turned up at some stage at the training of his old club Vasco da Gama, sporting goalkeeper gloves, which is considered the debut of this item in Brazil. Else, after he left Vaso for professionalism in europe, he was no longer well regarded with the club and in rio de Janeiro in general. To keep financially adrift, he travelled around with so-called "combinados", ad hoc put together teams and allowed himself to be used as figurehead for the marketing of various fetivities and other events. Eventually he guarded from 1934 to 1935 in São Paulo the goal of SC Corinthians Paulista, where he ended up being replaced by José Hungarez, the first foreigner in the ranks of Corinthians.

Fernando Giudicelli - one of the first Brazilians to opt for a career as professionall player in Europe in an era when football in Brazil was still an amateur sport, who also acted as a player agent helping South American footballers to engagements with European clubs - convinced Jaguaré in mid-1935 alongside the the defender Marins Alves de Araújo Viana "Vianinha", who played before that probably also for Corinthians or for CA Paulista, to join him playing for a club in Italy. After their voyage across the Atlantic their first port of call was Lisbon, where they got news of the commencement of the Second Italo-Abyssinian War. Therefore they decided not to continue their journey to their intended destination. However, soon they were taken on by Sporting CP where they were the first Brazilians in club history.

Giudicelli should only play two matches for the Lisbon side and move on to play for Real Madrid and in France. Jaguaré stayed a bit longer with Sporting, winning the city championship alongside Vianinha. After altogether seven matches for Sporting Jaguaré found himself replaced by João Azevedo, who should remain for the next one and a half decades the goalkeeper of the club.

Glory days in France

In mid 1936 he joined French first division club Olympique Marseille, where he replaced Laurent Di Lorto who moved to FC Sochaux-Montbéliard, then a major force in French football. With Olypique, then coached by the Hungarian József Eisenhoffer he won after his first season there alongside some exceptional players from three continents like Aznar, Ben Barek, Ben Bouali, Kohut, Weiskopf and Zatelli the national championship. In the following season Marseile could not defend the title,finishing second behind Sochaux, but won the Cup of France defeating FC Metz 2-1 in the final. In his last season with the club 1938/39 Marseille once more finished second in the league, this time behind FC Sète.

In 1937/38 he made history scoring in Sète a penalty goal, securing the final result of 1-1. This is to date the only goal of a Olympique Marseille goalkeeper in an official match. Later on in the same match he held two penalties of the opponents, which to boot, hit four times the Marseille woodwork. Opposing attackers he often vociferously encouraged to shoot: "chuta, chuta!" These and other excentricities contributed to Jaguaré, who was also nicknamed in Marseille "El Jaguar", bwecoming a lastin part of club folklore.

After that season he left France, maybe under the impression of the approaching war. On his way back to Brazil he stopped over in Porto where he played for the the first division club Académico FC. However, he did not feel very well there and had difficulties to integrate. Altogether he played nine times for the club, two matches thereof in the league..

Back in Brazil

In Rio de Janeiro he reportedly still played for a brief period for São Cristóvão FR, a smaller club from the north of the city, which in 1926 achieved a championship. Jaguaré was already in a state of decline, his few savings from his time in Europe were soon used up and his consumption of alcohol was on the way up. He tried to return to his job as stevedore.

There his stories from his great time as footballer found little credibility and Jaguaré soon disappeared. Later one heard again of him from Santo Anastácio, a small town in the hinterland of the state of São Paulo. Here the stories are diverging. One of the says, that he died after a mellée with the police, the other one, that he was imprisoned and banged his head against a wall of his cell and soon thereafter died from his injuries. It is reported that he was intered in a paupers grave. As date of his death is considered 27 August 1946.

Notes and References

• Jaguaré: o goleiro que foi ídolo na primeira metade do século, Confederação Brasileira de Futebol, 2011 (per 12 January 2012)
• Jaguaré: Ex-goleiro do Vasco da Gama, Barcelona, Olympique de Marselha e Corinthians, Terceiro Tempo: Que fim levou? (per 12 January 2012)
• C.R. Vasco da Gama: Ídolos, F-J Net Vasco (per 12 January 2012)
• Jaguaré, Wiki Sporting (per 12 January 2012)
• Jaguar de Besveconne Vasconcelos, OM Stats Club, (per 18 January 2012). Statistics to official matches of J. B. de Vasconcelos with Olympique Marseille
• Vasconcellos, le Jaguar Brésilien om4ever (per 18 January 2012 / Media relating to J. B. de Vasconcelos with Olympique Marseille).