Book of Fates "Golden Team"

On the evening of November 6, 1968, life in Brazil stopped. The crazy traffic on the streets of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo has stopped. The shops are empty. Closed ahead of schedule bakeries and pharmacies... 90 million Brazilians were glued to their television screens and transistor radios. All, with the exception of 150 thousand lucky people who managed to pay huge amounts of money for a ticket to get to the Maracanã, where the Brazilian national team beat the world team with a score of 2:1 in a match dedicated to the 50th anniversary of national football and the 10th anniversary of the victory of the famous “ gold" of the Brazilian team in the 1958 World Cup...

So, more than ten years have passed since the Swedish team, defeated in the final match, was the first to congratulate their opponents, distraught with happiness!... A lot of water has passed under the bridge during this time: ships were sent to the Moon and new strategic football options were opened, expressed in magic formulas 4+3+3, 4+4+2. Doctors began to transplant human hearts, and full-backs began to participate in attacks. Engineers designed global television systems, and football lawyers came to the conclusion that it was necessary to allow the replacement of two field players during the game... The Brazilian national team became a two-time world champion in Chile, and suffered a defeat in England, perceived by expansive compatriots as a national disaster.

Well, what happened to the “golden team” over the years? Where are they now - the eleven legendary knights who defeated the formidable Swedish team in the final match of 1958 with a score of 5:2 in front of the Swedish king? Goalkeeper Gilmar, defenders - Jalma Santos, Belini, Orlando, Nilton Santos, midfielders - Zito and Didi, forwards - Zagalo, Vava, Pele and Garrincha...

Let us immediately note that only one of them - the oldest, 45-year-old left-back Nilton Santos - Encyclopedia of Football, as he was nicknamed by the torsida and the press - finally parted with football. He bought a small pharmacy and acquired a sporting goods store in the lively and noisy Botafogo quarter. True, he can sometimes be seen in Flamengo Park, where he kicks a ball around on Saturdays and Sundays with happy boys who compete for championships in the neighborhoods and streets of Rio de Janeiro. These championships, by the way, are set here at a very decent level. They are played according to all the rules of football art: with spectators and referees, pennants and cups, storms of delight and streams of tears...

The fate of the remaining ten veterans is still connected with football, but for each of them it turned out differently...

Goalkeeper Gilmar dos Santos Neves is still on Santos' roster. But age takes its toll, and the veteran rises from the bench less and less often. At the beginning of 1969, however, a curious episode occurred, which is perhaps only possible in Brazilian football. In pursuit of fees, the club's management got so mixed up that Santos had two games scheduled for the same day. One is in Argentina, the other is in the tiny town of Maringa in the state of Sao Paulo (by the way, this town is probably the only locality world, which got its name from the popular song “Maringa”).

As it is easy to assume, the main team went to Argentina, and the reserve players and Gilmar went to Maringa. The veteran played in this match with such inspiration that articles appeared in the press demanding that he be returned to the goal of the national team, where both goalkeepers - Felix and Claudio - showed very good performances at that time. weak game. Gilmar refused this honor, although he agreed to play in the match against England on June 12, 1969, playing for the country for the hundredth time on that day. “It’s time for me to retire,” he told reporters. “It’s time to give way to the young.” Gilmar tried to ensure a calm old age for himself: he has a small law firm and several lucrative invitations from large companies that would like to see the “bi-campeon” as their director of “external relations and propaganda.”

Orlando played for Santos for a long time, but in 1969 he managed to move to the club of his youth - Vasco da Gama in Rio de Janeiro, where at 33 he became a leading player, captain, reliable "sweeper" » defensive line.

Another Santos pupil, Zito, whom many consider the most outstanding midfielder in the history of Brazilian football, remained in his native club as a “supervisor”. It's kind of like an inspector general. Zito said that Special attention He now devotes his time to working with the youth team, dreaming of ensuring that Santos will one day be able to switch to “self-service”, ceasing to buy players from other clubs.

On June 13, 1968, the 39-year-old Negro Jalma Santos, a right-back who for sixteen years delighted fans of all continents with his amazing composure with which he disarmed the most swift and cunning forwards who had the misfortune of going against Brazil at left flank of the attack. By the way, Muscovites who were present in Luzhniki in 1965 at the match between the USSR and Brazil national teams had the happy opportunity to see that the enthusiastic epithets that the world press awarded to this virtuoso were by no means unfounded.

So, Jalma Santos said goodbye to the national team... At the tenth minute, the match with the Uruguayans was interrupted. The stadium rose to welcome Djalma, who walked for the last time along the green carpet of the Maracana, showered with flowers. Tears rolled down his cheeks.

And in the stands they also cried, remembering the great glory of ’58 and the tragedy of ’66... ​​They cried, seeing off another one of the “Mohicans”.

Jalma Santos dreamed all his life of opening a small shoe workshop: as a child, before he put on boots, he worked as a “boy” in some wretched shoe shop and vowed to “make his way into the people.” It seems that his dream is close to fulfillment, but there is still a little saving left to do. And so Djalma begged his club “Palmeiras” to sell himself to the provincial team “Atlético” from the city of Curitiba, where the “bi-campeon” was offered a very substantial sum. “Palmeiras” respected Djalma in his old age, sold him, and now he plays next to his old colleague and comrade-in-arms, 1958 Belini, who also begged his club “Sao Paulo” to let him go to this wasteland. Old horses don't spoil the furrow: shortly after their move to Curitiba, the Brazilian football world was shocked by Atlético's sensational victory over Santos (3:2). Fans from Curitiba, who dreamed of a decent loss with a not very crushing score, were no less amazed than the “stars” from Santos, spoiled by the glory. The carnival in the town lasted all night. Djalma Santos and Belini were carried in their arms... A little more than a week passed, and Atlético defeated another favorite - Fluminense from Rio de Janeiro.

Old men Belini and Santos, apparently, earn their living honestly.

Two other veterans of '58 - Vava and Didi - went abroad in search of football fortune. Vava, one of the scorers of the “golden team”, first sold to Atlético Madrid, then changed many clubs and cities. His T-shirts bore the most unexpected emblems. This year he played in Mexico City and in the USA. The United States, as you know, is not yet included in the world's football hotspots, but they pay in dollars, which apparently suits Vava more than the skinny Brazilian Cruzeiro, suffocating in the grip of inflation. Zagalo, Vava’s friend and classmate, recently sent him a letter: “Old man, stop making people laugh and chasing millions... Come back before you forget the way...”

In early 1969, Vava finally returned. He grew heavier, heavier, and older. And that’s why none of the big clubs were interested in the Lion of Cups. He was invited to her place by the modest “Portuguese”. Vava brought with him bitter disappointment. Although the American teams paid him $1,200 a month, he managed to bring very little to Brazil: a few hundred dollars. The reason for this is the fierce taxes in the USA, as Vava complained, and the insane high cost.

Didi - Black Prince, famous inventor“a dry slate” - he is currently coaching the Peruvian national team, preparing them for the final games of the World Cup in Mexico City. The B-Campeon's team achieved brilliant success in the qualifying games, beating not only the modest Bolivian team, but also the favorites of the Argentine group, who were left out. After this, Didi was declared a national hero in the country, and the government gave him a generous bonus. This is all the more true because during the preparation of the national team, Didi refused a high fee, trying to prove that he works, so to speak, not out of fear, but out of conscience. At the end of the qualifying games in his group, Didi quite boldly expressed his forecast regarding the final matches in the capital of Mexico. In his opinion, it will be difficult for Europeans, except England, to count on prizes. The main fight, Didi said, will take place between the teams of Mexico, Brazil, England and... - modesty be damned! - Peru.

The left wing of the “golden team” of 1958, Zagalo, finished playing, but did not leave big-time football. Almost all these years he played in Botafogo, which challenged Santos for the right to be considered the best club in Brazil. And two years ago, Zagalo turned from a player into a coach, after which the validity of Botafogo’s claims increased noticeably. In any case, under the leadership of Zagalo for two years (1967–1968), the team lost only one of all the championships and tournaments at home and abroad in which it took part.

Interviewing Zagalo, I asked him to tell me what he sees as the main difference between football in 1958 and football today. In his opinion, the most characteristic trend in the development of game tactics is the gradual and irreversible disappearance of game specialization.

“When I tried to pull back to help the defenders,” Zagalo said, “the coaches shouted at me. When Nilton Santos rushed forward at his own risk, trying to help the forwards and create a numerical advantage on the approaches to the opponent’s penalty area, he was threatened with being benched. And today defenders score goals, wingers participate in defense, and no one sees anything criminal in this. Today, every player must be able to do everything. And in difficult situations, when everyone is attacking, everyone is defending, when the danger zone near the goal accumulates a large number of players, the decisive role is played by the individual skill of the players. This is where we Brazilians will always have a slight advantage over our rivals.

So, we talked about all the heroes of the “golden team”, with the exception of two. The destinies of these latter, these two most famous forwards in Brazil, two football geniuses, are at opposite poles. Between these poles lie the winding paths of all Brazilian football professionals...

We are talking about Pele and Garrincha.

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