Brazil says goodbye to the great symbol of its football team. Mário Jorge Lobo Zagallo, the only four-time world champion, died early this Saturday at the age of 92, his family announced on his official Instagram account. The Brazilian went down in football history for winning four World Cups, more than anyone else. He conquered it with the Canarinha, as a player, coach and coordinator of the national team. The retired footballer, who had been hospitalized in Rio de Janeiro since December 26, died of multiple organ failure. Zagallo, nicknamed Old Wolf, played as a left winger. He was an idol for generations, a prominent figure in world football and one of the most important coaches and players in the history of Brazilian football.
Zagallo was born on August 9, 1931 in Atalaia in the impoverished state of Alagoas. “It is with great sadness that we report the death of our eternal four-time champion,” the statement said, “a devoted father, loving grandfather (…), a victorious professional and a great human being (…) a patriot who leaves us a legacy ..” great conquests.” During his victorious professional career, he won four World Cups: two as a player (Sweden 1958 and Chile 1962), another as a coach (Mexico 1970) and the last as coordinator of the Canarinha (USA 1994).
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Brazil is witnessing the progressive disappearance of the generation of footballers that gave it its greatest joy and triumph. Zagallo's death comes just a year after the world said goodbye to O Rei Pelé, Edson Arantes do Nascimento, who died of colon cancer on December 29, 2022. Both played together on the teams that won titles in Sweden and Chile, and Zagallo coached Pele at the World Cup in Mexico. Santos tweeted: “Our King Pelé awaits you in the kingdom of heaven. Thanks for everything, old wolf.”
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, a big football fan, also praised Zagallo's figure in a farewell tweet: “Courageous, committed, passionate and superstitious, Zagallo was an example of a Brazilian who never gives up.” It is this lesson and that spirit of affection, love, dedication and improvement that he leaves to our country and to world football.” The late player believed that the number 13 brought him good luck and venerated Saint Anthony.
The Brazilian Football Federation (CBF) has declared seven days of national mourning. The funeral service will take place this Sunday at the CBF headquarters in Rio and will be open to the public. And he will be buried in a cemetery in Rio this afternoon. The retired footballer's health has deteriorated in recent months due to a urinary and respiratory infection. In August he was hospitalized for several weeks.
Zagallo, with Ronaldo at the 1998 World Cup.
Only Zagallo reached five World Cup finals in his seven participations. They only lost to the hosts in the 1998 World Cup final in France, the year in which he coached a team that featured the likes of Ronaldo, Bebeto, Rivaldo, Dunga, Roberto Carlos, Cafú and Taffarel, among others.
No one before him had won the World Cup first as a player and then as a coach. This feat was later achieved by the German Franz Beckenbauer, the first German champion in 1974 and already as a coach in Italy in 1990, and most recently by the French Didier Deschamps, who was captain of the victorious team in France in 1998 and won it as coach in Russia in 2018, the Germans and Frenchman surpassed as a player by the Brazilian, who was a two-time world champion.
But Zagallo's track record was not limited to these titles, and the 1994 United States title adds to his record when he was technical coordinator of the team led by Carlos Alberto Parreira, who, strangely enough, was one of his fitness trainers in Mexico in 1970 . The pair were also responsible for the Canarinha in Germany in 2006. Old Wolf also finished second as a trainer in France in 1998 and captained the Canarinha in Germany in 1974.
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