On January 6, Brazilian football legend Mario Zagallo passed away at the age of 92.
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On January 6, Brazilian football legend Mario Zagallo passed away at the age of 92, reportedly due to multiple organ failure and a urinary tract infection.
Zagallo is known for winning two World Cups as a player, one as a coach and one as an assistant coach for Brazil. He also became the first person to win the World Cup as both a player and a coach in 1970, and has been revered by Brazilian football fans for generations.
Only German legend Franz Beckenbauer (1974 as a player and 1990 as a coach) and Deschamps, after France’s 2018 triumph in Russia, have equalled Zagallo’s record. But the late Brazilian played in five World Cup finals, compared to Beckenbauer’s four and Deschamps’ three.
Brazilian Football Confederation President Ednaldo Rodrigues said in a statement early on January 6: “We express our solidarity with his family members and fans at this sad time, following the passing of our great football hero.”
A superstitious man, Zagallo had an unshakable belief in the number 13 that adorned his jersey. He married on June 13, lived on the 13th floor, drove a car with the number plate 1313. And he said he regretted that the 1998 final was played on July 12…
A tactical genius, Zagallo was the first to deploy a 5-3-2 formation that could transition to a 3-5-2 in attack. He left the Selecao for the first time after a fourth-place finish at the 1974 World Cup and was recalled as assistant to Carlos Alberto Parreira in 1994 for Brazil’s fourth World Cup triumph.
He remained as Parreira’s assistant until the 1998 final in France, where Zinedine Zidane and his team-mates stripped him of the title. Zagallo then retired from coaching, having played no role in Brazil’s fifth World Cup triumph in 2002.
