Garrincha: The bent-legged Brazilian genius was as famous for his football skills as he was for his love of women and booze | The Sun
BORN in Pau Grande in the state of Rio de Janiero on October 23, 1933, Manuel Francisco dos Santos acquired the nickname ‘Garrincha’.
It means ‘wren’ – from his sister Rosa who compared his slight stature to that of a little bird.
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Garrincha was a football genius born in Rio de Janeiro
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It would be a name that stuck but, more than that, it was a name that would become synonymous with pure footballing greatness.
Over the course of a career spanning nearly 20 years, most of it spent with Botafogo, he dazzled the world with his spectacular ability on the ball and his God-given gift for dribbling.
He won two World Cups with Brazil too, taking the Golden Ball and the Golden Boot awards in Sweden in 1962
But while he was gifted on the pitch he was troubled off it.
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Pele once said, “Garrincha could do things with the ball that no other player could”
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He was a dad before he was 20 and a grandfather at 40 and his lifelong struggle with alcohol would eventually be his undoing.
But when he played, the ball glued to his lightning feet, he was a wonderful, one-off talent…
He overcame a difficult start to life…
A birth defect of a mis-shaped spine and one leg being shorter than the other caused Garrincha’s right leg to point inwards and his left left leg to point outwards.
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Garrincha was born with a birth defect of a mis-shaped spine and had one leg shorter than the other
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Indeed, his condition was such that doctors declared he would never be fit or healthy enough to play professional football.
Wrong.
When he began to make a name for himself in the game, he soon acquired a new nickname, “O Anjo de Pernas Tortas”.
It means ‘The Angel With Bent Legs’.
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Nicknamed O Anjo de Pernas Tortas, The Angel With Bent Legs, he terrorised England in the 1962 World Cup
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He found love in the strangest of places…
Warning. You may be very disturbed by this.
Ready?
OK here goes. Garrincha lost his virginity at 12 years-old.
A bit young, you may think, but here’s the thing.
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Famed for his sexcapades, Garrincha lost his virginity at the age of 12 to a goat
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It was with a goat.
And he had a turbulent love life…
With humans, that is.
Garrincha was married first to Nair Marques in 1952 (he had eight daughters with her) but left her for the famous samba singer Elza Soares.
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Garrincha was a notorious ladies man who had numerous affairs and fathered at least 14 children with five women
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He also had numerous affairs and fathered at least 14 children with five different women.
It’s surprising he had any time for football to be honest.
He was the greatest dribbler the game has ever seen…
Don’t just take our word for it. Listen to Pele, the only man in history to win three World Cups.
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After leaving his first wife Nair Marques, Garrincha soon began dating singer Elza Soares, right
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“Garrincha could do things with the ball that no other player could,” he said.
It’s true.
Between 1957 and 1962, he was simply untouchable.
He reached his zenith at the 1962 World Cup Finals with Brazil, ending the tournament as the joint top scorer and propelling his country to a successful defence of their title.
With a shot in either foot and a gift for leaving full-backs tackling thin air, the watching world was mesmerised by his ability on the ball.
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At the 1962 World Cup, Garrincha was the tournament’s top scorer and led them to glory
Credit: PA:Empics Sport
One Chilean newspaper summed it up best when they asked, “Which Planet Is He From?”
England felt his wrath…
It was during the 1962 World Cup that Garrincha put paid to England’s hopes in the quarter-finals, scoring twice in a 3-1 victory.
His second was a bewildering banana shot with the outside of his boot.
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Garrincha first tasted defeat for Brazil on his 50th appearance for the country
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The English press were staggered with one newspaper comparing him to “Stanley Matthews, Tom Finney and a snake charmer rolled into one.”
His record for Brazil was sensational…
Garrincha’s 50th and final cap for Brazil was a game against Hungary at Goodison Park during the 1966 World Cup Finals.
Brazil lost that day 3-1 and after 43 wins and six draws, the first time he had seen defeat in his national shirt.
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The last time Garrincha played for his country was at the 1966 World Cup against Hungary
Credit: Getty – Contributor
He was responsible for the death of his mother-in-law…
Having once ran over his father in his car, Garrincha was also at the wheel when, in April 1969, he crashed into an coming lorry, killing his mother-in-law in the passenger seat.
It was an incident that only served to deepen his dependancy on alcohol.
He started the ‘Ole’ chant at football…
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Garrincha’s booze battles were said to have been heightened after he killed his mother-in-law
Credit: Sambafoot
It’s believed that the first recorded incidence of a crowd shouting ‘Ole’ occurred in response to Garrincha weaving this way and that, and turning defenders inside out.
He battled the booze…
Like his father, who died from alcoholism, Garrincha fondness for the local rum, Cachaca, proved to be his undoing.
When he gave up playing he would routinely drink a bottle a day, sometimes more.
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After he retired, Garrincha turned to the bottle, sometimes drinking a bottle of rum a day
Credit: Getty – Contributor
His last game in a Brazil shirt was that 3-1 defeat by Hungary.
And alcohol proved to be his undoing…
Garrincha died on January 20, 1983 from cirrhosis of the liver.
He had been in and out of hospital on numerous occasions in the year prior to his death as his alcoholism took control but this time he wouldn’t leave.
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Aged just 49, Garrincha died of cirrhosis of the liver
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Garrincha may be gone but he’ll never be forgotten
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He was just 49.
But if the circumstances of his passing were undeniably sad, his funeral revealed the regard in which he was held.
Hundres of thousands of fans lined the procession route from the Maracana Stadium to Pau Grande to pay their respects.
The epitaph on his gravestone, meanwhile, reads: ‘Here rests in peace the one who was the Joy of the People’.