Mário Zagallo

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Zagallo
Personal information
Full name Mário Jorge Lobo Zagallo
Date of birth August 9, 1931 (age 75)
Place of birth    Maceió, Brazil
Nickname Velho Lobo (Old Wolf)
Playing position Assistant manager
(former forward centre/right or striker)
Club information
Current club Brazil
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
1948-1949
1950-1958
1958-1965
América
Flamengo
Botafogo
 ? (?)
217 (30)
 ? (?)   
National team2
1958-1964 Brazil 36(5)
Teams managed
1966-1970
1967-1968
1970-1974
1971-1972
1972-1974
1975
1976-1978
1978-1979
1978-1979
1980-1981
1981-1984
1984-1985
1986-1987
1988-1989
1989-1990
1990-1991
1994-1998
1999-2000
2000-2001
2002
Botafogo
Brazil
Brazil
Fluminense
Flamengo
Botafogo
Kuwait
Botafogo
Al Hilal
Vasco da Gama
Saudi Arabia
Flamengo
Botafogo
Bangu
United Arab Emirates
Vasco da Gama
Brazil
Portuguesa
Flamengo
Brazil

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only and
correct as of June 4, 2006.
2 National team caps and goals correct
as of June 4, 2006.
* Appearances (Goals)

Mário Jorge Lobo Zagallo (born August 9, 1931 in Maceió) is a Brazilian football coach and former player, of Lebanese origin (Zakkour). Zagallo started his footballer career in América in 1948 [1]. He was the first footballer to win the World Cup as a player (1958, 1962), as a coach (1970), and as assistant coach (World Cup 1994), all with the Brazilian national team. He also coached his country to a fourth-place finish in the 1974 World Cup and to a second-place finish in the 1998 World Cup[2]. Zagallo also guided the United Arab Emirates to their first World Cup finals in 1990, but was dismissed from his post before the tournament. Zagallo also was assistant coach (as in 1994, the main coach was Carlos Alberto Parreira) of the Brazilian team in the World Cup of 2006, which was eliminated by France.

As a player, Zagallo was the left-forward of the Brazilian teams in the Cups of 1958 and 1962; he scored goals in both tournaments, including one in the final match against the Swedish team, in 1958. What he lacked in physical stature, Zagallo compensated with exquisite technique and by always being the first man back to defend if his team lost the ball.

In 1970, Zagallo assumed the national team after the previous coach João Saldanha resigned alleging that he was suffering external pressures to include players in the team. Zagallo had the task – and succeeded in performing it – of finding a place in the team for a group of outstanding players such as Pelé, Gérson, Tostão, Jairzinho and Rivelino. In his 1977 autobiography, Pele writes that Zagallo initially restricted his team from playing their attacking game at the 1970 World Cup. Based on a chess format, Zagallo organized a sophisticated method, which he ultimately had to abandon due to player complaints. His side won all six of their matches, scoring 19 times in the process. It was the first time football had witnessed a 5-3-2 formation that could seamlessly transform itself into a 3-5-2 and back again.

On July 23, 2001 the Brazilian football team was defeated (0-2) in the quarter-final of the 2001 Copa America tournament by the low-ranked (and last minute invitee) Honduras. Zagallo, stunned, stated that he never thought to live long enough to see the powerful Brazil being defeated by Honduras.

[edit] Trivia

  • He is famously superstitious around the number 13. For example, since 5+8= 13 as well as 9+4=13, he believed that 1958 and 1994 World Cups were special for Brazil. Also regarding the 1994 victory, he used to state that the phrase Brasil tetracampeão ("Brazil four times champion") is comprised of 13 letters.
  • Zagallo is one of the best football coaches of his times having won the World Cup with Brazil 4 times playing and coaching. Some compare him to a "football encyclopedia", and players call him The Professor.
  • Zagallo was one of the first managers to introduce attacking full backs, a concept he has always remained loyal to -- as the importance of Cafu, Leonardo and Roberto Carlos to the Seleçao’s forward play in 1994 and 1998 stands to prove.

[edit] Quotes

  • "I accept criticism, but what hurts is mockery. In Germany, I was elected the best coach in the world. In Brazil, I'm ridiculed."
  • "I've lived soccer for 50 years, and this is my happiest moment. After 40 years, our flag will fly again in Europe"
  • "He was one of the greatest Brazilian players of his generation and, after winning the World Cup four times, he has left a permanent mark on Brazilian football. It is an honour for me to have worked with him"

    - Ronaldo

[edit] External links


Preceded by
Flag of England Alf Ramsey
FIFA World Cup winning managers
1970
Succeeded by
Flag of Germany Helmut Schön
Preceded by
João Saldanha
Brazilian national football team manager
1970-1974
Succeeded by
Osvaldo Brandão
Preceded by
Carlos Alberto Parreira
Brazilian national football team manager
1995-1998
Succeeded by
Vanderlei Luxemburgo
Preceded by
Luiz Felipe Scolari
Brazilian national football team manager
2002
Succeeded by
Carlos Alberto Parreira


Flag of Brazil Brazil squad - 1958 FIFA World Cup Champions (1st Title) Flag of Brazil

1 Castilho | 2 Bellini | 3 Gilmar | 4 Djalma Santos | 5 Dino Sani | 6 Didi | 7 Zagallo | 8 Oreco | 9 Zózimo | 10 Pelé | 11 Garrincha | 12 Nílton Santos | 13 Moacir | 14 De Sordi | 15 Orlando | 16 Mauro | 17 Joel | 18 Mazola | 19 Zito | 20 Vavá | 21 Dida | 22 Pepe | Coach: Feola

Flag of Brazil Brazil squad - 1962 FIFA World Cup Champions (2nd Title) Flag of Brazil

1 Gilmar | 2 Djalma Santos | 3 Mauro | 4 Zito | 5 Zózimo | 6 Nílton Santos | 7 Garrincha | 8 Didi | 9 Coutinho | 10 Pelé | 11 Pepe | 12 Jair Marinho | 13 Bellini | 14 Jurandir | 15 Altair | 16 Zequinha | 17 Mengálvio | 18 Jair da Costa | 19 Vavá | 20 Amarildo | 21 Zagallo | 22 Castilho | Coach: Moreira

Flag of Brazil Brazil squad - 1970 FIFA World Cup Champions (3rd Title) Flag of Brazil

1 Félix | 2 Brito | 3 Piazza | 4 Carlos Alberto | 5 Clodoaldo | 6 Marco Antônio | 7 Jairzinho | 8 Gérson | 9 Tostão | 10 Pelé | 11 Rivelino | 12 Ado | 13 Roberto | 14 Baldocchi | 15 Fontana | 16 Everaldo | 17 Joel | 18 Paulo César | 19 Edu | 20 Dario | 21 Zé Maria | 22 Leão | Coach: Zagallo

Flag of Brazil Brazil squad - 1974 FIFA World Cup Fourth Place Flag of Brazil

1 Leão | 2 Luís Pereira | 3 Marinho Peres | 4 Zé Maria | 5 Piazza | 6 Marinho Chagas | 7 Jairzinho | 8 Leivinha | 9 César | 10 Rivelino | 11 Paulo César | 12 Renato | 13 Valdomiro | 14 Nelinho | 15 Alfredo | 16 Marco Antônio | 17 Carpegiani | 18 Ademir da Guia | 19 Mirandinha | 20 Edu | 21 Dirceu | 22 Valdir Peres | Coach: Zagallo

Flag of Brazil Brazil squad - 1998 FIFA World Cup Runners-up Flag of Brazil

1 Taffarel | 2 Cafu | 3 Aldair | 4 Júnior Baiano | 5 César Sampaio | 6 Roberto Carlos | 7 Giovanni | 8 Dunga | 9 Ronaldo | 10 Rivaldo | 11 Emerson | 12 Carlos Germano | 13 Zé Carlos | 14 Gonçalves | 15 André Cruz | 16 Zé Roberto | 17 Doriva | 18 Leonardo | 19 Denílson | 20 Bebeto | 21 Edmundo | 22 Dida | Coach: Zagallo