2024-01-06 04:44:00
Mário Lobo Zagallo, Brazilian legend and four-time world soccer champion, has died. (REUTERS/Sergio Moraes)
The Brazilian legend and only four-time world soccer champion, Mário Lobo Zagallo, died this Friday at the age of 92, as confirmed in a note published on his official Instagram account.
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“With enormous sadness, we inform you of the death of our eternal four-time world champion Mário Jorge Lobo Zagallo,” reads the brief statement about the idol’s death.
“A dedicated father, loving grandfather, loving father-in-law, faithful friend, victorious professional and a great human being. Big idol. A patriot who leaves us a legacy of great achievements,” the note added.
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The cause of his death was not disclosed.
Zagallo, the only one to participate in four of the five World Cups won by Brazil – two titles as a player and another two as a coach and technical assistant – had been hospitalized in August in Rio de Janeiro for a urinary infection.
The cause of death of the four-time soccer champion was not disclosed by his family. (REUTERS/Sergio Moraes)
But the former ‘Seleção’ attacker had already had other health difficulties recently. Following Pelé’s death in December 2022, he was hospitalized for almost two weeks with a respiratory infection.
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As a left winger, the “Old Wolf” was part of the Brazilian team that won the 1958 and 1962 World Cups, along with ‘O Rei’ Pelé, the first two won by the ‘Canarinha’.
He was also the coach of Brazil in the 1970 title, assistant to the ‘Seleção’ triumph in 1994 and coach in 1998 when the ‘scratch’ lost the final against France.
The only other two athletes to win the World Cup as a footballer and coach have been the German Franz Beckenbauer (1974 and 1990) and the French Didier Deschamps (1998 and 2018).
Zagallo was one of the most charismatic and superstitious figures in Brazilian football and was also known for his fondness for the number 13 and constant use of the phrase “You’ll have to put up with me,” expressed loudly to critics.
The president of the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), Ednaldo Rodrigues, decreed official mourning for 7 days for the death of the idol.
The former ‘Seleção’ attacker had already had other health difficulties recently. Following Pelé’s death in December 2022, he was hospitalized for almost two weeks with a respiratory infection. (EFE/Fernando Bizerra Jr)
“The CBF and Brazilian football mourn the death of one of their greatest legends, Mário Zagallo. “The CBF lends solidarity to his family and fans in this moment of regret for the departure of an idol of our football,” Rodrigues said in a note.
The South American Football Confederation also mourned the death of the “football legend and only four-time champion,” in a publication shared on X.
This Friday, several Brazilian clubs began to pay tribute to the idol on their official social networks.
“He left us a hero who shaped the history of Brazilian football. Zagallo enters for eternity as a revolutionary, a historical pillar of the sport,” reads a note published by the Flamengo club of Rio de Janeiro.
The Porto Alegre Gremio, meanwhile, said goodbye to the “immortal of the four lines, a symbol of Brazilian football.”
“He marked history in our football, as an athlete, coach and leader,” highlighted Sao Paulo, for its part.
“Eternal Zagallo has 13 letters, Our King Pelé awaits you in the sacred kingdom,” Santos, the historic team of the ‘king’ of soccer, wrote in X, alluding to Zagallo’s preference for that number.
Zagallo was Brazil’s coach in the 1970 title, assistant to the ‘Seleção’ triumph in 1994 and coach in 1998 when the ‘scratch’ lost the final against France. (REUTERS/Sergio Moraes)
The Brazilian star stopped playing professionally in 1965 and began his career as a coach at the Botafogo club in Rio de Janeiro the following year.
Appointed national coach in 1970, just before the World Cup in Mexico, he inherited a squad that included Pelé, Jairzinho, Gerson, Roberto Rivellino and Tostão. Brazil crushed Italy 4-1 in the final, becoming the first three-time champion.
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