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Brazilian soccer legend Mario Zagallo, who won four World Cups as a player and manager, has died at the age of 92.
Zagallo was a winger on the Brazilian team that won back-to-back World Cups in 1958 and 1962, starting in both finals.
He led what is widely regarded as the greatest international team of all time, including Pele, Jairzinho and Carlos Alberto, to glory in 1970.
Zagallo’s last World Cup victory came in 1994 as assistant coach to Carlos Alberto Parreira.
After the same tournament, he returned as Brazil coach and led Brazil to the finals in 1998, but they lost to host country France.
Zagallo was the first person to win the World Cup as both a player and a coach, a feat later matched by Germany’s Franz Beckenbauer and France’s Didier Deschamps.
“It is with great sadness that we announce the death of our eternal four-time world champion Mario Jorge Lobo Zagallo,” the official Instagram account said in a statement.
“A devoted father, a loving grandfather, a caring father-in-law, a loyal friend, a winning professional, and a great human being. A huge idol. A patriot who leaves us with great accomplishments.”
Important figures in Brazil’s glorious history
Brazil is the most successful nation in the World Cup, winning five titles, and Zagallo is one of the most instrumental figures in its history.
As a teenage national servant, he was one of about 200,000 people at the Maracanã stadium to watch hosts Brazil stunned Uruguay in the 1950 World Cup final.
“I can’t get that day out of my head,” Zagallo told BBC Sport in 2013.
He made his debut in Brazil at the age of 26 just before the 1958 tournament, but the team’s success eased some of the pain from 1950, as a 17-year-old Pelé, along with Zagallo, inspired the Selecao to victory over Sweden in the final. He became an important member. He scored the fourth goal in a 5-2 win.
Zagallo was the last surviving member of the 1958 World Cup winning team to play in the final.
Due to Pele’s injury early in the 1962 World Cup, Zagallo again played an important role when Brazil defeated Czechoslovakia in the final, helping out in defense at a time when it was unusual for forwards to play defense.
Zagallo, who played domestically for America, Flamengo and Botafogo, won 33 caps for his country before retiring in 1965.
He began his managerial career at Botafogo and was appointed as Brazil manager at the age of 38, just before the 1970 World Cup in Mexico, replacing Joao Saldaña.
Known as “The Professor” and “The Old Wolf,” Zagallo, a tactical genius, assembled a team full of attacking talent, including Pele, Jairzinho, Gerson, Tostao and Rivellino, and made them attractive.
Brazil won all six games, defeating Italy 4-1 in the final.
Zagallo remained as Brazil coach at the 1974 World Cup in West Germany, where the team finished fourth.
He went on to manage clubs and national teams in Brazil, including Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, helping them reach their first World Cup in 1990, before returning as coordinator of Parreira’s coaching system before the 1994 World Cup. .
Brazil defeated Italy in the final in the United States on penalties, winning their fourth title and first since 1970.
Zagallo’s team started the 1998 tournament as favorites, but lost 3-0 to France in the final after star striker Ronaldo suffered a mysterious seizure on the day of the match.
Brazil won their fifth title in Japan and South Korea in 2002 under coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, and Zagallo attended the tournament as a special advisor.
He returned in 2006 as coach Parreira’s assistant, but Brazil lost to France in the quarterfinals, and he subsequently retired.
Zagallo’s wife of 57 years, Alcina de Castro, died in 2012. The couple had four children.
“The CBF and Brazilian football mourn the passing of one of our legends,” said Edonal Rodríguez, president of the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF).
“CBF expresses its solidarity with his family and fans at this sad moment of the retirement of this footballing idol.”
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