Didi (footballer)
Didi, Valdir Pereira actually ( born October 8, 1928 in Rio de Janeiro; † 12 May 2001), was a Brazilian football player.
As a midfielder Didi led his country Brazil to two World Cup titles in 1958 and 1962. Overall, he played 68 international matches, scoring 20 goals. From May 13 to September 20, 1959 he was with Nílton Santos most-capped player in Brazil. Both made the 2-0 against England her 54th international match, setting off from the previous Zizinho. They were then replaced by Djalma Santos, who extended the record to 98 games.
Life
He started his career at the provincial club Americano Rio Branco / Campos ( 1945-46 ). About Lençoes São Paulo (1946) and Madureira Riode Janeiro ( 1946-50 ), he finally came in 1950 to one of the big clubs in the country, Fluminense Rio de Janeiro. In the same year, on 19 July, he scored the first ever goal at the newly built stadium Maracana during the opening game, a friendly match between the youth teams of the states of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. A year later he won the Brazilian championship with Fluminense.
In 1952 he made his debut in the Brazilian national team in a 2-0 win against Mexico on April 6. In the following years he became a regular player. His trademark was the so -called Folha Seca, a shot with his head, in which the trajectory of the ball to the goalkeeper in a surprising way ( a falling dry leaf equal ) changed. In the 1954 World Cup, he played three games and scored two goals.
From 1956 he played extremely successful for Botafogo Rio de Janeiro. But his career highlight was certainly the Football World Cup 1958. Brazil for the first time in the history of world champion and Didi was voted the best player of the tournament.
After the World Cup he was looking for new sporting challenges and moved in 1959 to the current European Cup winners Real Madrid. The adaptation to the European football did not succeed Didi. Problems with the team leader Alfredo Di Stéfano prevented in Madrid, he was able to secure a regular place and so he returned after an unsuccessful season in which he (6 goals) played only 19 games to Botafogo back. At the end of his career he played from 1962-1966 with FC São Paulo. His farewell international game had Didi on June 17, 1962 against Czechoslovakia ( 3-1 ) in Santiago de Chile ( World Cup final ).
1962 after winning his second World Cup, he ended his international career and moved into coaching business, inter alia, in Sao Paulo, 1971/72 CA River Plate, 1972/75 Fenerbahce and Cruzeiro. In 1970 he took over as coach of Peru participated in the World Cup and led the South American country to the quarterfinals. In the preliminary round, he lost against Germany 1:3 and in the quarter -final against his home country of Brazil with 2:4.
Coach stations: 1963/64, Sporting Cristal (Peru ), 1964 Botafogo, 1965 Veracruz ( Mexico), 1966/67, Sao Paulo, Saudi Arabia, Atlético Mineiro, Cruzeiro Belo Horizonte ( both Brazil), 1972-1975 Fenerbahce Istanbul
- National football team (Brazil )
- Football coach (Brazil )
- Football World Cup
- Brazilian
- Born in 1928
- Died in 2001
- Man