Mario Braga Gadelha (April 24, 1934 – April 8, 2010) commonly known as Babá, was a Brazilian former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played for

Ceará Ceará (, pronounced locally as or ) is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the northeastern part of the country, on the Atlantic coast. It is the eighth-largest Brazilian State by population and the 17th by area. It is also one of the ...

Flamengo Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (; English: ''Flamengo Rowing Club''), more commonly referred to as simply Flamengo, is a Brazilian sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, in the neighborhood of Gávea, best known for their professional football t ...

and UNAM.

Career

Babá started his professional career in 1952 at the age of sixteen with

. He was later sold in 1953 to

. He played 308 games and scored 89 goals with Flamengo from 1953 until 1962, when he was sold to Mexican

Club Universidad Nacional Club Universidad Nacional, A.C., commonly referred to as UNAM, is a professional football club based in Ciudad Universitaria of Mexico City, Mexico. The club competes in the Liga MX, the top division in the Mexican football league system. Fo ...

. In 1961 he was called to the Brazil national football team for a friendly match against Paraguay. He played with UNAM from 1962, in the club's first season at the

Primera División Primera may refer to * Nissan Primera, a car * Primera Air, a former airline * Primera división (disambiguation), multiple top division football leagues * Primera, Texas, a town in Cameron County, Texas * Alí Primera, Venezuelan musician, compos ...

, Mexican football top-flight, to 1967. After his spell in Mexican football, Babá came back to Brazil where he played for one season with

. Babá died on 8 April 2010.

References

External links

* 1934 births CR Flamengo footballers Ceará Sporting Club players Club Universidad Nacional footballers Brazilian men's footballers Men's association football forwards Brazil men's international footballers Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Mexico 2010 deaths Footballers from Ceará People from Aracati {{Brazil-footy-bio-stub