Danilo Alvim Faria (3 December 1920 – 16 May 1996) was a Brazilian

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 ...

. He was a member of the ill-fated Brazilian 1950 World Cup team. One of the greatest center-halves in the World during his prime, he was renowned as a very sophisticated and elegant player who possessed fine ball control and accurate long range passing.

Club career

Danilo Alvim was an amateur playing with America-RJ when

Flávio Costa Flávio Rodrigues da Costa (14 September 1906 – 22 November 1999) was a Brazilian football player and manager. He managed the Rio de Janeiro clubs Vasco da Gama and Flamengo, as well as Colo Colo of Chile, and FC Porto of Portugal. Co ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...

squad practiced against them in 1941. He was asked to fill in for one of the injured players and so impressed the famous coach that he was asked to join the squad. At first he thought it was a joke, but when he realized it was true he went out to celebrate. On his way back home he was hit by a car and had his leg broken (in 39 places according to some sources). In 1942 he came back to America and was cut by the manager to save costs. Rather than cutting him outright the team's directors sent him to Canto do Rio where he led the team to a Rio de Janeiro championship. He was promptly recalled to America as well as the Rio de Janeiro state team that Flávio Costa had invited him to join before his accident. In 1946 he joined

Vasco de Gama Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira (; ; c. 1460s – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and the first European to reach India by sea. His initial voyage to India by way of Cape of Good Hope (1497–1499) was the first to link ...

and became a huge part of the "expresso da vitória" (the victory express), one of Brazil's best ever club teams and the first to win an international title (the

South American club championship South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz ...

in 1948 — before the

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as the Copa Libertadores de América ( pt, Copa Libertadores da América), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in S ...

came to be). Danilo retired while playing for

Botafogo Botafogo (local/standard alternative Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation: ) is a beachfront neighborhood ('' bairro'') in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is a mostly upper middle class and small commerce community, and is located between the hills of ...

. He was known as "Prince" due to the characteristic elegance of his style of play.

International career

He played 25 games with 2 goals between 1945 and 1953, winning the 1949

Copa América The Copa América ( en, America Cup) or CONMEBOL Copa América, known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship (''Campeonato Sudamericano de Fútbol'' in Spanish and ''Campeonato Sul-Americano de Futebol'' in Portuguese), is the t ...

. He was a starter for the famous 1950 World Cup team, unjustly remembered for losing the last game to

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

, despite being one of Brazil's best ever squads. Brazil only needed to draw

to win the 1950 FIFA World Cup at the Maracanã stadium. Uruguay came from a goal down to win the match 2-1. This defeat is remembered today as the Maracanaço. It is considered Brazil's worst disaster in history. Danilo is, till today, considered one of Brazil's most complete centre-halves and, by some, a top 10 among Brazil's craques. Just as Ademir,

Zizinho Thomaz Soares da Silva, also known as Zizinho (; 14 September 1921 – 8 February 2002), was a Brazilian footballer who played as an attacking midfielder for the Brazil national football team. He came to international prominence at the 19 ...

Jair In the Biblical Book of Judges, Jair or Yair ( he, יָאִיר ''Yā’īr'', "he enlightens") was a man from Gilead of the Tribe of Manasseh, east of the River Jordan, who judged Israel for 22 years, after the death of Tola, who had ruled of ...

and others on the 1950 team, he would likely be regarded even more highly if it were not for that one day in the Maracanã stadium.

Managerial career

After ending his playing career and revealing that ever since his accident he could never fully extend or bend his right leg, Danilo became a coach. In 1963, he led

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

to their only title –

– with a 5-4 win over Brazil along the way. He became the first non-native coach of a winning Copa América team since

Jack Greenwell John Richard Greenwell (2 January 1884 – 20 November 1942) was an English football manager and former player. He is Barcelona's longest serving manager, having coached the club for ten consecutive seasons (initially as player-coach, then as m ...

led

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

to victory in 1939.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Alvim, Danilo 1920 births 1996 deaths Footballers from Rio de Janeiro (city) Brazilian footballers Brazil international footballers 1950 FIFA World Cup players Copa América-winning players Brazilian football managers America Football Club (RJ) players CR Vasco da Gama players Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas players Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas managers Bolivia national football team managers Expatriate football managers in Bolivia Clube do Remo managers Clube Náutico Capibaribe managers Canto do Rio Football Club players Association football defenders