Evaristo de Macedo Filho, (born 22 June 1933, in

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 b ...

), known simply as Evaristo, is 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 ...

and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

Club career

Madureira (1950–1952)

Raised in the north of

, Evaristo, like many children, played football simply for fun on the streets, and watched

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 ...

play on weekends with his uncle. In 1950, aged 17, Evaristo joined a friend who was attending a trial at Madureira and was asked to come back the following day. Signed as an amateur, he scored 18 goals in 35 games, including one against

Fluminense Fluminense Football Club (), known as Fluminense, is a Brazilian sports club best known for its professional football team that competes in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, the first tier of Brazilian football and the Campeonato Carioca, ...

at the

Maracanã Stadium Maracanã Stadium ( pt, Estádio do Maracanã, standard Brazilian Portuguese: , local pronunciation: ), officially named Estádio Jornalista Mário Filho (), is an association football stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The stadium is part o ...

Flamengo (1953–1957)

Evaristo was called up to the Brazilian squad at the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad ( fi, XV olympiadin kisat; sv, Den XV olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 ( sv, Helsin ...

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

. After returning home following elimination to an experienced

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

side, all of the Brazil players received new club offers. Turning down offers from

Vasco da 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 E ...

and Fluminense, Evaristo joined Flamengo, and won three successive Rio State Championships with the club. He scored 103 goals in 191 games for Flamengo, including four during a 12–2 win over

São Cristóvão São Cristóvão (, ''Saint Christopher'') is a Brazilian municipality in the Northeastern state of Sergipe. Founded at the mouth of the Vaza-Barris River on January 1, 1590, the municipality is the fourth oldest settlement in Brazil. São Crist� ...

, the biggest win ever recorded at the Maracanã to date.

Barcelona (1957–1962)

Evaristo's five-goal display with Brazil in a 9–0 win over

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

at the

1957 South American Championship The South American Championship 1957 was a football tournament held in Peru and won by Argentina with Brazil as runners-up. Bolivia, and Paraguay withdrew from the tournament. Humberto Maschio from Argentina and Javier Ambrois from Uruguay becam ...

brought him to the attention of

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Founded ...

technical secretary

Josep Samitier Josep Samitier Vilalta (; 2 February 1902 – 4 May 1972), also known as José Samitier, was a Spanish Association football, football player, manager and scout who played as a midfielder for FC Barcelona, Real Madrid CF, Real Madrid, OGC Nice, ...

, who had flown to South America in search of a striker. Samitier watched Evaristo playing for Brazil during

qualification Qualification is either the process of qualifying for an achievement, or a credential attesting to that achievement, and may refer to: * Professional qualification, attributes developed by obtaining academic degrees or through professional exper ...

for the

1958 FIFA World Cup The 1958 FIFA World Cup was the sixth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Sweden from 8 to 29 June 1958. It was the first FIFA World Cup to be played in a Nordic country. Brazil be ...

and, impressed, made Evaristo's father a proposal deemed "impossible to turn down", with a basic wage of 700,000 pesetas/£6,000 a year (about £140,000 in 2021). The offer came additionally including a house, a

Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, is a German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand established in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a Mercedes-Benz Group subsidiary established in 2019) is headquartere ...

, and a club liaison officer who assisted with Evaristo's marriage to his childhood sweetheart Norma three months later. Each player had an individual fan club arranged by the club, but the players outside of training and official activity were free to enjoy life and relax in the city. Playing in a Barcelona side alongside

László Kubala László Kubala ( sk, Ladislav Kubala, es, Ladislao Kubala, 10 June 1927 – 17 May 2002) was a Hungarian-Slovak professional footballer who also had Spanish citizenship. He played as a forward for Ferencváros, Slovan Bratislava, Barcelona, ...

and

Luis Suárez Luis Alberto Suárez Díaz (; born 24 January 1987) is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as a striker for Uruguayan Primera División club Nacional and the Uruguay national team. Nicknamed ''El Pistolero'' ('The Gunman'), he is ...

, and managed by

Helenio Herrera Helenio Herrera Gavilán (; 10 April 1910 – 9 November 1997) was an Argentine, naturalized French, football player and manager. He is best remembered for his success with the Inter Milan team known as ''Grande Inter'' in the 1960s. During ...

, Evaristo scored in the first official match played at the

Camp Nou Camp Nou (, meaning ''new field'', often referred to in English as the Nou Camp), officially branded as Spotify Camp Nou for sponsorship and financial reasons, is a football stadium in Barcelona, Spain. It has been the home stadium of FC Barcelo ...

in September 1957, and became the first player to score a hat-trick at the ground. In the following season, he scored three goals against European champions

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

en route to Barcelona's first

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

title in six years. On 23 November 1960, in the second leg of a

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

tie against Real Madrid at the Camp Nou, during which the English referee ruled out four separate goals for Real Madrid, Evaristo scored a diving header with eight minutes to go, which eliminated Barcelona's rivals from the competition for the first time and ended their hopes of a sixth successive title. Evaristo scored six times during Barcelona's run to their first European Cup final, which they lost 3–2 to Benfica at the

Wankdorf Stadium The Wankdorf Stadium (german: Wankdorfstadion, ) was a football stadium in the Wankdorf quarter of Bern, Switzerland, and the former home of Swiss club BSC Young Boys. It was built in 1925, and as well as serving as a club stadium, it hosted se ...

Bern german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese , neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen , website ...

, now remembered as the "Square-Posts Final" due to the match supposedly being the reason the shape of the goalposts was changed. During Evaristo's time with Barcelona, the club won two league titles, a cup title, and two

Inter-Cities Fairs Cup The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, sometimes referred to as the European Fairs Cup, Fairs Cities' Cup, or simply as the Fairs Cup, was a European Association football, football competition played between 1955 and 1971. It is often considered the predecess ...

s. Barcelona's statistics department state that in official matches, Evaristo scored 105 goals in 151 games for the side, while the club's official site states in total he scored 181 in 237. Only

Rivaldo Rivaldo Vítor Borba Ferreira (born 19 April 1972), known simply as Rivaldo (), is a Brazilian former footballer who played mainly as an attacking midfielder but also as a second striker, and on occasion deployed as a wide midfielder or as a w ...

, who scored 129 goals in 235 games between 1997 and 2002, has more official goals by a Brazilian for Barcelona than Evaristo; Evaristo however still retains the best goals-per-game ratio of any Brazilian to play more than 50 games for Barcelona. Unfortunately, Evaristo's relationship with Barcelona with regards to international representation had been strained from the start. Having played every minute of a two-legged World Cup qualifier against

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 ...

, and with eight goals in fourteen games, when they signed him Barcelona verbally agreed to release Evaristo for the World Cup final tournament in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. However, with Spain having failed to qualify, the Spanish Cup went ahead at the same time as the tournament in Sweden, and Barcelona went back on their promise to release him. Brazil went on to win their first World Cup, with 17-year-old

Pelé Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; born 23 October 1940), known as Pelé (), is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a forward. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time and labelled "the greatest" by FIFA, ...

their headlining player; Evaristo would never wear the famous Brazilian yellow shirt again.

Real Madrid (1962–1965)

In 1962, wanting to sign another foreign player – yet with rules only allowing one per team under both Spanish and European rules – Barcelona asked Evaristo to naturalise as a Spanish citizen. After bitter wrangling, Evaristo agreed to quit Barcelona that summer. Although he had offers from clubs in both

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, with his family happy in Spain Evaristo agreed to join rivals

. In contrast to the transfer of

Luís Figo Luís Filipe Madeira Caeiro Figo (; born 4 November 1972) is a Portuguese former professional footballer who played as a winger for Sporting CP, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Inter Milan. He won 127 caps for the Portugal national team, a one-ti ...

38 years later, Barcelona's fans directed their anger not at the player, but at the board. Despite a serious knee injury limiting him to just nineteen appearances and six goals for Real Madrid, Evaristo still won two La Liga titles in two seasons with the club.

Return to Flamengo (1965–1966)

Evaristo returned as he had planned to Flamengo in 1965, adding another league title before retiring a year later, at the age of 33.

International career

Evaristo competed for Brazil at the

, alongside other notable players such as

Vavá Edvaldo Izidio Neto (12 November 1934 – 19 January 2002), commonly known as Vavá, was a Brazilian footballer who is widely considered one of the best strikers of his generation. His nickname was "Peito de Aço" (Steel Chest). He played as a ...

and

Zózimo Zózimo Alves Calazaes, best known as Zózimo (19 June 1932 – 21 July 1977) was a Brazilian footballer whose career as a defender and midfielder lasted from 1948 to 1967. Born in Plataforma, a bairro of Salvador, the capital of Bahia, Zó ...

. Evaristo was capped by the national side fourteen times, scoring eight goals. He also holds the record of most goals for the Brazilian national team in a single match, with Evaristo netting five times for the ''Seleção'' in a 9–0 win over

in 1957. Evaristo played every minute of Brazil's two-legged 1958 World Cup qualifying tie against Peru, and with a total of eight goals in fourteen matches played, he was expected to be a starter for Brazil at the

final tournament Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

. However, with

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

failing to qualify, the

Spanish Cup The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footb ...

went ahead at the same time as the World Cup, and Barcelona went back on their initial promise to release Evaristo for the tournament in Sweden; this soured the relationship between Evaristo and the club, and he would go on to join rivals Real Madrid, never playing again for the national team.

Managerial career

Evaristo had a brief tenure as manager of the Brazil national team in 1985, and he later became head coach of

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

for the

1986 World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-tea ...

. Evaristo would take on various further managerial positions, including three separate stints in charge of his former club Flamengo.

Club statistics

Honours

Flamengo *

Campeonato Carioca The Campeonato Carioca (Carioca Championship), officially known as Campeonato Estadual do Rio de Janeiro (Port., Rio de Janeiro State Championship), was started in 1906 and is the annual football championship in the state of Rio de Janeiro, B ...

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito i ...

1954 Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...

Barcelona *

: 1955–58, 1958–60 *

Copa del Generalísimo The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...

: 1958–59 *

: 1958–59, 1959–60 *

runner-up: 1960–61 *

Small Club World Cup The Small Club World Cup ( es, Pequeña Copa del Mundo) was a football tournament held in Venezuela between 1952 and 1975 (with some journalists considering 1952–57 the period of greatest relevance, and the second period that took place between ...

1957 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th y ...

Real Madrid *

: 1962–63, 1963–64 *

runner-up: 1963–64

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Evaristo 1933 births Living people Footballers from Rio de Janeiro (city) Brazilian footballers Brazilian football managers La Liga players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Footballers at the 1952 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers of Brazil Catalonia international guest footballers 1980 AFC Asian Cup managers 1984 AFC Asian Cup managers 1986 FIFA World Cup managers Brazilian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Spain Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Brazilian expatriate football managers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Qatar Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Iraq Expatriate football managers in Qatar Expatriate football managers in Iraq Campeonato Brasileiro Série A managers Campeonato Brasileiro Série B managers Brazil international footballers Madureira Esporte Clube players CR Flamengo footballers FC Barcelona players Real Madrid CF players Fluminense FC managers CR Vasco da Gama managers Esporte Clube Bahia managers Santa Cruz Futebol Clube managers Qatar national football team managers America Football Club (RJ) managers Brazil national football team managers Iraq national football team managers Grêmio Foot-Ball Porto Alegrense managers Cruzeiro Esporte Clube managers Santos FC managers CR Flamengo managers Club Athletico Paranaense managers Esporte Clube Vitória managers Sport Club Corinthians Paulista managers Association football forwards