Francisco Ferreira de Aguiar (11 November 1930 – 22 May 2012), known as Chico Formiga or simply Formiga, 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 ...

and manager. Mainly a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

, he could also play as a

defensive midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. Formiga had his playing career mainly associated with Santos. As a manager, he was in charge of top tier sides Santos,

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...

Corinthians The First Epistle to the Corinthians ( grc, Α΄ ᾽Επιστολὴ πρὸς Κορινθίους) is one of the Pauline epistles, part of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The epistle is attributed to Paul the Apostle and a co-aut ...

, Cruzeiro and América Mineiro.

Playing career

Club

Born in

Araxá Araxá () is a municipality in Western Minas Gerais state, Brazil. Its estimated population by IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics) in 2020 is 107,337 inhabitants and the area of the municipality is , with making up the urban p ...

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is a state in Southeastern Brazil. It ranks as the second most populous, the third by gross domestic product (GDP), and the fourth largest by area in the country. The state's capital and largest city, Belo Horizonte (literally ...

, Formiga joined Santos' youth setup in May 1950, but made his first team debut in the month after being promoted to the main squad by manager Artigas. Formiga became a starter at ''Peixe'' in the 1952 season, winning the

Campeonato Paulista The Campeonato Paulista Série A1, commonly known as Campeonato Paulista, nicknamed Paulistão, is the top-flight professional association football, football league in the Brazilian States of Brazil, state of São Paulo (state), São Paulo. Run b ...

twice for the club in 1955 and 1956. In the start of the 1957 season, he moved to

Palmeiras Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras (), commonly known as Palmeiras, is a Brazilian professional football club based in the city of São Paulo, in the district of Perdizes. Palmeiras is one of the most popular clubs in South America, with around ...

for a fee of ₢$2 million plus the transfers of Laércio and Jair Rosa Pinto. Formiga returned to Santos in 1959, taking part of the ''

Os Santásticos ''Os Santásticos'' (, ''The Santastics'') is the nickname for the group of Santos Futebol Clube players coached by Lula and Antoninho that won a total of 25 titles between 1959 and 1974, including two Copa Libertadores. Often considered one ...

'' squad that won two

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 ...

and two Intercontinental Cups. He retired in December 1962, after playing 410 matches and scoring twice for the club during his two spells.

International

Formiga played 18 matches for the

Brazil national football team The Brazil national football team ( pt, Seleção Brasileira de Futebol), nicknamed ''Seleção Canarinho'' (‘Canary Squad’, after their bright yellow jersey), represents Brazil in men's international football and is administered by the B ...

, making his full international debut on 20 September 1955 in a 2–1 win against

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

at the

Pacaembu Stadium Estádio Municipal Paulo Machado de Carvalho, colloquially known as Estádio do Pacaembu (), is an Art Deco stadium in São Paulo, located in the Pacaembu neighborhood. The stadium is owned by the Municipal Prefecture of São Paulo. The stadium wa ...

. He was initially called up to 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 ...

, but had to withdraw due to an injury.

Managerial career

Shortly after retiring, Formiga remained at Santos to work in the club's youth categories. He took over the first team for the first time in 1978, winning the year's ''Paulistão'', which ended only in 1979. Formiga also worked at

between 1981 and 1982 before returning to Santos, where he was manager in another two periods. He was subsequently in charge of

, Cruzeiro, Portuguesa,

Santo André Santo ('saint' in various languages) may refer to: People * Santo (given name) * Santo (surname) * El Santo, Rodolfo Guzmán Huerta (1917–1984), Mexican wrestler and actor * Bob Santo or Santo, stage name of Ghanaian comedian John Evans Kwadwo ...

, Catanduvense,

Goiás Goiás () is a Brazilian state located in the Center-West region. Goiás borders the Federal District and the states of (from north clockwise) Tocantins, Bahia, Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso do Sul and Mato Grosso. The state capital is Goiânia. ...

and América Mineiro in his home country, aside from a period at Mexico's Universidad Guadalajara in 1990 and Japan's

Oita Trinita is a Japanese football club currently playing in J2 League, having been relegated after the 2021 season after a three-year stint in J1 League. The club's home town is Ōita, Ōita, Ōita city, but the club draws support from Beppu, Ōita, Beppu, ...

in 1998. In 2001, after being in charge of Palestra de São Bernardo in the previous campaign, Formiga returned to ''Peixe'' as a youth football coordinator. He left the club after a change in the organization chart.

Death

Formiga died on 22 May 2012, aged 81, due to a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

Career statistics

International

Honours

Player

Santos *

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 ...

, 1956,

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba ( Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 ...

, 1962 * Taça Brasil:

, 1962 *

: 1962,

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cov ...

* Intercontinental Cup: 1962,

Manager

Santos *

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

São Paulo *

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

References

External links

Futebol de Goyaz profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Formiga, Chico 1930 births 2012 deaths Sportspeople from Minas Gerais Brazilian footballers Association football defenders Santos FC players Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras players Brazil international footballers Brazilian football managers Campeonato Brasileiro Série A managers Santos FC managers São Paulo FC managers Sport Club Corinthians Paulista managers Cruzeiro Esporte Clube managers Associação Portuguesa de Desportos managers Esporte Clube Santo André managers Grêmio Esportivo Catanduvense managers Goiás Esporte Clube managers América Futebol Clube (MG) managers Tecos F.C. managers Oita Trinita managers Brazilian expatriate football managers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Japan Expatriate football managers in Mexico Expatriate football managers in Japan