Hilderaldo Luiz Bellini (7 June 1930 – 20 March 2014) 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 ...
of
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
origin who played as a
defender and was known in Brazil as one of the nation's most solid
central defenders ever.
Biography
During his career he played for
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 ...
,
São Paulo FC
São Paulo Futebol Clube (), commonly referred to as São Paulo, is a professional football club in the Morumbi district of São Paulo, Brazil, founded in 1930. It plays in the Campeonato Paulista (the State of São Paulo's premier state leag ...
and
Atlético Paranaense
Club Athletico Paranaense (commonly known as Athletico and formerly known as Atlético Paranaense) is a Brazilian football team from the city of Curitiba, capital city of the Brazilian state of Paraná, founded on March 26, 1924. The team ...
, and he was the first
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
ian to lift the
World Cup
A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...
in
1958. He won another World Cup in
1962 and participated also at
1966 FIFA World Cup
The 1966 FIFA World Cup was the eighth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in England from 11 July to 30 July 1966. The England national football team defeated West Germany 4-2 in the ...
as the team
captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
again.
He was honored with a statue at the entrance of the
Maracanã stadium, which depicts him lifting the 1958 World Cup trophy. At the end of his international career from 1957 to 1966 with Brazil he earned a total of 51 caps being the captain during 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 ...
in Sweden.
Bellini is credited with starting the tradition of lifting the trophy into the air in football. He initially did this so that photographers could have a better view of the trophy and, as the photos were published around the world, the gesture became associated with victory.
Bellini died on 20 March 2014, aged 83, in São Paulo, due to complications caused by
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...
culminating with cardiac arrest.
Shortly after his death in 2014, Brazilian footballer Bellini was posthumously diagnosed with
CTE. Bellini, along with
Pelé,
Didi
Didi may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* "Didi" (song), a song by Khaled
* Didi, the principal character in ''Didi's Comedy Show'', a German comedy television show
* Didi Pickles, mother of Tommy and Dil in the cartoons ''Rugrats'' and ''All ...
and
Garrincha
Manuel Francisco dos Santos (28 October 1933 – 20 January 1983), nicknamed Mané Garrincha, best known as simply Garrincha (, "little bird"), was a Brazilian professional footballer who played as a right winger. He is widely regarded as one o ...
, led Brazil to
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...
victories in 1958 and 1962.
''washingtonpost.com''
2014/09/23.
Honours
Club
;Vasco da Gama
*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 ...
: 1952, 1956, 1958
* Torneio Octogonal Rivadavia Corrêa Meyer: 1953
* Torneio Rio – São Paulo: 1958
International
;Brazil
*FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...
: 1958, 1962
Individual
*FIFA World Cup All-Star Team
At the end of each FIFA World Cup final tournament, several awards are presented to the players and teams who have distinguished themselves in various aspects of the game.
Awards
*There are currently five post-tournament awards from the FIFA ...
: 1958
References
External links
1930 births
2014 deaths
People from Itapira
1958 FIFA World Cup players
1962 FIFA World Cup players
1966 FIFA World Cup players
Brazil international footballers
Brazilian footballers
FIFA World Cup-winning captains
FIFA World Cup-winning players
Brazilian people of Italian descent
São Paulo FC players
Sportspeople with chronic traumatic encephalopathy
CR Vasco da Gama players
Club Athletico Paranaense players
Deaths from dementia in Brazil
Deaths from Alzheimer's disease
Association football defenders
Footballers from São Paulo (state)
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