Nílton dos Santos (; 16 May 1925 – 27 November 2013) 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 ...

who primarily played as a wingback. At international level, he was a member of the Brazil squads that won the

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

and 1962 World Cups. Regarded as one of the greatest defenders in the history of the game, Nílton Santos is a member of the World Team of the 20th Century, and was named by Pelé one of the top 125 greatest living footballers at a FIFA Awards ceremony in 2004. In 2009, he was the recipient of the Golden Foot Legends Award. He was unrelated to his frequent defensive partner

Djalma Santos Djalma Pereira Dias dos Santos known simply as Djalma Santos (; also spelled Dejalma Santos), (27 February 192923 July 2013) was a Brazilian footballer who started for the Brazil national team in four World Cups, winning two, in 1958 and 1962. ...

Club career

Born 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 ...

, he was a pioneering attacking left back, being one of the first full backs to make runs down the wing to participate in the offensive game. Once he said: "I have never envied today's players the money but the freedom they have, to go forward". He played all his professional club career for Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas. He was called "The Encyclopedia" because of his knowledge of the sport of football. He was world class both at defending and attacking and possessed very good technique.

International career

Nílton was a key player in defence during the 1954,

and

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wor ...

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 ...

finals (he was also in the Brazilian squad for the

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 crashes in a snowstorm. All 19 ...

finals, but made no appearances) and became famous for scoring a goal in the 1958 tournament when Brazil played

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

Dribbling In sports, dribbling is maneuvering a ball by one player while moving in a given direction, avoiding defenders' attempts to intercept the ball. A successful dribble will bring the ball past defenders legally and create opportunities to score. A ...

his way through the whole field, he finished with a shot that drove his coach

Vicente Feola Vicente Ítalo Feola (; 20 November 1909 – 6 November 1975) was a Brazilian football manager and coach from São Paulo. He became famous for leading the Brazilians to their first FIFA World Cup title in 1958. Biography Feola was born in S� ...

crazy (he kept on insisting for Nílton to retreat to the defensive field, but was ignored until the goal was scored). Nílton Santos played for only two teams in his professional career; Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas and the Brazilian national team collecting 75 caps and scoring 3 goals.

Death

Santos died of a

lung infection Lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) is a term often used as a synonym for pneumonia but can also be applied to other types of infection including lung abscess and acute bronchitis. Symptoms include shortness of breath, weakness, fever, co ...

on 27 November 2013, aged 88, in Rio de Janeiro. He was the fourth 1958 World Cup champion to die in a few months, after

died in July 2013, Gilmar and De Sordi both in August 2013 and all of them within a year of the 2014 FIFA World Cup in their native Brazil.

Legacy

Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas's home, and 2016 Summer Olympics host stadium, the Estádio Olímpico Nílton Santos, also called ''Engenhão'', is named after him.

Honours

Botafogo * Campeonato Carioca: 1948,

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 year ...

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 (K ...

* Torneio Rio – São Paulo 1962, 1964 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 ...

South American Championship A South American Championship is a top level international sports competition between South American athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. List of Championships * ATP Buenos Aires, a tenni ...

: 1949 *

Panamerican Championship The Panamerican Championship was an international football tournament held by the Panamerican Football Confederation every four years with three editions held from 1952 through 1960.

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...

Taça do Atlântico Taça do Atlântico ( en, Atlantic Cup, es, Copa del Atlántico) was a national football team's competition held between 1956 and 1976 on an irregular basis, contested by the national football teams from South America. Teams participating wer ...

: 1956, 1960 *

Copa Rio Branco Copa or COPA may refer to: COPA COPA may refer to: * Computer Operator Programming Assistant. trade of ITI * Child Online Protection Act, a former U.S. law to protect minors from certain material on the internet * Canadian Owners and Pilots Asso ...

: 1950 *

Taça Oswaldo Cruz The Taça Oswaldo Cruz (English: ''Oswaldo Cruz Cup''), was a football tournament played between the national teams of Brazil and Paraguay, and contested from 1950 to 1976, albeit irregularly. *Taça Bernado O'Higgins: 1955, 1961 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 * World Soccer World XI: 1960, 1961 * World Team of the 20th Century: 1998 *

FIFA 100 The FIFA 100 is a list of Brazilian footballer Pelé's choice of the "greatest living footballers". Unveiled on 4 March 2004 at a gala ceremony in London, England, the FIFA 100 marked part of the celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the fou ...

: 2004 * Golden Foot: 2009, as a football legend *

IFFHS Brazilian Player of the 20th Century The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) is an organisation that chronicles the history and records of association football. It was founded in 1984 by Alfredo Pöge in Leipzig. The IFFHS was based in Abu Dhabi for so ...

(9th place) *The Best of The Best – Player of the Century: Top 50"The Best of The Best"
Retrieved on 17 November 2015 * Brazilian Football Museum Hall of Fame

References

External links

*

Official website proving that "Reis" added to his name is an error *
Profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Santos, Nilton 1925 births 2013 deaths Footballers from Rio de Janeiro (city) Brazilian footballers Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas players Association football defenders FIFA 100 1950 FIFA World Cup players 1954 FIFA World Cup players 1958 FIFA World Cup players 1962 FIFA World Cup players FIFA World Cup-winning players Brazil international footballers