José Ely de Miranda (8 August 1932 – 14 June 2015), commonly known as Zito, was a Brazilian footballer who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. He is regarded as one of the biggest idols of

Santos FC Santos Futebol Clube () is a Brazilian sports club based in Vila Belmiro, a ''bairro'' in the city of Santos, São Paulo, Santos. It plays in the Campeonato Paulista, the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo's premier State football lea ...

, the club he represented for 15 years, captaining a side including

Pelé Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; 23 October 1940 – 29 December 2022), better known by his nickname Pelé (), was a Brazilian professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. Widely reg ...

to domestic and international successes. He was also part of the Brazilian squads which won 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 name is ...

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 thir ...

and

1962 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...

. After his retirement as a player, Zito remained at Santos as a director and youth coordinator, developing several young future international players.

Early life

Born in Roseira,

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

, Zito initially intended to become a schoolteacher, and attended technical schools in his hometown, before pursuing a career as a footballer.

Playing career

Zito joined Santos in 1952, after finishing his formation at hometown amateur club Roseira FC, and spending two years at Taubaté. He made his debut for ''Peixe'' on 29 June 1952 in a 3–1 friendly win against Madureira. Brasil - 1958

Zito appeared regularly for Santos in the following 15 years, playing 733 games and scoring 57 goals. He was the

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

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. The group is conside ...

'' team of the late 1950s and 1960s, playing alongside

, Pepe and other Brazilian stars. Zito was nicknamed ''Gerente'' (manager in Portuguese) by the media during his playing days, due to helping the manager Lula while outfields. Despite missing the two last games of 1963 Intercontinental Cup due to an injury, he acted as Lula's assistant during both matches as his team won the second title in a row. Zito played his last match on 7 November 1967, a 5–0 win against a mix between Ferroviário and

Fortaleza Fortaleza ( ; ; ) is the state capital of Ceará, located in Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeastern Brazil. It is Brazil's 4th largest city—Fortaleza surpassed Salvador, Bahia, Salvador in 2022 census with a population of slightly over 2.4 mi ...

at the Estádio Presidente Vargas. At international level, he earned 52 caps for

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. He partnered Didi in midfield, and was part of the squad which won the 1958 FIFA World Cup final against hosts

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

; after starting the tournament as a reserve, he finished it as an undisputed starter. In the 1962 edition in Chile, he was named in the Team of the Tournament. In the final of that tournament, Zito headed Brazil into the lead as they came from behind to win 3–1 against

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

with Pelé absent through injury.

Style of play

A strong, commanding and influential midfielder, known for his leadership, Zito usually played in a supporting role as a

wing-half In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

or half-back, serving as a defensive foil to his more offensive minded teammates. An intelligent and highly organised player, he was known for his ability to win back possession with his tackling, and subsequently set the tempo in midfield through his movement off the ball and precise passing; although he was competent in possession, he preferred to play the ball to other more creative and skilful midfielders rather than carry it forward himself. He was also capable of starting attacking plays after winning the ball by quickly distributing the ball forward with simple, yet neat and efficient passes.

Life after football

170px, Zito in 2008 After retiring Zito was a vice-president at Santos between 1978 and 1982. After one year away from the club, he was named

director of football A sporting director, or director of sport, is an senior management, executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many typ ...

by president Milton Teixeira, but left the post in 1987. In 2000, he was named a youth coordinate, helping the club to promote youngsters

Robinho Robson de Souza (; born 25 January 1984), known as Robinho (), is a Brazilian former professional association football, footballer and convicted rapist who played as a Forward (association football), forward. In 1997, at 12 years of age, Robin ...

and Diego to the first team. Zito was credited with bringing 11-year-old

Neymar Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior (; born 5 February 1992), also known as Neymar Júnior or simply Neymar, is a Brazilian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a left winger, attacking midfielder or Forward (association foo ...

to the club in 2003. With

Gabriel In the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam), Gabriel ( ) is an archangel with the power to announce God's will to mankind, as the messenger of God. He is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament and the Quran. Many Chris ...

, he was also the scout who saw the player and brought him to the club's youth system.

Death

Zito suffered from

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

and had memory lapses. Following a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

the year before, Zito died on 14 June 2015 aged 82 in

Santos, São Paulo Santos (, ''Saints''), officially Municipality of Estância Balneária de Santos, is a city and Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in the Brazilian States of Brazil, state of São Paulo (state), São Paulo, founded in 1546 by the Portuguese n ...

. In his honour, Santos decided to use the "Z" letter in the captain's armband (instead of the regular "C" used by most teams) from 2015 onwards.

Honours

International

Brazil *

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

Individual

* World Soccer World XI: 1962"ERIC BATTY’S WORLD XI – THE SIXTIES"
Retrieved on 26 November 2015

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zito 1932 births 2015 deaths Footballers from São Paulo (state) Brazilian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Esporte Clube Taubaté players Santos FC players São Paulo state football team players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Brazil men's international footballers 1958 FIFA World Cup players 1962 FIFA World Cup players 1966 FIFA World Cup players FIFA World Cup–winning players Copa Libertadores–winning players People with Alzheimer's disease 20th-century Brazilian sportsmen