Thomaz Soares da Silva, also known as Zizinho (; 14 September 1921 – 8 February 2002), 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 played as an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, 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 #Cent ...

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 ...

. He came to international prominence at the

1950 World Cup The 1950 FIFA World Cup was the fourth edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams and held in Brazil from 24 June to 16 July 1950. The planned 1942 and 1946 World Cups were ...

, where he scored two goals. He was lauded as a complete player, with an array of offensive skills such as his

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 ...

, passing, and shooting ability with both feet, as well as his accuracy from

dead ball Dead ball is a term in many ball sports in which the ball is deemed temporarily not playable, and no movement may be made with it or the players from their respective positions of significance. Depending on the sport, this event may be quite rout ...

situations and extraordinary vision. He was Pelé's idol, and is often considered one of the best Brazilian footballers of the pre-Pelé era.

Career

Born at

Niterói Niterói (, ) is a Municipalities of Brazil, municipality of the state of Rio de Janeiro (state), Rio de Janeiro in the Southeast Region, Brazil, southeast region of Brazil. It lies across Guanabara Bay facing the city of Rio de Janeiro and forms ...

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 ...

, he played for

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 ...

, Bangu,

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 ...

, Audax Italiano of

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 ...

among others teams. He is considered the first idol of Flamengo, club that he defended - winning the state championships in 1942, 1943 and 1944 - until he was transferred just before the start of 1950 World Cup to Bangu. In São Paulo he won the state championship in 1957 being extremely important and becoming an idol. In the

he helped Brazil to progress to the final, but their surprise 2–1 defeat to

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

tarnished his reputation. Zizinho played a total of 53 times for his national team, scoring 30 goals. He turned down last minute invitations by the CBF to join first the 1954 World Cup Squad and then the 1958 squad, citing on both occasions that it would be unfair on the player being dropped at the last minute to make way for him. Pelé always said that Zizinho was the best player he ever saw. "He was a complete player. He played in midfield, in attack, he scored goals, he could mark, head and cross."

Honours

Club

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 ...

: 1942, 1943, 1944 *

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 ...

: 1957

International

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 ...

runner-up: 1950 *

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 *

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 *

Roca Cup The Roca Cup ( es, Copa Roca) was a football competition contested between Argentina and Brazil national teams from 1914 to 1976 on irregular basis. The Copa Roca was the first trophy, official or unofficial, ever won by a Brazilian national team ...

: 1945 *

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.FIFA World Cup Golden Ball 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 ...

: 1950 *

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 ...

: 1950 *

IFFHS 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 ...

Brazilian Player of the 20th Century (4th place)IFFHS' Century Elections
*

South American Player of the 20th Century (10th place) * Brazilian Football Museum Hall of Fame

Records

* South American Championship /

Copa América The Copa América ( en, America Cup) or CONMEBOL Copa América, known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship (''Campeonato Sudamericano de Fútbol'' in Spanish and ''Campeonato Sul-Americano de Futebol'' in Portuguese), is the t ...

all-time top goalscorer: 17 goals (shared with Norberto Méndez)

References

External links

*
Profile at cbf.com.br

Craque Imortal
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zizinho 1922 births 2002 deaths People from São Gonçalo, Rio de Janeiro Brazilian footballers Brazilian football managers 1949 South American Championship players 1950 FIFA World Cup players Copa América-winning players Chilean Primera División players Expatriate footballers in Chile Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A managers Brazil international footballers CR Flamengo footballers Bangu Atlético Clube players São Paulo FC players Uberaba Sport Club players Audax Italiano footballers Bangu Atlético Clube managers CR Vasco da Gama managers Association football forwards Sportspeople from Rio de Janeiro (state)