Antônio Wilson Vieira Honório (11 June 1943 – 11 March 2019), nicknamed Coutinho, was a Brazilian coach and

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, rugb ...

who played as a forward for

Santos Futebol Clube Santos Futebol Clube (), commonly known simply as Santos or Santos FC and nicknamed the ''Peixe'' (; "fish"), is a Brazilian sports club based in Vila Belmiro, a ''bairro'' in the city of Santos. It is also the team with the most goals in ...

, where he was a teammate and one of the best partners of

Pelé Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; born 23 October 1940), known as Pelé (), is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a forward. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time and labelled "the greatest" by FIFA ...

, and became a member of the Brazilian national team that won the

1962 FIFA World Cup The 1962 FIFA World Cup was the seventh edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams. It was held from 30 May to 17 June 1962 in Chile. The qualification rounds took place ...

. He is considered one of the greatest strikers in the history of Brazilian football with 368 goals in 457 matches even though he prematurely ended his football career before the age of 30 due to knee problems. His main virtues as a striker were coldness and precision in finishing, the ability to dribble in tight spaces and a keen awareness of team play, which allowed him to make several one-two passes with Pelé in the midst of opponent defenses. In Brazil, during his time as a player, he received the nickname "genius of the small area" many years before other great Brazilian striker Romario. Pelé himself declares that "Coutinho, within the area, was better than me. His coldness was something supernatural".

Early years

Born in Piracicaba, State of São Paulo in 1943 he was son of Antônia and Waldemar Honório. His start in football occurred in an unusual way, after fleeing his home in Piracibaba, in the countryside of São Paulo, to pursue his dream to become a professional football player. Coutinho was spotted at the age of 13 by Santos' coach Luís Alonso Pérez ("Lula") in a preliminary match of XV de Piracicaba against Santos in his hometown. After being praised by

Santos FC Santos Futebol Clube (), commonly known simply as Santos or Santos FC and nicknamed the ''Peixe'' (; "fish"), is a Brazilian sports club based in Vila Belmiro, a ''bairro'' in the city of Santos. It is also the team with the most goals in ...

players during that match he decided travel to Santos and try his chances in becoming a professional football player for Santos. He borrowed some money and a suitcase and left Piracicaba directly to Santos, 231 km from his hometown. The day after his arrival in Santos, his father arrived desperately in Santos from Piracicaba and went to pick him up to go home. His father (Mr Waldemar Honório) didn't want to hear about it and left with his son directly to the bus station. They embarked back home, but the

board of directors placed an emissary following the bus by car. And, at the first stop, they convinced Coutinho's father that football was a good investment in the future. And that was how Coutinho returned to Santos, starting his career in professional football. One year later he became part of the Santos' lower division. At the age of 13 years and 11 months, Coutinho debuted as a professional player, a record never broken for any other players.

Club career

Coutinho debuted on Santos' professional team on May 17, 1958, still at the age of 14, in a match in Goiânia, against Sírio Libanês Futebol Clube. Coincidentally, the score was the same as the debut of his legendary partner Pelé, which had happened almost two years before: a 7-1 victory for Santos. And, like

, Coutinho also scored one of Peixe's goals in his first match for the club's adult squad. In a game at the Olympic Stadium, journalists and people at the stadium reported seeing one of the most beautiful goals in the history of football. Pelé received the ball in the midfield on his head and quickly passed it to Coutinho, who also with his head, gave it back to Pelé. And after a few more head-only passes the attacking players approached the opponent's box, without the ball touching the pitch. In the final moment, with only the goalkeeper in front of him, Coutinho could have finished the amazing combination himself with a goal, but he saw Lima coming from behind and adjusted to pass, once again with his head, and allowed Lima to score. This goal left the opponents Grêmio fans standing up, applauding a majestic goal combination between two maestros of the ball. Coutinho, in addition to resembling Pelé with his style of playing, also had physical characteristics similar to Pele. Therefore, a legend arose that the player started to wear a white ribbon on one of the arms, to help distinguish them. Regarding this urban legend, Coutinho said this: "For a short while, when I made a beautiful move, they said it was Pelé, when I missed a pass or a shot, it was Coutinho". In 2007, in an interview on the TV show "Juca Entrevista" (ESPN), with the journalist Juca Kfouri, he revealed why he used the prop: "I had a small wrist injury and started wearing a band for a while of adhesive tape. But as soon as the pains ended, I took it off." From 1958 to 1970, he wore the shirt of Santos, winning 19 titles and scoring 368 goals in 457 matches.I this period, he won alongside

five

Taça Brasil The Taça Brasil ( en, Brazil Cup) was the Brazilian national football championship contested from 1959 to 1968. Bahia, Cruzeiro and Botafogo were the only champions to have played all phases of the tournament, because until the 1968 edition tea ...

and seven

Campeonato Paulista The Campeonato Paulista Série A1, commonly known as Campeonato Paulista, nicknamed Paulistão, is the top-flight professional football league in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. Run by the FPF, the league is contested between 16 clubs and t ...

titles, 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. Coutinho has been named the greatest Santos' player after Pelé, with whom he formed an effective attacking duo with 1461 goals scored (370 by Coutinho). Coutinho also holds a mark of respect against one of Santos' main rivals, Corinthians. In 12 years of classics he played, he never lost a game. In the year that the taboo was broken, in 1968, Coutinho no longer worked for Santos. After his tenure at Santos, he also played for Vitória of

Bahia Bahia ( , , ; meaning "bay") is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo, Minas Gerais, and Rio de Janeiro) and the 5th-larges ...

, Portuguesa of São Paulo, and

Atlas An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of maps of Earth or of a region of Earth. Atlases have traditionally been bound into book form, but today many atlases are in multimedia formats. In addition to presenting geogra ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

International career

Coutinho made his first match for the Brazilian national team in Uruguay, against the home team. He was 16 years old and was the starter in that match valid for the Atlantic Cup. At the international level, Coutinho earned 15 caps and scored 6 goals with 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 ...

between 1960 and 1965. He was meant to be a starter in the

squad, but he was sidelined by injury just before the tournament and did not appear, even though he remained in the squad. Brazil went on to win the title. In his book, ''Coutinho, o Gênio da Área'', Carlos Fernando Schinner states that João Saldanha tried to convince Coutinho to return to

few months prior to the

1970 FIFA World Cup The 1970 FIFA World Cup was the ninth edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for men's senior national teams. Held from 31 May to 21 June in Mexico, it was the first World Cup tournament held outside ...

in order to replace Tostão who was Brazil's main centre-forward at that time and had suffered a major injury putting in doubt his participation on that World Cup. Coutinho, who at that time was semi-retired and overweight, refused the invitation.

Death

Coutinho died on 11 March 2019 in

Santos, São Paulo Santos (, ''Saints'') is a municipality in the Brazilian state of São Paulo, founded in 1546 by the Portuguese nobleman Brás Cubas. It is located mostly on the island of São Vicente, which harbors both the city of Santos and the city of Sã ...

. His death was caused by a

myocardial infarction 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 ma ...

due to

diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ...

and

hypertension Hypertension (HTN or HT), also known as high blood pressure (HBP), is a long-term medical condition in which the blood pressure in the arteries is persistently elevated. High blood pressure usually does not cause symptoms. Long-term high b ...

. Coutinho's health had been deteriorating in recent months, and in January he had been hospitalized for

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severit ...

Career Statistics

Honours

Club

;Santos FC *

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 (K ...

, 1962, 1964,

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is sworn in for a full term ...

, 1967 *

Campeonato Brasileiro Série A The Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (; English: "Brazilian Championship A Series"), commonly referred to as the Brasileirão (; English: "Big Brazilian"), and also known as Brasileirão Assaí due to sponsorship with Assaí Atacadista, is a Br ...

, 1962, 1963, 1964,

: 1962, 1963 * Intercontinental Cup: 1962, 1963 * Torneio Rio-São Paulo: 1959, 1963, 1964, 1966 * Torneio de Paris: 1960, 1961 * Taça das Américas: 1963 * Torneio Pentagonal do México: 1959 * Taça Tereza Herrera (Espanha): 1959 * Torneio de Valência (Espanha): 1959 * Torneio Dr. Mario Echandi (Costa Rica): 1959 * Torneio Giallorosso (Itália): 1960 * Quadrangular de Lima (Peru): 1960 * Torneio Itália 1961 (Itália): 1961 * Torneio Internacional da Costa Rica (Costa Rica): 1961 * Pentagonal de Guadalajara (México): 1961 * Torneio Internacional da Venezuela (Venezuela): 1965 * Hexagonal do Chile (Chile): 1965 * Torneio de Nova York (Estados Unidos): 1966

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 has ...

: 1962 *

Copa Roca 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. ...

: 1963 * Taça Bernardo O'Higgins: 1961 * Copa Oswaldo Cruz: 1961, 1962

Individual

* Copa Libertadores Top Scorer: 1962 * 1961 Taça Oswaldo Cruz Top Scorer (3 goals) * 1961 Torneio Rio-São Paulo Top Scorer (9 goals) * 1962 Campeonato Brasileiro Top Scorer (7 goals) * 1964 Rio-São Paulo Top Scorer (11 goals)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Coutinho 1943 births 2019 deaths People from Piracicaba Brazilian footballers Brazilian football managers Afro-Brazilian sportspeople Brazil international footballers 1962 FIFA World Cup players FIFA World Cup-winning players Expatriate footballers in Mexico Santos FC players Esporte Clube Vitória players Associação Portuguesa de Desportos players Atlas F.C. footballers Bangu Atlético Clube players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Liga MX players Brazilian expatriate footballers Santos FC managers Valeriodoce Esporte Clube managers Comercial Futebol Clube (Ribeirão Preto) managers Esporte Clube Santo André managers Associação Desportiva São Caetano managers Bonsucesso Futebol Clube managers Association football forwards Saad Esporte Clube players Deaths from diabetes Deaths from hypertension Footballers from São Paulo (state)