Gylmar dos Santos Neves (; 22 August 1930 – 25 August 2013), known simply as Gilmar, was a Brazilian footballer who played

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for

Corinthians The First Epistle to the Corinthians ( grc, Α΄ ᾽Επιστολὴ πρὸς Κορινθίους) is one of the Pauline epistles, part of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The epistle is attributed to Paul the Apostle and a co-aut ...

and Santos and was a member of the Brazil national team in three

World Cups 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 ...

. He was elected the best Brazilian goalkeeper of the 20th century and one of the best in the world by the

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 ...

. He is remembered for his sober style on the pitch and his peaceful personality. Alex Bellos says in his book ''Futebol: The Brazilian Way of Life'' that Gilmar is named after his parents, Gilberto and Maria. Gilmar was the starting goalkeeper for Pelé's Santos and Brazilian national teams of the 1960s. In 1998, he was awarded the

FIFA Order of Merit The FIFA Order of Merit is the highest honour awarded by FIFA. The award is presented at the annual FIFA congress. It is normally awarded to people who are considered to have made a significant contribution to :association football. At FIFA's ce ...

Club career

Gilmar was born in Santos,

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...

, and started his career playing for hometown side Jabaquara. In 1951 he joined

, winning three Campeonato Paulista titles with the club in 1951, 1952 and 1954. In 1961, Gilmar signed for Santos, being a part of the team who was known as ''

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. Often considered one ...

''. An immediate starter, he won five Campeonato Paulista (1962, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968), five Taça Brasil (1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965), two Copa Libertadores (1962 and 1963) and two Intercontinental Cups (1962 against

Eusébio Eusébio da Silva Ferreira (; 25 January 1942 – 5 January 2014), nicknamed the "Black Panther", the "Black Pearl" or "O Rei" ("The King"), was a Portuguese footballer who played as a striker. He is considered one of the greatest players of ...

's Benfica and 1963 against

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

International career

With the Brazil national team, Gilmar played 94 times, allowing only 95 goals. He was selected to the national squad for three straight World Cups, between

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 1966. He was part of the starting team in the first two World Cups Brazil won, in

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 ...

, and is the only goalkeeper to win two consecutive World Cups in the starting position.

Style of play

Regarded by pundits as one of the greatest Brazilian goalkeepers of all time, Gilmar was an agile shot-stopper, who possessed excellent reflexes, and who was also known for his composure under pressure, as well as his ability to inspire a sense of calm and confidence in his defenders.

Death

Gilmar died just three days after his 83rd birthday, due to a stroke.

Honours

Corinthians * Campeonato Paulista: 1951, 1952, 1954 Santos * Campeonato Brasileiro Série A: 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1968 *Campeonato Paulista: 1962, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968 * Copa Libertadores: 1962, 1963 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 ...

References

External links

*
Corinthians All Time Best XI Placar Magazine
*

at goalkeepersaredifferent.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Gilmar 1930 births 2013 deaths Sportspeople from Santos, São Paulo Brazilian footballers 1958 FIFA World Cup players 1962 FIFA World Cup players 1966 FIFA World Cup players Brazil international footballers FIFA World Cup-winning players Association football goalkeepers Santos FC players Sport Club Corinthians Paulista players