João Alves Jobin Saldanha (3 July 1917 – 12 July 1990) was a Brazilian

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

manager. He coached the

Brazil national football team The Brazil national football team (), nicknamed ''Seleção Canarinho'' ("Canary Squad", after their bright yellow jersey), represents Brazil in men's international Association football, football and is administered by the Brazilian Football Co ...

during the South American Qualifying to the

1970 FIFA World Cup The 1970 FIFA World Cup was the 9th edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's senior national teams. Held from 31 May to ...

. Nicknamed ''João Sem Medo'' (''Fearless João'') by Nelson Rodrigues, Saldanha played for

Botafogo Botafogo (local/standard alternative Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation: ) is a beachfront neighborhood (''bairro'') in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is a mostly upper middle class and small commerce community, and is located between the hills of M ...

. He then started a career in journalism and became one of Brazil's most prolific sports columnists. He often criticised players, managers and teams, and was a member of then-illegal

Brazilian Communist Party The Brazilian Communist Party (), originally the Communist Party of Brazil (), is a communist party in Brazil, founded on 25 March 1922. Arguably the oldest active political party in Brazil, it played an important role in the country's 20th- ...

(''Partido Comunista Brasileiro – PCB'').

Biography and career

In 1957, Botafogo appointed him as their coach, despite his lack of managerial experience. The club won the Rio state championship that season, but Saldanha resigned from the club in 1959. In 1969, he was invited to take charge of the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

, and led them to a perfect 6-0 record. It is alleged that football federation president

João Havelange Jean-Marie Faustin Godefroid "João" de Havelange (, ; 8 May 1916 – 16 August 2016) was a Brazilian lawyer, businessman, and athlete who was the seventh president of FIFA from 1974 to 1998. His tenure as president is the second longest in ...

appointed him in the hope that journalists would be less critical of the national team if one of their own was in charge. Saldanha was publicly criticised by

Dorival Yustrich Dorival Knippel (September 28, 1917 – February 15, 1990), nicknamed Yustrich, was a Brazilian goalkeeper of the 1930s and 1940s. His nickname was a reference to fellow goalkeeper Juan Elías Yustrich, then of Boca Juniors, who he was said to r ...

, coach of

Flamengo Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (; ), more commonly referred to as simply Flamengo, is a Brazilian multi sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, in the neighborhood of Gávea. It was founded and named after the Flamengo, Rio de Janeiro, Flamengo n ...

. Saldanha responded by confronting him while brandishing a revolver. Saldanha was said to have fallen out of favour because of his unwillingness to select players who were personal favourites of President

Emílio Garrastazu Médici Emílio Garrastazu Médici (; 4 December 1905 – 9 October 1985) was a Brazilian military leader and politician who was the 28th president of Brazil from 1969 to 1974. His authoritarian rule marked the apex of the Brazilian military regime. ...

, in particular striker

Dario Dario is a masculine given name, etymologically related to Darius. Given name * Dario Allevi (born 1965), Italian politician *Dario Argento (born 1940), Italian film director * Dario Badinelli (born 1946), Italian triple jumper * Dario Bellezza ...

(Brazil was then a military dictatorship). It is reported that Saldanha, after being told that President Médici would be pleased to see Dario in the team, answered, "well, I also have some suggestions to give in the President's ministry choices". The last straw came when the assistant manager resigned, saying that Saldanha was impossible to work with. Afterwards, Saldanha went back to his journalistic career, even covering the 1970 and 1974 World Cups for

TV Globo TV Globo (stylized as tvglobo; , ), formerly known as Rede Globo de Televisão (; shortened to Rede Globo) or simply known as Globo, is a Brazilian free-to-air Television broadcasting, television network, launched by media proprietor Roberto M ...

and the 1986 and 1990 World Cups for TV Manchete. The day after commenting on the second round match between Italy and Argentina, Saldanha was admitted into the Sant'Eugenio Hospital, in Rome, with respiratory problems, and died eight days later.

Honours

Botafogo *

Campeonato Carioca The Campeonato Carioca (Carioca Championship), officially known as Campeonato Estadual do Rio de Janeiro (Rio de Janeiro State Championship), also commonly known as the Cariocão, is the top-flight professional state football league in the Br ...

: 1957

Legacy

Starting from 2004, the winners of the second turn of the

Campeonato Brasileiro Série A The Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (; English: "Brazilian Championship A Series"), commonly referred to as the Brasileirão (; English: "Big Brazilian" or "Great Brazilian"), the Série A or the Brazilian Série A (to distinguish it from the I ...

, are awarded with the "

Troféu João Saldanha Troféu João Saldanha is an award given by the Brazilian newspaper ''Lance!'' to the winner of the second half of the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A. The trophy honors João Saldanha, who was a journalist and head coach, deceased on July 12, 1990, ...

", given by the Brazilian newspaper ''

Lance! ''Lance!'' is a daily sports newspaper in Brazil, and its first edition was published in 1997. Its headquarters are located in Rio de Janeiro, and they print regional versions for some of the other Brazilian states. History Its tabloid format a ...

''.

Biography and career

Honours

Legacy

References

Further reading