{"id":2176,"date":"2014-05-21T14:39:04","date_gmt":"2014-05-21T14:39:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/?p=2176"},"modified":"2014-05-20T15:42:39","modified_gmt":"2014-05-20T15:42:39","slug":"the-5-greatest-brazilian-footballers-of-all-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/the-5-greatest-brazilian-footballers-of-all-time\/","title":{"rendered":"The 5 Greatest Brazilian Footballers of All Time"},"content":{"rendered":"

The World Cup in Brazil is just around the corner, and the eyes of an expectant nation will be on the home team. As they bid to win a remarkable sixth World Cup \u2013 five is already a record \u2013 minds will be cast back to the classic Brazil teams of the past, and the exceptional players who have lined up for the Sele\u00e7\u00e3o Brasileira<\/i>, \u2018the Brazilian selection\u2019 as the team is known.<\/p>\n

Here are the five greatest players ever to have played in Brazil\u2019s famous yellow jersey \u2013 in my opinion at least:<\/p>\n

\"BrazilFootballers\"<\/a><\/p>\n

1. Edson Arantes do Nascimento, \u2018Pele\u2019<\/b><\/h3>\n

Let\u2019s get the king out of the way first. Pele scored 77 goals in 92 appearances for his country, topping the goal chart for Brazil. He is regularly named the greatest player of all time in poll after poll, and not just in Brazil. He made his debut at 16 and helped Brazil to win three of the four World Cups in which he featured. Face it, he\u2019s the greatest.<\/p>\n

Post-football, Pele had stints as Brazilian Minister for Sport and famed advocate of Viagra. Still scoring!<\/p>\n

2. Arthur Antunes Coimbra, \u2018Zico\u2019<\/b><\/h3>\n

Widely regarded as one of the finest passers of a football ever to have graced a pitch, Zico could be described as the greatest player never to have won the World Cup (though fans of George Best may dispute that). Zico was a member of three World Cup squads, including the extraordinary 1982 side, which stunned the world by not winning the tournament, bowing out to eventual winners Italy in only the Second Round.<\/p>\n

He did, however, beat Pele to the Sports Minister job by a full six years.<\/p>\n

3. Ronaldo Lu\u00eds Naz\u00e1rio de Lima, \u2018Ronaldo\u2019<\/b><\/h3>\n

English football grounds for years resounded to chants of \u201cYou\u2019re not the real Ronaldo!\u201d whenever Cristiano of Manchester United would take the field, though he turned out all right. This is because the real Ronaldo scored some stunning goals for Brazil (62 in 98 appearances), and more than any other player at World Cups with 15. He also helped Brazil win the tournament in 1994 and 2002, at a time when their squad was not quite as star-studded as in the past.<\/p>\n

His colourful off-field life included a bizarre incident with a transvestite prostitute, and one of football\u2019s most unforgivable haircuts during the 2002 tournament. But he\u2019s the real Ronaldo, so we\u2019ll forgive him.<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a>

Photo by Paula Ferrari<\/p><\/div>\n

4. Marcos Evangelista de Moraes, \u2018Cafu\u2019<\/b><\/h3>\n

Arguably the unfashionable choice, Cafu makes the top five due to his solid defending over 142 Brazil matches, a national record. It was Cafu\u2019s tough tackling that allowed the likes of teammates Romario, Bebeto and Ronaldo to express themselves in attack.<\/p>\n

Imagine how hard it must be for a Brazilian footballer to curb his natural flair and agree to play at centre back! A true hero of Brazilian football.<\/p>\n

5. Manuel Francisco dos Santos, \u2018Garrincha\u2019<\/b><\/h3>\n

The phrase \u2018tricky winger\u2019 is deployed too often, but there\u2019s little doubt it applied to the man they called\u00a0Anjo de Pernas Tortas<\/i>, or \u2018Angel with Bent Legs\u2019. Footage of his amazing ball skills is truly bewildering to anyone who can\u2019t imagine knees working like that. Garrincha won the World Cups of 1958 and 1962 with Brazil, alongside Pele.<\/p>\n

Tragically Garrincha\u2019s life after football was plagued by alcoholism and he died of liver failure at just 49.<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a>

Photo by pressens-bild<\/p><\/div>\n

Watching the World Cup in Brazil<\/b><\/h4>\n

Should you be lucky enough to be heading to Brazil for any of the matches \u2013 almost certainly featuring some of the men above as star commentators and pundits \u2013 you may want to go armed with a few Portuguese phrases to help understand what\u2019s going on. Considering it\u2019s Brazil, there\u2019s every chance you\u2019ll hear eles s\u00e3o perigosos no contra-ataque<\/i> (\u2018they are dangerous on the counter-attack\u2019), or ele dribla a defesa<\/i> (\u2018he dribbles through the defence\u2019). You\u2019ll almost certainly hear Goooooooool!<\/i>, but I\u2019m confident you\u2019ll be able to work that one out yourself.<\/p>\n

To find out just how much Portuguese you\u2019re currently in command of, have a go at our Portuguese level test<\/a>. And don\u2019t forget to learn the words of Brazil\u2019s most famous football song, Na Cad\u00eancia do Samba!<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The World Cup in Brazil is just around the corner, and the eyes of an expectant nation will be on the home team. As they bid to win a remarkable sixth World Cup \u2013 five is already a record \u2013 minds will be cast back to the classic Brazil teams of the past, and the(\u2026)<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t \t\t\t\tCONTINUE READING »<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":2178,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,236],"tags":[292,331,101,330,337],"class_list":["post-2176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fun-games","category-must-know","tag-brazil","tag-football","tag-portuguese","tag-soccer","tag-world-cup"],"yoast_head":"\nThe 5 Greatest Brazilian Footballers of All Time<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"As the FIFA World Cup in Brazil approaches, we list the 5 finest footballers ever to have turned out in the Samba nation's famous yellow jersey.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/the-5-greatest-brazilian-footballers-of-all-time\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The 5 Greatest Brazilian Footballers of All Time\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As the FIFA World Cup in Brazil approaches, we list the 5 finest footballers ever to have turned out in the Samba nation's famous yellow jersey.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/the-5-greatest-brazilian-footballers-of-all-time\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Listen & Learn\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-05-21T14:39:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-05-20T15:42:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/BrazilFootballers-e1400600449233.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"450\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"411\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Chris Lockie\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Chris Lockie\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/the-5-greatest-brazilian-footballers-of-all-time\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/the-5-greatest-brazilian-footballers-of-all-time\/\",\"name\":\"The 5 Greatest Brazilian Footballers of All Time\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/the-5-greatest-brazilian-footballers-of-all-time\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/the-5-greatest-brazilian-footballers-of-all-time\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/BrazilFootballers-e1400600449233.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-05-21T14:39:04+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-05-20T15:42:39+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/975bb19d390057bd929a7c81e3e2fb57\"},\"description\":\"As the FIFA World Cup in Brazil approaches, we list the 5 finest footballers ever to have turned out in the Samba nation's famous yellow jersey.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/the-5-greatest-brazilian-footballers-of-all-time\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/the-5-greatest-brazilian-footballers-of-all-time\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/the-5-greatest-brazilian-footballers-of-all-time\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/BrazilFootballers-e1400600449233.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/BrazilFootballers-e1400600449233.jpeg\",\"width\":450,\"height\":411},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/the-5-greatest-brazilian-footballers-of-all-time\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The 5 Greatest Brazilian Footballers of All Time\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Listen & Learn\",\"description\":\"Language Courses and Language Services UK\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/975bb19d390057bd929a7c81e3e2fb57\",\"name\":\"Chris Lockie\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e93001549205a5f9e3c22a81c8cb1796?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e93001549205a5f9e3c22a81c8cb1796?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Chris Lockie\"},\"description\":\"Chris has been living in London for most of his adult life, but has travelled the globe extensively and has visited every continent but Antarctica. He is currently attempting to learn Russian, very, very slowly.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/author\/chris-lockie\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The 5 Greatest Brazilian Footballers of All Time","description":"As the FIFA World Cup in Brazil approaches, we list the 5 finest footballers ever to have turned out in the Samba nation's famous yellow jersey.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/the-5-greatest-brazilian-footballers-of-all-time\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The 5 Greatest Brazilian Footballers of All Time","og_description":"As the FIFA World Cup in Brazil approaches, we list the 5 finest footballers ever to have turned out in the Samba nation's famous yellow jersey.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/the-5-greatest-brazilian-footballers-of-all-time\/","og_site_name":"Listen & Learn","article_published_time":"2014-05-21T14:39:04+00:00","article_modified_time":"2014-05-20T15:42:39+00:00","og_image":[{"width":450,"height":411,"url":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/BrazilFootballers-e1400600449233.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Chris Lockie","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Chris Lockie","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/the-5-greatest-brazilian-footballers-of-all-time\/","url":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/the-5-greatest-brazilian-footballers-of-all-time\/","name":"The 5 Greatest Brazilian Footballers of All Time","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/the-5-greatest-brazilian-footballers-of-all-time\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/the-5-greatest-brazilian-footballers-of-all-time\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/BrazilFootballers-e1400600449233.jpeg","datePublished":"2014-05-21T14:39:04+00:00","dateModified":"2014-05-20T15:42:39+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/975bb19d390057bd929a7c81e3e2fb57"},"description":"As the FIFA World Cup in Brazil approaches, we list the 5 finest footballers ever to have turned out in the Samba nation's famous yellow jersey.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/the-5-greatest-brazilian-footballers-of-all-time\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/the-5-greatest-brazilian-footballers-of-all-time\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/the-5-greatest-brazilian-footballers-of-all-time\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/BrazilFootballers-e1400600449233.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/BrazilFootballers-e1400600449233.jpeg","width":450,"height":411},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/the-5-greatest-brazilian-footballers-of-all-time\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The 5 Greatest Brazilian Footballers of All Time"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/","name":"Listen & Learn","description":"Language Courses and Language Services UK","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/975bb19d390057bd929a7c81e3e2fb57","name":"Chris Lockie","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e93001549205a5f9e3c22a81c8cb1796?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e93001549205a5f9e3c22a81c8cb1796?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Chris Lockie"},"description":"Chris has been living in London for most of his adult life, but has travelled the globe extensively and has visited every continent but Antarctica. He is currently attempting to learn Russian, very, very slowly.","url":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/author\/chris-lockie\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2176"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2176"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2176\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2180,"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2176\/revisions\/2180"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}