Brazil 1958-1962

“But why is everybody crying? Didn't we win the game?”

“I felt that our team had gone cold and the blood had stopped flowing. I was giving time to time.”

“Calm down lad. We're still a better team than they are. Don't worry, we'll turn this game around soon enough.”

“Didi was very important for me in 1958. I was only 17 and he was like an older brother. For him, playing football was as easy as peeling an orange.”

“Didi's experience and demeanour were precisely what our excitable group of novices needed.”

“Individually, I think the '58 team had many more players than the '70 one. If you look: Didi, Nilton Santos, Garrincha, Pelé, Bellini, excellent in the air, Zito in the middle. If you compare the number of players, '58 had the better team.”

“We had seven players behind the ball. When we won it, I came in like an attacking left winger. We played offensively with possession and closed up when we lost it.”

“I had the good fortune to be chosen by Feola. There were other good wingers, like Pepe, but he was a 50-metre player. I was a 100-metre player.”

“We became world champions on 29 June and my contract with Flamengo ran out the next day.”

“Hold on, hold on, it's already more than good enough!”

“When Pelé scored the fifth goal in that Final, I have to be honest and say I felt like applauding.”

“That's fair. Now it's Mauro's turn.”