Overview
The World Cup Finals, Sweden 1958. Brazil vs the fearsome USSR. In the opening three minutes - 'the greatest three minutes in the history of football' - one man wrote himself into the record books alongside the game's greatest players, men like Pele, Di Stefano, Puskas and Maradona. Brazil went on to win the cup, and, in Garrincha, a star was born. Garrincha was the unlikeliest of footballers - with a right leg that turned inwards and a left that turned out, he looked as if he could barely walk, but with a ball at his feet he had the poise of an angel. Born in rural Brazil in 1933, the 'Little Bird' came to football by accident, discovered at the late age of nineteen by a scout from Botafogo. He played for the love of the game, uninterested in money, and ignoring tactical advice. And he was as wild off the pitch as he was mesmerising on it - mischievous, audacious and dripping with sex appeal. It was his affair and subsequent marriage to the singer Elza Soares that caught the imagination of a nation - their mouth-watering combination of soccer and samba made them the toast of 1960s Rio. But by the age of forty-nine, Garrincha was dead, destroyed by the excesses that made him so
Full Product Details
Author: Ruy Castro ,
Andrew Downie
Publisher: Vintage Publishing
Imprint: Yellow Jersey Press
Dimensions:
Width: 12.90cm
, Height: 2.40cm
, Length: 19.80cm
Weight: 0.360kg
ISBN: 9780224064330
ISBN 10: 0224064339
Pages: 432
Publication Date: 07 July 2005
Audience:
General/trade
,
General
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Manufactured on demand
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.
Reviews
Castro's biography is funny and moving, zealously researched and lovingly told. This excellent new translation by Andrew Downie means English readers can properly appreciate one of the most incredible lives in the history of sport -- Alex Bellos Daily Telegraph Passionate, fascinating and surprisingly moving ... a worthy tribute... According to Gazza, Gascoigne has limited interest in books. He should be persuaded to make an exception for Garrincha. He would learn more about himself than by reading his own autobiography -- Josh Lacey Guardian [A] powerfully atmospheric and beautifully rendered life of one of Brazil's greatest ever players... A sad and fantastic book -- Harry Pearson When Saturday Comes [Castro's] research is exhaustive and exemplary -- Brian Glanville Sunday Times A compelling page-turner, warts and all Scotland on Sunday
'Castro's biography is funny and moving, zealously researched and lovingly told. This excellent new translation by Andrew Downie means English readers can properly appreciate one of the most incredible lives in the history of sport.' - Alex Bellos, Telegraph. 'Passionate, fascinating and surprisingly moving... a worthy tribute... According to Gazza, Gascoigne has limited interest in books. He should be persuaded to make an exception for Garrincha. He would learn more about himself than by reading his own autobiography.' - Josh Lacey, Guardian. 'A compelling page-turner, warts and all' - Scotland on Sunday. [A] powerfully atmospheric and beautifully rendered life of one of Brazil's greatest ever players... A sad and fantastic book.' - Harry Pearson, When Saturday Comes
Author Information
Ruy Castro is the author of several biographies and collections of quotations. His most recent works include Bossa Nova- The Story of the Brazilian Music that Seduced the World and Rio de Janeiro- Carnival under Fire. He is currently working on a biography of Carmen Miranda. He lives in Rio de Janeiro.
