Manuel Francisco dos Santos, or Garrincha as he was known, is often overlooked among legendary Brazilian footballers.

He may not have been part of the famous 1970 Brazil side, but FIFA consider him second only to Pele as the greatest player the illustrious South American country has produced.

'The Angel with Bent Legs' was nicknamed due to being born with a deformed spine, a right leg bent inwards and a left leg shorter and curved outward.

'Luckily for world football it was probably his unconventional legs that helped him develop the ability to turn with such speed and create precious space'


At first glance you would think he would have had trouble standing, let alone playing football. Luckily for world football it was probably his unconventional legs that helped him develop the ability to turn with such speed and create precious space.

As the 25th anniversary of his death passes, I look back at why world football should pay tribute to this brilliant, yet troubled player.

Garrincha began playing, like most Brazilian players, with friends in the streets. It was here that we can assume he nurtured his playful, childlike style of play. In fact, his pleasure at running rings around opposition players meant the end product seemed unimportant to him.

During one game, it is said Garrincha bamboozled his marker so much, the defender fell to the floor as Garrincha ran past him. Instead of carrying on, Garrincha dribbled back to his opponent, picked him up off the turf and then carried on down the wing. However, these skills took longer than most to reach the professional game. He was well known to scouts who would always dismiss him because of his disability.

He was eventually given a trial by Botafogo. Only when he dribbled past Nilton Santos, a Brazilian international centre-back, was he given a chance. And take that chance he did, smashing a hat-trick on his debut in 1950. He missed out on the 1954 World Cup, but his dribbling skills improved vastly in the next few years, securing him an international call-up in 1955.

In 1958 Brazil travelled to Sweden for the World Cup finals, with a 17-year-old Pele in tow. And Garrincha was a key figure - Wales' left-back Mel Hopkins, who faced him in the quarter-finals said: "It was difficult to know which way he was going to go because of his legs."

Garrincha's mazy dribbling and pinpoint crosses led to many vital goals, including the equaliser that got Brazil back into the final against Sweden. He was named in the Best XI for the 1958 World Cup, but he wasn't as impressed as his team-mates. As they celebrated their win, he sat there bemused, thinking it was a league format and they had to play everyone twice.

Despite the sporting triumphs of Brazilian championships, World Cups and countless individual awards, Garrincha followed in the footsteps of his father and became dependant on alcohol very early on in his career.

Yet it was not just this that led to his downfall as one of the many jewels in Brazil's crown. His unwavering attitude to the opposite sex also got the better of him. Married and a parent before turning 19, Garrincha fathered eight daughters with his childhood sweetheart. He then caused a storm by leaving her and moving in with Elza Soares, a famous samba singer who was also divorced. Throw in countless affairs and Garrincha is rumoured to have fathered more than 14 children.

After sealing the 1962 World Cup, he was a footballing superstar, and he knew it. He lavishly spent his money on friends, mistresses and his ever-increasing family. This partying affected his football and, combined with a long-term knee injury hampering his pace, he wasn't the force to be reckoned with he once was. 

In the 1966 World Cup, with Pele literally kicked so much he was forced out of the tournament, Brazil's hopes rested with Garrincha. He failed to deliver and Brazil were beaten by 3-1 Hungary, the only time he finished on the losing side in 60 games for his country. His career was effectively over, but he bounced around Europe and South America trying to prolong his career. His drinking became heavier as the pressures to keep supporting his family and friends continued.

He was involved in many car crashes; one where he ran over his own alcoholic father and another which killed his mother-in-law. The latter incident only served as reason to delve deeper into alcoholic dependency. After being responsible for her mother's death and striking her in a drunken rage, Soares threw him out and they divorced in 1977.

Six years later, on January 20, 1983, Garrincha died of liver disease at the age of 49. Just 21 years after being recognised as one of the best talents on the planet, he was unrecognisable.

Yet the anniversary of his death gives us reason to remember the good times. We shouldn’t remember his life as cut short or dominated by drink. We should remember his achievements, his mazy skills and the joy he gave the world.

We should remember him, as his gravestone says, as 'The Joy of The People'.