Who Is The 3rd Best Brazilian Footballer in History,after Pelé and Garrincha?

[R9magia]

I created a thread asking who was the 2nd best and I should have know the results.Garrincha easily won it.

So who is the 3rd Best and why do you choose him before the others on the list?

Inevitably some names were left out but I think the 3rd best Brasilian footballer of all-time should be someone on that list,so cast your votes and your reasons why :) .

[Bertje]

Nice list. ;)

[ChaChaFut]

Not necessarily my vote yet, but you could have had players like Friedenreich, Ademir, Dunga, Jairzinho and Taffarel in the list; I'm sure they would be choices for some.

[R9magia]

Not necessarily my vote yet, but you could have had players like Friedenreich, Ademir, Dunga, Jairzinho and Taffarel in the list; I'm sure they would be choices for some.

Will all due respect to those players I don't think any of them are or can be considered the 3rd greatest brasilian player in history.Also there is a limit of only 16 players so there was room for nobody else.

[ChaChaFut]

Although I'm still undecided, I have narrowed my choices to 3 (Romario, Leonidas, and Zico). I might be a little biased on choosing Romario or Zico, because I've watched so much of them, but I have to consider Leonidas, because of what I've read about him and because of the sick rate at which he scored goals, even by the standards of his era. Romario has the advantage of having won the world cup. Zico probably had the most prolific career overall. Tough decision, and much better thread than the one it owns its origin to. :)

[lanman]

Will all due respect to those players I don't think any of them are or can be considered the 3rd greatest brasilian player in history.Also there is a limit of only 16 players so there was room for nobody else.

Ademir certainly has a better claim than Carlos Alberto, Rivaldo or Gerson.

Anyway, my vote goes to Didi (who I would actually have on a par with Garrincha).

[Pirru]

my vote went to ronaldo nice thread

[Rakim_22]

my vote went to ronaldo nice thread

Same here.

[ELADO]

Romario!! No Question

[R9magia]

Ademir certainly has a better claim than Carlos Alberto, Rivaldo or Gerson.

Anyway, my vote goes to Didi (who I would actually have on a par with Garrincha).

May be true but I can only pick 16 names and as you can see people have voted for Rivaldo,somebody asked for Gérson in a previous thread,and Carlos Alberto has done enough to be on the list. It all comes down to the fact that I could only select 16 names,no matter who I chose somebody would have asked why a certain player wasn't on the list so it is what it is.

[Gregoriak]

My vote went to Djalma Santos. A brilliant player. Ademir is definitely missing from the list, I think Carlos Alberto has to be rated below him.

[guado]

http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/folha/especial/2002/copa/images/rivelino_grande.jpg

roberto

[Latin Pride]

This man...

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/soccer/world/2002/world_cup/hof/romario/t1_romario_all.jpg

[neovox]

Will all due respect to those players I don't think any of them are or can be considered the 3rd greatest brasilian player in history.Also there is a limit of only 16 players so there was room for nobody else.

Arthur Friedenreich probably could. Anyway, it's your list.

[ChaChaFut]

O.K. After much tought, my vote went to Leônidas, mainly because he was so ahead of his time, and also because I really believe that if he had played in the semifinal match against Italy in 1938, Brazil would have started winning world cups 20 years earlier (but we'll never now that [sigh]).


http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/folha/especial/2002/copa/images/leonidasp.jpg
Leônidas

Leônidas Da Silva was one of the greatest players of all time. He was nicknamed Diamante Negro (Black diamond) while playing for Club Atletico Peñarol of Uruguay. A player of incredible skills, he had amazing dribbling and avoided tackles brilliantly. He also perfected the chilena (bicycle kick). The Brazilian forward displayed one of the most spectacular individual performances ever seen in a world cup; he had a monstruous tournament in the III World Cup in France in the summer of 1938, scoring 8 goals at 1.71 goals per 90 min (3rd best in World cup history), carrying his team through semifinals. However, in one of the most criticized decisions ever, coach Ademar Pimenta did not start him for the semifinal against Italy, thinking he could "use some rest prior to the final". That cost Brazil the match and as it's known Italy went on to win the tournament. It's likely that he missed another 2 world cups due to WWII. If he had been able to play them, we probably would be talking about Ronaldo de Lima trying to surpass Gerd Müller on his way to try to reach Leônidas.

After a short span with Peñarol, Leônidas went back to Brazil and won the Campeonato Carioca in 1934 with Vasco da Gama and in 1935 with Botafogo. He and Brazil had a dissapointing WC in 1934, where they were eliminated in first round (eighfinals v Spain; he scored their only goal), but then he finished 3rd in the world cup in 1938. He won the Carioca in 1939 with Flamengo. Playing then for São Paulo, he won the Campeonato Paulista in 1943, 1945, 1946, 1948, and 1949. He played 37 total games with the national team (a high number back then), in which he scored 37 times. 21 of those goals came in 19 official international matches with the seleção.

other information about Leônidas can be found here:

http://www.leonidasdasilva.com.br/
A web page dedicated exclusively to the great striker.

http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/folha/especial/2002/copa/todos_os_brasileiros-1938.shtml
Very nice site about all Brazilian players in the world cup. Includes stats, pictures, and a brief bio for every player.

http://www.v-brazil.com/culture/sports/world-cup/1938-France.html
Features an article with other curious data about Leônidas.

Not that it needs it, but my choice should be backed up with the above. :D

[ChaChaFut]

There is an error on the above post, and it was too late to edit it. Leônidas' mark of 1.71 G/90' in 1938 actually ranks 4th in WC history. Apologies for the mistake.

[dor02]

Zico, the "White Pele." Tostao was known as that also but Zico was better. A sublime talent when he was at his best. Leonidas comes in at a very close fourth. Scored eight goals at France 38 and from the highlights I've seen, they were brilliant finishes.

[Air Fly]

Ronaldo is second to Pele, sorry! Garincha is only thought of highly by Brasilians not the World.

Ronaldo has accomplished much more than him, but it all comes down to personal opinions.

[Ombak]

Ronaldo is second to Pele, sorry! Garincha is only thought of highly by Brasilians not the World.

Ronaldo has accomplished much more than him, but it all comes down to personal opinions.Garrincha single-handedly won WC 1962.

[guado]

Ronaldo is second to Pele, sorry! Garincha is only thought of highly by Brasilians not the World.

Ronaldo has accomplished much more than him, but it all comes down to personal opinions.

proof?