Thread dedicated to Ademir de Menezes, his goals, assists, and reports about him. Feel free to contribute.
Pernambucano 1940 (18 years old) 2º place Pernambucano 1941 That's the only year I couldn't find his assists and appearances in some games. For future reference
Carioca 1944 Carioca 1945 Ademir's first title in Carioca. He wasn't treated like Ademir yet, but a young man with a great future, probably surpassed by other players in g+a.
Carioca 46 Ademir transferred to Fluminense in a big transaction at the time. 80 contos (I asked the copilot's artificial intelligence and the answer was around 2 million dollars at today's values). It wasn't the biggest transfer in Brazil, however. Leonidas da Sila went to São Paulo in 1942 for 200 contos (the copilot said something like 5 million). But an important value. He wasn't yet a starter for Brazil NT, but he had a great future at the age of 24. He ended up champion and second top scorer in the league, establishing himself as one of Brazil's greatest players by the end of the championship. His first fk goal too. Carioca 1947 His best season as an assistant, he returned to Vasco after a disappointing 4th place finish.
Carioca 1948 Ademir returned to Vasco and won the Sudamericano de Campeones Championship (a kind of Latin Cup of South America, a tournament between countries before the Libertadores). Ademir played 1 game and made 1 goal. He then came second in the Carioca; Carioca 1949 The beginning of his spectacular peak. He was champion and top scorer with an incredible g+a of 2 (one of the highest in history).
Carioca 1950 Ademir continued one of the greatest technical peaks in history. Top scorer, champion and with an impressive g=a. He was sent off for the first time in the tournament. Carioca 1951 From 1951 onwards, Ademir's fights with injuries began. He only played 5 matches. Ademir rarely missed a match in the 1940s.
Carioca 1952 A season that tried to bring back the old Ademir. Champion and top scorer, with a great g+a, but not as incredible as at his peak. Carioca 1953 The old injury problems plagued Ademir again. only 8 games in 1953.
Carioca 1954 Ademir missed a lot of games, but he still had class when he played. He scored a goal with a bicycle kick (Chilena). The season in which he passed the baton to Vavá (who would succeed him as centre-forward for Vasco and Brazil NT. Vava was champion in 1958 and 1962). Carioca 1955 His last season. In 1956 he didn't make any official appearances in the Carioca. Although he still appears as a Vasco player.
Brazil NT Copa America 1945 6 matches, 4 goal, 1 assist, 2º place. Elected to the tournament team. Copa America 1946 4 matches, 0 goal, 1 assist, 2º place. In that tournament he was a bench player. Copa America 1949 7 matches, 7 goal, 0 assist, 1 º place, second top scorer of the tournament, the mvp was jair da rosa pinto.The first tournament in which Ademir was a centre-forward. Before that he was a striker. World Cup 1950 Just like Leonidas in 1938, he recorded one of the biggest g+a in history. But the mvp was Zizinho.and he didn't register g+a in the final (maracanazo)
Ademir was considered a brilliant athlete (like CR7). His profile when he was starting out says: ‘He was champion and record holder in the 50m and 5,000m state tournaments, as well as water polo and volleyball champion in high school’. Ademir was considered a player who moved around in empty space. His signature move was called the ‘Rush’, a run through empty space of several metres. The text says: ‘he's not that fast, he just has a sense of opportunity’. He doesn't beat the others in the race, but he finds a gap and gets in front.
Ademir career stats Ademir has one of the greatest peaks in history with a G+A of 2.1 in the 1949 Carioca and 2.5 in the 1950 World Cup. The fact that he didn't win the World Cup and lost the mvp in a couple of competitions (Copa America ‘49 to Jair and the 1950 World Cup to Zizinho) diminished his reputation a bit. Leonidas looks a little better in his career (1.14 g+a against 1.08), especially being a better assister, but Ademir has an unbelievable peak. And in the 1940s he hardly missed any games due to injury or any other reason
Ademir's Nightmare vs uruguay (maracanazo) (14min header saved by maspoli, ?min ademir shot mapoli gives the rebound and gambeta relieves, ?min chico to ademir saved by maspoli, 45min zizinho to ademir shoot off target, min ademir tackled in the box (asks for a penalty), (misses a pass that leads to a counterattack by Schiaffino that almost scores a goal for Uruguay, almost a mistake that results in a goal) (20min pass to chico saved by maspoli, (chico to ademir offside 3 shots on target 1 shot off target 1 key pass 1 offside (based on reports from newspapers) 0 goal, 0 assist
I noticed a bit of description regarding the 'revenge games' in early 1951 here - they are referred to on Ademir's Portuguese Wikipedia page too - Vasco vs Penarol Kike da Bola: STORY STORY - THE AVENGER This video has a couple of Ademir assists on I saw:
Ademir's G+A in the regional championships between 1940 and 1955 (1.08) and in the Rio São Paulo tournament between 1950 and 1955 (1.05) is very similar. It indicates a pattern of performance, with ups and downs, of course. The four games he made in Rio São Paulo in 1954 coincided with the 1954 World Cup (in which Ademir wasn't called up), so perhaps he was trying to prove that he could still play at a high level.
It seems like he was injured before the World Cup 1954. Probably his stats in Rio Sao Paulo tournament in 1950 and 1951 (early in the year) being the best makes sense. Maybe Arthur Friedenreich would also be a good one for you to look into mate regarding assists and reports (if it's possible to get the info from his era?). Nice work with finding what you have on all these South American players, from the game reports, anyway.