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Waldyr Pereira, also known as Didi, was a special and iconic Brazilian footballer. He played in three FIFA World Cups, 1954, 1958, and 1962. Winning the latter two.
Very elegant and technically skilled. Didi was also renowned for his fantastic passing and stamina. He was a free-kick specialist. Being famous for inventing the folha seca (dry leaf) dead ball free kicks. Notably used by modern-day players such as Juninho and Cristiano Ronaldo. The ball would swerve downward unexpectedly at a point resulting in a goal.
Football of the 1950’s decade, was great to be part of. A wonderful period of football history. The newer generations of fans, players, coaches, and historians should revisit that time. They will find surprises they believe were invented later in football.
Didi played for iconic club Fluminense from the end of the 1949 to 1956. Later one of the stars in a special and iconic team of Botafogo. He played here with other world champions such as Garrincha, Nilton Santos, Zagallo and Amarildo.
Didi grew up in the village of Campos dos Goytacazes. 150 miles north of Rio de Janeiro. He started playing professional for Madureira, moving to Fluminense in 1949. At Fluminense, Didi played between 1949 and 1956. He completed a total of 298 matches and scored 91 goals in his time with The Tricolor. Didi is also well known for scoring the first goal at the iconic Maracanã Stadium.
In 1952, at the age of 24, he made his debut for Brazil. At club level, he moved to Botafogo in 1957. Winning the Campeonato Carioca (Rio state championship) in the same year. Didi had promised to walk from the Maracanã to his house, if they ended up winners. His house was in the neighbourhood of Laranjeiras (9,4 km). He walked the distance in his kit. Didi was followed by 5,000 Botafogo fans joining him in his special and iconic walk.
There's only 2 games of footage in 1958 World Cup for Didi, so the stats are only available for these two games.
Maybe Pele overshadowed Didi's performance with a world-class campaign but Didi still clears for T5 World Cup Campaign with these stats. pic.twitter.com/eVyKqdieaP
— Magic of Football (@LcaogluKagan) November 1, 2024
His greatest achievement came at the 1958 FIFA World Cup where he was player of the tournament. From midfield, he masterminded the first of his two FIFA World Cup successes for Brazil. In 68 international matches he scored 20 goals. A dozen of those goals came from his special trademark free-kicks.
In 1959, Didi was signed by Real Madrid of Spain. Despite his great play in the 1958 FIFA World Cup, he only played 19 matches scoring 6 goals. Didi often clashed with the team leader Alfredo Di Stéfano. Alfredo felt offended by the divide in the fans’ attention caused by this newcomer. This situation precipitated Didi’s exit from the club. Despite his brief spell at Real Madrid, he contributed to the victorious 1959–60 European Cup campaign. He became the first Brazilian player to win both the World Cup and European Cup. Didi returned to Brazil, to join Botafogo for a second spell.
Didi spent his latter years in professional football playing in Peru and Mexico. He also had short stints with Botafogo and Sao Paulo. When playing in Peru with Sporting Cristal he was also their coach. In the year 1967, Didi moved back to the Peruvians club, solely concentrating on coaching. He was called to manage the Peru national team in the 1970 FIFA World Cup. He successfully guided them to qualify at the expense of Argentina. Teófilo Cubillas and Héctor Chumpitaz were players in that team, eventually defeated in the quarter-finals by Brazil. In 1971, Didi managed the top Argentine club, River Plate. He had his apex Turkish club Fenerbahçe. Guided them to two consecutive Turkish First Division titles in 1973/74 and 1974/75. He also coached Brazilian club Bangu, Fluminense, Botafogo and Cruzeiro. Peruvian club Alianza Lima, the Kuwaiti national team and Al-Ahli. He coaching career lasting 28 years, being active from 1962 to 1990.
Didi have a son known as Bibi. He was also a professional footballer. Bibi, most known playing for Athletico Mineiro. He was here from 1967 to 1973. A total of 104 games, scoring 14 goals. Bibi played in midfield.
Didi died in 2001, at the age of 72.
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