A caption out of date since 2018.
There are 3 men who have won soccer's World Cup as both a player and a manager. And 2 of them have just died.
Take care of yourself, Didier Deschamps (France, 1998 as player, 2018 as manager).
Mário Jorge Lobo Zagallo was born on August 9, 1931 in Atalaia, Alagoas, Brazil; and grew up in Rio de Janeiro. He served his mandatary time in the Brazilian Army, and was stationed at the Estádio do Maracanã during the 1950 World Cup Final, which Brazil famously lost to Uruguay. A left wing, he played his entire club career in Rio: WIth Flamengo from 1951 to 1958, winning the Rio de Janeiro State Championship in 1953, '54 and '55; and with Botafogo from then until 1965.
Wearing "The Botafogo Star"
With the national team, "The Selection" (O Seleção), he made 33 appearances, scoring 5 goals, and winning the World Cup in 1958 and 1962. He was the last surviving player from the 1958 team, with Pelé as a 17-year-old star. His death leaves Amarildo as the last surviving player from the 1962 team.
He went into management, and led Botafogo to the State Championship in 1967 and 1968, and to the national league title, the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, in 1968. In 1970, following a controversy over team selection, João Saldanha was fired as national team manager, and Zagallo was hired. With Pelé up top, he led Brazil to perhaps the greatest performance in the sport's history, and won the World Cup for the 3rd time. Thus, they got to keep the trophy, the Jules Rimet Trophy, permanently, and a new Rimet Trophy was designed.
Zagallo with the new trophy (left) and the old trophy (right)
He returned to Rio, and led Fluminense to the Rio State Championship in 1971. "La Flu" lost Zagallo to their arch-rivals, Flamengo, and he led "La Fla" to the State Championship in 1972. He went back to Botafogo 3 times, managed Flamengo twice more, and also managed Rio team Vasco da Gama twice.
Overseas, he managed the Kuwait national team to the Arabian Gulf Cup in 1976, Al-Hilal to the Saudi Premier League title, and managed the national teams of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
He was named a coordinator for Brazil in 1994, and was on hand for their 4th World Cup win. He managed them into the 1998 World Cup Final, but lost to France. Brazil won their 5th in 2002, under Luis Felipe Scolari. After that Zagallo managed Brazil in 1 more game, a win over South Korea.
Mário Zagallo married Alcina de Castro in 1955. They had 4 children, and remained together until her death in 2012. He died this past Friday, January 5, 2024, at the age of 92.
*
Zagallo was a very good player and an all-time great manager. Franz Beckenbauer was the other way around.
Franz Anton Beckenbauer Jr. was born on September 11, 1945, in Munich, Bavara, in a Germany only 4 months removed from V-E Day. As a boy, he rooted for the top team in his hometown, TSV 1860 Munich. But it was Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. -- "Bayern" meaning "Bavarian" -- that signed him, and as their star rose, 1860's fell. (1860 were founding members of German's Bundesliga, meaning "federal league," in 1963, but were relegated to the 2nd division in 1986, and are now in the 3rd division.)
In the 1964-65 season, Beckenbauer made his first-team debut with Bayern, and they won the 2nd division and gained promotion to the Bundesliga, and have never left it. Indeed, they have dominated it: In the ensuing 58 seasons, they have won it 32 times, including the last 11. With a punishing defense, including with Beckenbauer as sweeper and Sepp Maier in goal, and Gerd Müller scoring goals, Bayern won 3 straight European Cups (the tournament now known as the UEFA Champions League) in 1974, '75 and '76.
Beckenbauer played on the West Germany team that lost to England in the 1966 World Cup Final, reached the Semifinals of the 1970 World Cup, and won Euro 1972. In 1974, with the World Cup on home soil, and the Final on his home ground of the Olympiastadion in Munich, Beckenbauer captained West Germany against the Netherlands, led by Johan Cruiff. The contrast could not have been more stark: The Dutch, in their bright orange shirts, were flashy and attacking; while the Germans, in all white, were plain, conservative, and defensive.
West Germany came from behind to win, 1-0, their 2nd World Cup win. (The 1st was in 1954.) It was a crushing defeat for the Netherlands, but for West Germany, it was another step on the road to recovery from World War II. They reached the Final of Euro 1976, losing to Czechoslovakia.
Individually, in the balloting for the World Player of the Year award, the Ballon d'Or (Golden Ball), Beckenbauer finished 3rd in 1966, won it in 1972, finished 2nd in 1974 and 1975, and won it in 1976. After finishing the 1976-77 season with Bayern, he did what any good European or South American player would do at that time: Come to America for the money. He joined Pelé on the New York Cosmos, led them to the North American Soccer League title, and won the league's Most Valuable Player award. He won the title with them again in 1978 and 1980. He went back to Germany, and won the Bundesliga with Hamburger SV in 1982. It was his 8th league title.
"Der Kaiser" went into management, and took West Germany to the Final of the 1986 World Cup, losing to Argentina; to the Semifinal of Euro 88, where the Netherlands got their revenge and beat them, and then won the Final; and to the Final of the 1990 World Cup, avenging their defeats in the '82 and '86 Finals, beating Argentina. (They'd lost to Italy in the '82 Final, with Beckenbauer neither playing nor managing.)
Beckenbauer managed Olympique de Marseille to the title in France's Ligue 1 in 1991, then went back to Bayern, leading them to the Bundesliga in 1994 and the UEFA Cup (the tournament now known as the UEFA Europa League) in 1996. He later served as Bayern team president, and is regarded as his country's greatest sports hero.
He was married 3 times, and had 5 children. He died yesterday, January 7, 2024, at the age of 78, after years of heart trouble.
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