Carlos Alberto
World Cup-winning Brazilian captain Born: 17 July, 1944; Died: 25 October, 2016 CARLOS Alberto, who has died suddenly at 72, following a heart attack, was not only the captain of what many football commentators consider the greatest World Cup-winning team, the Brazilian side of 1970, he scored one of the most iconic goals in football history, the fourth in Brazil’s demolition of Italy in that 1970 final.
Even 46 years on, his goal is a thing of beauty; Tostao won possession deep in Brazilian territory, he passed to centrehalf Clodoaldo, who went off on a mazy run past four players before finding Rivelino, who sent the ball on to Jairzinho.
He passed square inside to Pele, who delayed his pass until his skipper galloped up the right, then delivered a perfectly weighted pass to Alberto, who hammered the ball, first time past a helpless Enrico Albertosi for one of the truly memorable World Cup goals. Brazil 4 Italy 1 – a wonderful end to a wonderful tournament.
Much later in life, Alberto said he realised how much the goal meant to fans. “I realise how beautiful and how important that goal was because everybody is still talking about it,” he said. “Nobody talks about Pele’s goal, the first goal, the second goal. It is always about the fourth goal. I think it was the best goal ever scored in a World Cup. Anybody can score a goal, but in that move nine different players touched the ball before the goal. I was lucky though, because I scored it.”
During the World Cup, Alberto also pioneered what is now a tradition of football when he kissed the Jules Rimet trophy in Mexico City’s Azteca Stadium. “When I received the trophy as the captain, my first instinct was to kiss it,” he said. “In fact, I was the first to do it, to kiss the trophy before lifting it up.”
Carlos Alberto was born in Rio, where he made his name with Fluminense, for whom he played some 100 games between 1963 and 1966. He then moved to Sao Paulo, to join the star-studded Santos, where he linked up with Pele.
He had been on the preliminary list of 40 players whom Brazil named in the build-up to the 1966 World Cup, having won the first of his eventual 53 Brazilian caps, against England, in 1964. He did not make the final 22 who travelled to England, via Scotland, for that poor tournament for the then holders, but, by the time of the 1970 tournament, he was not only established in the Brazil side, his leadership qualities had seen him appointed captain.
Brazil, seeking a third win in the event and permanent custody of the Jules Rimet Trophy touched the heights in Mexico, and the pictures of the skipper, holding the trophy aloft in both hands, have become iconic. Sadly, it was to be his only World Cup final tournament.
He was troubled by persistent knee problems and was injured in the build-up to the 1974 tournament, before, aged 33 and by now having lost some pace and switched to centre-half, he returned after seven years to lead Brazil in the first three qualifying games for the 1978 tournament, before retiring from international football.
He had quit Santos in 1974, to go back to Rio and Fluminense, but, in 1977, he had a short spell with deadly rivals Flamengo, before reuniting with Pele at New York Cosmos. He spent five years in the NSL, four with Cosmos, one with California Surf, before hanging up his boots after 800 senior games.
After retiring, he moved into coaching, but, in a lengthy career in the technical area, he enjoyed little success in terms of trophy winning. He was not merely a number one, with 16 different clubs and countries around the world, he was assistant manager to such teams as the Nigerian and Omani national sides. His managerial career ended in disgrace in 2005, when, as manager of Azerbaijan, he assaulted the fourth official, then invaded the pitch to accuse the referee in an international against Poland of having been bribed.
At the time of his death he was working as a commentator and analyst with the Brazilian channel Sportv.
In addition to the 1970 World Cup, he won ten domestic Brazilian trophies, plus the 1968 South American Super Cup. With New York Cosmos he won nine domestic USA honours while individually, he was named in the 1970 World Cup All-Star team, the World Team of the 20th century, and one of Fifa’s top 100 players in 2004. He has been inducted into both the Brazilian and National Soccer League Halls of Fame.
His life away from football kept him firmly in the spotlight as a politician and in his later years a football commentator, while he was married three times, including to Brazilian actress Teresinha Sodre.
In a tribute to Alberto’s importance to the game, the CBF (Confederacao Brasileira de Futebol) declared official mourning for three days. The organisation’s headquarters flags were also flown at half-mast.
Carlos Alberto had two children to his first wife, Sueli, with his son Alexander making a single appearance for Brazil in 1992.