Three days of mourning for Carlos Alberto

read. “The legend of the Brazilian national team, the captain of the threetime winners of 1970, died in Rio de Janeiro, victim of a heart attack.

“The wake will be held at the CBF building in Barra da Tijuca. Details will be informed soon.

“The president of the CBF, Marco Polo Del Nero, has declared official mourning for three days. The organisation’s headquarters flags are half-mast. All matches in competitions organised by the CBF will have one minute of silence.

The statement concluded: “Thank you, Capita. Your story will forever be with us.”

Alberto’s former club Santos, for whom he played more than 400 games and helped win the domestic Brazilian title four times between 1967 and 1973, also revealed there would be three days of official mourning for a player “considered the best right-back in the history of Praiano Alvinegro”.

Former West Germany captain Franz Beckenbauer, paid tribute to “one of his best friends” in a post on his official Twitter account which included a photo of the pair together from a charity trip to Brazil in 2013.

“Heidi and me are deeply shocked. Carlos Alberto was like a brother to me, one of my best friends,” the German wrote.

Alberto won a total of 53 caps for Brazil, retiring from international football in 1978 following a battle against persistent knee problems.

He also helped Fluminense secure domestic trophies before later in his career enjoying a spell with New York Cosmos in the North American Soccer League alongside Pele.

The Brazilian moved into management at his former club Flamengo, where his side won the Brazilian championship in 1983, as well as spending time in charge at Corinthians and Fluminense.

Alberto also held coaching roles with Nigeria and Oman before being appointed to take over as national boss of Azerbaijan in 2004. His time there included a 2-0 defeat against Sven-goran Eriksson’s England at St James’ Park in March 2005.