Valdir Pereira
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Valdir Pereira AKA Didì (October 8, 1928 – May 12, 2001) was a Brazilian midfield football player who played in three World Cups: in 1954, and winning in 1958 and 1962.
-->Born in Rio de Janeiro, he nearly had his right leg amputated when he was 14 due to a severe infection. He recovered and played for Americano de Campos, Luncoense and Madureira. He came to prominence when he joined Fluminense in 1949. During seven seasons with the club he won the Campeonato carioca in 1951 and Copa de Rio in 1952. He became famous for being an intelligent player and for his "folha seca" ("falling leaf") free kicks, where the ball would swerve seemingly downwards at the right time resulting in a goal. During the 1954 World Cup he scored goals against Mexico and Yugoslavia, before Brazil's defeat to favourites, Hungary. This match was infamous as the Battle of Berne - Didi was involved with the brawl that followed this bad-tempered match. At club level, he moved to Botafogo, winning the Campeonato carioca in 1957. His greatest achievement came at the 1958 World Cup where he was player of the tournament. From midfield, he masterminded the first of his two World Cup successes for Brazil. In 85 international matches he scored 31 goals, including a dozen using his trademark free-kicks.
After the 1958 World Cup he was signed by Real Madrid of Spain and helped to secure the league title in 1959. Despite scoring 31 goals in 58 matches he was soon eclipsed by Puskás and Alfredo Di Stefano, often clashing with the team leader. Subsequently, he returned to Botafogo winning two more Campeonatos carioca. After success at the 1962 World Cup, he played a few months with São Cristóvão and ended his playing career for São Paulo in 1963 at 34 years old. Didi then became coach for Botafogo, Fluminense, and the Peru team in the 1970 World Cup. The team that included stars like Teófilo Cubillas and Héctor Chumpitaz were eventually defeated in the quarter final by Brazil. In 1971 he managed the top Argentine club, River Plate when he accepted a lucrative position, and ended his coaching career with Fenerbahçe, guiding the team to two consecutive Turkish Süper Ligi titles in 1973-1974 and 1974-1975. Later he had brief coaching spells with club side Bangu and the Kuwaiti and Saudi national teams. Also, worked the Alianza Lima team in 1986. In October 2000, he was inducted into the FIFA Hall of Champions [link]. By this time he was quite ill and died the following year in Rio de Janeiro from complications arising from cancer.
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