Vavá

Brazilian association football player

Edvaldo Izidio Neto (12 November 193419 January 2002) commonly known as Vavá, was a Brazilian footballer, who is widely considered one of the best strikers of his generation. His nickname was "Peito de Aço" (Steel Chest). He was known for his goalscoring ability, dribbling, vision, beating opponents and having explosive shots. He is regarded as one of the most legendary players of the Brazilian football history. He played as a main striker (or centre forward) for Sport Club do Recife, C.R. Vasco da Gama, S.E. Palmeiras and the Brazil national football team.

Vavá
Vavá in 1962
Personal information
Full name Edvaldo Izídio Neto
Date of birth (1934-11-12)12 November 1934
Place of birth Recife, Brazil
Date of death 19 January 2002(2002-01-19) (aged 67)
Position(s) Striker (retired)
Youth career
1943–1948 América do Recife
1948–1949 Íbis
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1949–1950 Sport Recife 61 (17)
1950–1958 Vasco da Gama 456 (191)
1958–1961 Atlético Madrid 71 (31)
1961–1964 Palmeiras 142 (71)
1964–1967 América 33 (19)
1967–1968 Toros Neza 70 (13)
1968–1969 San Diego Toros 28 (5)
1969 Portuguesa 19 (6)
Total 880 (353)
National team
1955–1964 Brazil 20 (15)
Teams managed
1971–1972 Córdoba
1974–1975 Córdoba
1977–1978 Granada
1984–1985 Al Rayyan
Honours
Men's Football
Representing  Brazil
FIFA World Cup
Winner 1958 Sweden
Winner 1962 Chile
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Club career

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Vavá started his career with Sport from his home city of Recife and won the Campeonato Pernambucano in 1949 with it. In 1951 he moved to Vasco da Gama, winning the Campeonato Carioca three times, the Torneio Rio-São Paulo and the Tournoi de Paris. In 1958 he moved to Europe to play for Atlético Madrid. He returned after three seasons and then went on to play for Palmeiras from São Paulo. Palmeiras was at this time the only club that had a response against the supreme Santosand in 1963, the year Santos took the world title, he became state champion with Palmeiras. From 1964 to 1968 he played for Mexican clubs and after a short stay with the American San Diego Toros, he ended his career at Portuguesa, a smaller club from Rio de Janeiro. 

International career

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Vavá made his debut for Brazil national team in 1955, He was left out for three Copa América tournaments in 1956, 1957, 1959. He was on the side that won both the 1958 and 1962 World Cup, in which he scored 5 and 4 goals, respectively. Furthermore, he was a joint recipient of the 1962 World Cup Golden Shoe award, as one of the tournaments top scorers. He was also part of Brazil's squad for the 1952 Summer Olympics. Vavá earned 20 caps with the Brazil national football team between 1955 and 1964, scoring a total of 15 goals.[1]

Vavá scored in the final of both 1958 (twice) and 1962 (once), thus becoming the first player to score in the final of two different world cups. To this day, only four players achieved this feat, the other three being Pelé, Paul Breitner, Zinedine Zidane and Kylian Mbappé.

Club career statistics

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[2]

Club statistics League
SeasonClubLeague AppsGoals
SpainLeague
1958–59 Atlético Madrid La Liga 27 16
1959–60 29 10
1960–61 15 5
Country Spain 71 31
Total 71 31

International career statistics

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Brazil national team
YearAppsGoals
Total 20 15

Honours

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Sport Club do Recife

C.R. Vasco da Gama

  • Campeonato Carioca (Rio de Janeiro State championship): 1952, 1956, 1958
  • Torneio Rio - São Paulo (Rio – São Paulo Tournament): 1958
  • Quadrangular Tournament of Rio: 1953
  • Rivadavia Corrêa Meyer's Tournament (Rio): 1953
  • Santiago de Chile Tournament: 1957
  • Paris Tournament: 1957
  • Theresa Herrera Trophy: 1957

Atlético de Madrid

Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras

Club América

International

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Brazil national football team

Individual

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References

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  1. "Vavá". Olympedia. Retrieved 6 November 2021.
  2. Strack-Zimmermann, Benjamin. "Vavá". www.national-football-teams.com.