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Joćo Saldanha was a Brazilian journalist and football manager. He is credited with taking the Brazilian national team to the 1970 World Cup, which they eventually won.
Saldanha was born in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul but moved to Rio de Janeiro at age 14. He was nicknamed Joćo Sem Medo (fearless Joćo) and played football professionally for a few years for Rio club Botafogo. He then entered journalism and became one of Brazil's most prolific sport writers, before turning his attention to radio and television commentary. As a journalist, he often criticised players, managers and teams, and was a member of the Brazilian Communist Party.
In 1957, Botafogo appointed him as their coach, despite his complete lack of managerial experience. The club won the Rio state championship that season. In 1969, he was invited to take charge of the national team, and led them to a 100% record in six qualifying matches. It is alleged that Brazilian soccer federation President Joćo Havelange appointed him in the hope that journalists would be less critical of the national team if one of their own was in charge.
As national team manager, Saldanha was publicly criticised by Yustrich, coach of Rio club Flamengo. Saldanha responded by confronting him at Flamengo's training ground while brandishing a revolver. There is also a common belief among Brazilians that Saldanha fell out of favour because of his unwillingness to select players who were personal favourites of the nation's then military dictator, Emilio Garrastazu Médici, in particular striker Dario, with Saldanha reported to have said "the president looks after his ministry, but who's in charge here is me". The last straw came when the assistant manager resigned, saying that Saldanha was impossible to work with, and the manager was sacked, replaced by Mario Zagallo, a player in Brazil's 1958 and 1962 World Cup triumphs.
Saldanha returned to journalism after this episode, and is credited with creating some of the most famous quotes in Brazilian footballing history, including "Brazilian football is a thing played to music". He died in Rome in 1990, where he was covering that year's World Cup for a Brazilian television station.
External Links
- An article on Saldanha by journalist Alex Bellos: [1] (http://www.futebolthebrazilianwayoflife.com/AskAlex.aspx?year=2003&month=June)