Today Zico, the “white Pele”, is 70 years old. The once world-class player shaped another great era in Brazilian football. He died in beauty with the national team, and he is revered worldwide as the god of football.
Brazil’s football legend Zico celebrated the “jogo bonito” in the 1980s, was on par with Diego Maradona or Michel Platini, and even brought the beautiful game to Japan. When Brazil was still under the delusion that “futebol arte” was enough to win the world championship, Zico was the master of ceremonies in the art of football. At the Sugar Loaf, the once slender ten is still the “little rooster of Quintino” in the hearts of fans. Europe dubbed the playmaker the “White Pele”, Japan finally worships him as the “God of Football” – Arthur Antunes Coimbra is celebrated by everyone on his 70th birthday.
Then the jubilee swings the dance floor with his Sandra at a gala in the noble Jockey Club in Rio de Janeiro, among the 500 guests are many companions from his professional days (1971-1994). Zico only has a longer love affair than the 47 years of marriage to the ball. A year ago, Carioca (born in Rio) got a new hip, at the end of December Zico was back on the pitch at the traditional benefit game he organized in his Maracana temple – and scored.
His father actually did not want to see any of his five sons as professional footballers. But it was precisely the youngest scion who went the furthest, playing his way up to become the biggest club idol at CR Flamengo with 508 goals in 731 games. His name is associated with championships, but above all with the triumphs in the Libertadores and World Cup in 1981. Successes that the Rubro-Negros are only now building on again.
He once fought with Maradona and Platini for fame as the best playmaker in the world, even switched to Serie A for the soundless Udinese Calcio (1983 to 1985). Platini won two championships with Juventus, Maradona also with SSC Napoli, and Zico left Italy empty-handed. As well as his three World Cup tournaments.
At the World Cup in 1978 he was still a reserve player, in 1982 he was the leading player of a generation that celebrated the “jogo bonito” to perfection, but died in beauty against eventual world champions Italy. In 1986 he traveled to Mexico with a knee injury. In the quarter-finals against France, he missed what was probably the winning penalty, just coming on as a substitute.
After a 1990 stint in politics as National Secretary for Sport, Zico helped Japan regain status as a player. From 2002 to 2006 he even coached the national team, later smaller clubs in Asia and Europe, acted as sports director as for the Selecao at the 1998 World Cup or as a consultant, as is still the case with the J-League club Kashima Antlers.
Circled free kicks, ingenious dribbles, deadly passes and groundbreaking goals – football doesn’t always crown its geniuses on the world stage, but Zico is always at the top in Brazil. “It’s always good to be honored during one’s lifetime,” admitted the birthday boy when a crowd of friends and fans gathered at Barra Beach in the post-Carnival last Saturday as the music group “Zico 70”.
