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Jairzinho
Jairzinho, birth name Jair Ventura Filho is a former Brazilian footballer. A quick, powerful winger, he was a member of the legendary Brazilian national team that won the 1970 FIFA World Cup, during which he scored in every game Brazil played. In doing so, he became one of only 3 players - the others being Alcides Ghiggia and Just Fontaine - in the history of the World Cup to have scored in every game of the tournament. He was listed at number 27 in World Soccer Magazine's list of the 100 greatest players of the 20th century, one place ahead of Zinedine Zidane.
Due to the economic and political situation of the time, as well as the Sport Legislation, he played most of his club football in South America where he spent eleven years at Rio de Janeiro club Botafogo. He went on to play in Europe during the final years of his career, a common pattern for South American players until the 1980s, when the economic and political situation changed. Jairzinho replaced his footballing idol Garrincha in both the Botafogo and Brazil teams, and played in three consecutive World Cups.
Jairzinho was born in Rio de Janeiro, where he went through the youth setup at local club Botafogo. He made his professional debut with the club as a striker at the age of fifteen. His hero Garrincha, whom he would eventually replace for both club and country, also played at Botafogo, albeit in Jairzinho's preferred position on the right wing. This resulted in Jairzinho spending most of his early games playing on the left wing or as a centre forward. However, he would fill in as a right winger, by far his strongest position, when Garrincha was injured.
Related websites
Jairzinho - Legends of the Football World Cup
World Soccer 100 Players of the Century
El Fenomeno - Ronaldo Biography
Jairzinho & Gordon Banks
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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Jairzinho
