Leonidas da Silva

Leônidas da Silva (Rio de Janeiro, September 6, 1913-Cotia, São Paulo, January 24, 2004) was a Brazilian soccer player, the most famous Brazilian forward of the years 1930 and 1940, as well as one of the best in South America at that time. He is considered the first football idol of Brazil.

He was a rigorously Brazilian player. I had the fantasy, childhood, improvisation and sensuality of our typical cracks. - Nelson Rodrigues, playwright.

Biography

He played in the 1934 World Cups in Italy and 1938 in France, being the tournament's top scorer with seven goals. He was known in the soccer world as The Black Pearl, The Black Diamond, a name that even received a brand of Brazilian chocolate launched in his honor as well as The Man of Goma for his agility on the field.

Career

Leónidas, born in Rio de Janeiro, began his career in São Cristóvão. In 1931 and 1932, he played for Bonsucesso.

He joined Peñarol of Uruguay in 1933. After a year, he returned to Brazil to play for Vasco de Gama, where he helped win the Rio Championship.

He then played in the 1934 World Cup and joined Botafogo winning another Rio championship in 1935. The following year, he joined Flamengo where he stayed until 1941. Again, in 1939, the team was champion of the State of River. He was a leader in the movement against racial prejudice in soccer, being one of the first black players to join the elite Flamengo team.

Léonides joined São Paulo in 1942 and remained with the club until his retirement in 1950. He scored 537 goals in 593 games.

Invention of the bicycle

In Brazil, he is credited with inventing the bicycle, a soccer play known in Spanish as “chilena” . The first time that Leônidas executed this move was on April 24, 1932, in the match between Bonsucesso and Carioca that ended 5:2. For Flamengo, he made the move only once, in 1939, against Independiente de Argentina. For São Paulo, he executed the play twice: on June 14, 1942 against Palestra Itália, and on November 13, 1948 against Juventus-SP. In the film Suzana e o Presidente (1951), Leônidas shows some plays, including his bicycle.

According to the records, Ramón Unzaga was the real inventor of the "chilenita", since the oldest record of Leonidas was in 1932, while Unzanga executed it in 1920 against Brazil.

After retirement

After hanging up his boots in 1950, he became a technician and then a radio commentator; But by the 1970s, Alzheimer's and diabetes were already beginning to seriously impair his faculties. He joined São Paulo as a coach in 1953, where he was the owner of a furniture store in that city.

Death

Leónidas died in 2004 in Cotia, São Paulo, from complications of Alzheimer's disease, which he had suffered since 1974. He is buried in the Morada da Paz Cemetery in São Paulo.

Participation in World Cups

He played 19 times for the Brazilian National Team. He scored 19 goals making two in his debut. He participated in the 1934 World Cup in Italy, when Brazil was eliminated in the first round, converting his team's only goal. He also participated in France 1938, obtaining his selection in third place, and being the scorer with seven goals, scoring three goals in a match in the 6-5 overtime victory over Poland. The coach Adhemar Pimenta in this last World Cup, Leónidas da Silva was reserved for a probable final match and was not included in the semifinal against Italy, thinking that it would only be a formality. They were wrong, as Italy won 2-1 and reached the final, repeating the title won four years ago. Leónidas converted 21 goals in 19 international matches.

World	Headquarters	Outcome	Parties	Goles
1934 World Cup Soccer/Football	Italy	Final Octavos	1	1
World Cup Soccer 1938	France	Third place	4	7

Trajectory

Equipment	Seasons	Parties	Goles	Average
Bonsucesso	1931 - 1932	?	?	?
Peñarol	1933	16	11	0.69
Vasco da Gama	1934	?	?	?
Botafogo	1935	?	?	?
Flamengo	1936-1941	88	89	1.01
São Paulo	1942-1951	215	140	0.65
Brazilian Selection	1932-1945	19	21	1.10
TOTAL	1931 - 1945	338	261	0.77

Honours of Prizes

National Cups

Title	Club	Country	Year
Carioca Championship	Vasco da Gama	BrazilBrazil	1934
Carioca Championship	Botafogo	BrazilBrazil	1935
Carioca Championship	Flamengo	BrazilBrazil	1939
Paulist Championship	São Paulo	BrazilBrazil	1943
Paulist Championship	São Paulo	BrazilBrazil	1945
Paulist Championship	São Paulo	BrazilBrazil	1946
Paulist Championship	São Paulo	BrazilBrazil	1948
Paulist Championship	São Paulo	BrazilBrazil	1949