Manoel Francisco dos Santos, better known as Garrincha, was a Brazilian footballer, a right winger, of the 1950s & 1960s. Garrincha was known for his phenomenal skill and specific way of being. He reached the apex for Botafogo. For the Brazilian national team, Garrincha has an impressive array of performances.

O Anjo das Pernas Toras, thus nicknamed due to his series of problems involving his legs, was a simple, playful person who had a very incisive extra-field in his career; largely because of the high frequency at which Garrincha drank. Garrincha had strabismus, an imbalance of the pelvis, six centimeters of difference in length between his legs. The right knee had valgus and the left varus.

He was not a tall player, no; he was a very short player with great resistence. Moreover, the right winger had an exceptional initial acceleration, but could not maintain it for long. Many times Garrincha went ahead of his marker, however he had to stop before the opponent managed to catch up. As much as Garrincha suffered several fouls, it was difficult to take him down, as he had a notorious balance to stay on his feet.

Garrincha's technique was sublime — the main aspect that drew attention was his quality and ability to dribble an opponent or several opponents in a single run. Garrincha had several tricks to get past his opponents, from body feints to even surgical cuts. Moreover, he possessed accurate shots and crosses with both feet.

Garrincha was a very unpredictable player, far from systematic. He was a winger who was almost completely abdicated from the system of his teams, as he had the freedom to express his football. Facing the right side of the field, with a few occasions of centralization, the damage was done on the left side of the opposing defensive system. Garrincha didn't understand tactics, he just received the ball and did what he knew with it.

Collectively, in tactical terms, Garrincha was not an outstanding player. Often when tactical infiltration orders were given to him, Garrincha did the opposite of what was asked, as his former coach Aymoré Moreira has already explained. However, his individual actions were so impressive, that it eclipsed his tactical side.


I called Garrincha, and I said: "Garrincha, when Didi receives the ball, you run, and he will throw the ball on the back of the full-back."

He said, "Yes, sir."

Didi received the ball, delivered the ball, he — Garrincha — ran, arrived at the ball, stopped, waited for the full-back to get in front of him for him to dribble.

Aymoré Moreira.


Mané was an artistic football player, very fun and pleasant to watch. Large audiences went to see the excellence of Brazilian football in Garrincha. The same demonstrated a football that made people laugh, because his tricks, in such a way, ended up causing this reaction.

He was a player of extrama individuality, even though his passes, especially the back-line ones, were precise, had given several goals to the centre-forwards and insiders of his time. In addition, due to his starts, Garrincha would reach the front of the area — or even being inside the area itself —, so there he would decide whether to pass the ball or send a precise shot.