Jairzinho

At 79 years old, Jairzinho has this physical status:

Jairzinho started his football career in 1958 aged 13 assigned to the Botafogo youth setup and working as a ball boy for the first team. He made his professional debut with the club as a striker at the age of fifteen in 1960. His idol 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.

Jairzinho finally established himself as a Botafogo regular in 1965 aged 21 and was seen as a phenomenal rising star to the entire nation. During this young age he was already playing with Brazil and Botofogo superstars such as Gérson, Mario Zagallo and Garrincha.

In 1968, Botafogo won the Brazilian double. Winners of the 1968 Campeonato Carioca and the Taça Guanabara in which Jairzinho would score 9 goals in 11 games. By this time Garrincha had already left Botafogo in 1966 and would enable Jairzinho to play in his natural right wing position. Botafogo would then top off the year with a 3rd trophy towards the end of the year winning the 1968 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (Taça Brasil) The following 1969 Campeonato Carioca season he would score 7 goals, progressing onto the next 1970 Campeonato Carioca just before the World Cup Jairzinho would finish Botafogo's top scorer with 9 goals.

After Jairzinho's excellent display in Mexico at the 1970 FIFA World Cup more eyes of the world were focused on his Botofogo side. In the final four years of his time at Botafogo he'd prove to finalise himself as one of the club's most prolific goalscorers in the history of single starred Brazilian club, scoring 186 goals in 413 appearances with a goals per game ratio of 0,45. He ranks 6th in all time top goal scorers for Botafogo. One of his most standout performance starred in 1972 in which he scored a hattrick vs Flamengo during a famous 6-0 victory, one of the most memorable in Botafogo's history. In the same year he would also receive the Bronze Award for the South American Footballer of the Year.

In 1974, when the sports legislation in Brazil finally changed Jairzinho made a €300,000 (£125,000) move to Ligue 1 side Olympique de Marseille. One of the most expensive signings up to date at the time. Along with his Botafogo and Brazil teammate Caju.

Jairzinho was seen as such a star and Brazilian great throughout the French fans the day before his debut game vs AS Monaco FC more than 10,000 fans came to attend the pre training session in order to watch his first moments at the club. Jairzinho scored in his first game vs Monaco in a 4-1 victory and was immediately seen as a prominent world class winger to dominate Europe.

Jairzinho would go on to score 9 goals in only 18 games as his time was cut out short due to backroom management issues. Though he made a good impact with his goals and produced a memorable performance vs FC Nantes in the Coupe de France scoring 2 goals in a 4-0 victory, his time was cut out short at the French side mainly due to a scuffle in which both Jairzinho and Paulo Cesar were found guilty of attacking the referee after a following 2-2 game vs Paris Saint-Germain Football Club. They would both end up leaving in the summer of 1975.

According to Jairzinho, Kaizer Chiefs co-owner Ewert Nene invited him to play a few trial games after his tricky situation in reaction to his Marseille departure. Jairzinho agreed a short term deal until the start of 1976. He also stated in an interview the main reason he agreed to sign is because of the stadium atmosphere and the heartwarming reception every time he stepped on the pitch, apparently he was "treated like a king."

Jairzinho rarely played for the Chiefs. However in only 3 league games he scored 7 goals and regained his sharpness during his time in South Africa.

After the expiration of Jairzinho's contract in South Africa he would finally reestablish himself as the world class Brazilian forward talent he was typically seen as. Jairzinho signed with Cruzeiro at the beginning of 1976 just before the season campaign started.

Jairzinho would spend a season at Cruzeiro and score 31 goals in 43 games across all competitions. He would finish 2nd highest goal scorer in the 1976 Copa Libertadores with 12 goals in 12 appearances whilst also bringing home the pinnacle of South American continental success. Jairzinho would only spend a year at Cruz however it was a very successful short period.

Jairzinho despite being the age of 32 in was still seen as an exceptionally talented played and was a surprise to see him join Venezuelan side Portuguesa in 1977.

Jairzinho made Portuguesa one of the greatest teams in Venezuelan history, helping Portuguesa win a record 16 games in a row and their fourth of five championships. He scored 22 league goals within 24 games throughout the year and in 1 year he would score 3 hattricks.

Towards the final stages of his career, Jairzinho would have a brief spell at Brazilian club Noroeste competing in the 1978 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A. However, Noroeste would only finish 28th in the final standings and Jairzinho would only feature in very few games and score only 3 goals.

A year later Jairzinho would join 2nd tier Campeonato Amazonense side Fast Clube and would score 10 goals throughout the year.

In 1980, Jairzinho was looking to see out the rest of his career and signed for Bolivian side Club Deportivo Jorge Wilstermann aged 35. He would be used as a rotational player in a title winning side, scoring 6 goals that campaign.

In 1981, Jairzinho would return to Botafogo for the last true season of his career in which he would be idolised by the upcoming youth players and again be used rotationally. He would score 1 goal in an Amistoso match in 1981 in Botafogo colours to end off a fantastic career.

International career

Jairzinho made his international debut as a 19 year old in 1964 against Portugal, again when Garrincha was injured. He played in the 1966 FIFA World Cup in England, however with Garrincha back in the side he played as a left winger. Jairzinho struggled to be effective in this position especially at his young age, and he couldn't prevent Brazil from exiting the competition at the first round. When, after the tournament, Garrincha announced his retirement from international football, Jairzinho finally took over his idol's role for Brazil on the right wing. Jairzinho scored 2 goals out of the 6 1970 FIFA World Cup qualification matches

Now in his favourite position, Jairzinho became a far more effective and consistent performer for country. At the 1970 FIFA World Cup in Mexico, Jairzinho was one of stars of the tournament. He made history by scoring in every game Brazil played in for the Seleção, for which he received the epithet "Furacão da Copa" (World Cup Hurricane). His second goal vs Czechoslovakia was one of the goals of the tournament, completing an incredible solo run, beating 3 or 4 players to unleash a powerful low driven shot to ripple the bottom left corner, which goes down as one of the most memorable goals in World Cup history.

He scored his seventh goal of the tournament in Brazil's 4–1 world cup win over Italy in the final. However, his impressive goals tally at the finals were not enough to win the Golden Boot, which went to Germany's Gerd Müller, who scored ten goals. Jairzinho has claimed that FIFA awarded him a "best body on the planet" prize for his athleticism; however, FIFA has no record of this award.

Jairzinho scored two goals in the 1974 FIFA World Cup, which would prove to be his last World Cup for Brazil. The 3rd-Place Final was his last match for Brazil until he was given a one-off farewell cap against Czechoslovakia on March 3, 1982 in a game which Brazil drew 1–1. He scored 33 goals in 81 games during his international career.

Managerial career

After retiring as a footballer, Jairzinho became a coach and managed a number of youth teams in his native Brazil. He also worked in Japan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. In 1997, Jairzinho began his first journey as manager in Europe being appointed at Greek Super League club Kalamata. He was sacked due to poor results, his side relegated at the end of the season. Jairzinho was named head coach of the Gabon national team. However, he was sacked by Gabon's Football Federation after a crushing defeat against Angola in a World Cup 2006 Qualifier held in Luanda. Perhaps his greatest achievement as a coach was spotting Ronaldo as a 14-year-old whilst he was coaching São Cristóvão. He kick-started the career of the future three-time FIFA World Player of the Year by recommending him to Cruzeiro, his former side, and the Brazil youth team. Jairzinho is currently the manager of Esprof Atletico futebol Clube, a team based in Cabo Frio, Rio de Janeiro state who play in the Campeonato Carioca.

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