Bauer (footballer)

Jose Carlos Bauer (21 November 1925 - 4 February 2007) was a former Brazilian football player. He has played for the Brazilian national team. He was widely considered as one of the greatest midfielders of all time. He was known as a skillful playmaker who was a good passer on the ball and was also renowned for his marking and tackling. He was also renowned of his pinpoint passing, covering, dribbling, physical power and his intelligence. His nickname was "The Maracana Monster" or "The Monster of Maracana" because of his peformances during the 1950 FIFA World Cup.
Early life
Born in Sao Paulo on 21 November 1925, he was the son of a Swiss father and an African-Brazilian mother. He asked to play football and his parents wanted him to be a footballer, he joined Sao Paulo youth academy in 1938.
Club career
At the club level, Bauer's career was linked to the Sao Paulo team, with whom he played for 13 years, winning six state championships, with 429 matches and 16 goals. Here he formed together with Rui, Zarzur and Noronha a famous and appreciated trio of midfield reproposed also in the national team, whose members were renamed "The three musketeers". Bauer was a player who had a lot of skill with the ball and, therefore, acted as a midfielder. Although physically strong, he played classic and elegant football. In 1956 he had two fleeting experiences with Garrincha and Nilton Santos' Botafogo and with Portuguesa, and then ceased his competitive activity with Sao Bento in 1958.
International career
While at Sao Paulo, Bauer was called up for the Brazilian national team he took part in the victory of the Copa America in 1949. The following year he participated in the World Cup that Brazil organized at home, losing the final against Uruguay. Bauer was considered by critics as one of the best players in the competition together with his compatriot Zizinho and his good performances combined with his playing style earned him the nickname " Gigante do Maracana ", attributed to him by radio commentators and he was included in the Team of the tournament. With the Selecao also won the Pan American Championship in 1952. During the Copa America in 1953 Bauer made a formidable midfield trio with Bigode and Danilo, he showed one of his best style of play and Brazil finished as runners-up. He was one of the few among those called up for that edition to participate in the next World Cup in 1954, when he held the role of team captain. He retired from international football in 1955 after he won with Brazil the Taca Oswaldo Cruz, he turned down a chance to participated the 1956 Copa America. He played in 29 matches and scored just once.
International career statistics
|-
|1949||6||0
|-
|1950||10||0
|-
|1951||0||0
|-
|1952||2||0
|-
|1953||6||1
|-
|1954||4||0
|-
|1955||1||0
|-
!Total||29||1
|}
Managerial career
As a coach he directed several Brazilian and foreign teams, with experiences in Colombia, Mexico and Portugal, achieving particular success. Later he also received an invitation to coach in Japan.
During this phase of his career he also had the opportunity to discover first of all Eusebio 's talents. When he was sitting on the Ferroviaria bench in 1960, Bauer took part in a tour in Mozambique, during which he noticed the future Golden Ball. The coach pointed him out to Bela Guttman, his coach at the time of Sao Paulo, then moved to Benfica, who took him to Lisbon.