Vavá

Edvaldo Izidio Neto (12 November 1934 – 19 January 2002) commonly known as Vavá, was a Brazilian footballer, who is widely considered one of the best strikers of his generation. His nickname was "Peito de Aço" (Steel Chest). He was known for his goalscoring ability, dribbling, vision, beating opponents and having explosive shots. He is regarded as one of the most legendary players of the Brazilian football history. He played as a main striker (or centre forward) for Sport Club do Recife, C.R. Vasco da Gama, S.E. Palmeiras and the Brazil national football team.

Club career
Vavá started his career with Sport from his home city of Recife and won the Campeonato Pernambucano in 1949 with it. In 1951 he moved to Vasco da Gama, winning the Campeonato Carioca three times, the Torneio Rio-São Paulo and the Tournoi de Paris. In 1958 he moved to Europe to play for Atlético Madrid. He returned after three seasons and then went on to play for Palmeiras from São Paulo. Palmeiras was at this time the only club that had a response against the supreme Santosand in 1963, the year Santos took the world title, he became state champion with Palmeiras. From 1964 to 1968 he played for Mexican clubs and after a short stay with the American San Diego Toros, he ended his career at Portuguesa, a smaller club from Rio de Janeiro. 

International career
Vavá made his debut for Brazil national team in 1955, He was left out for three Copa América tournaments in 1956, 1957, 1959. He was on the side that won both the 1958 and 1962 World Cup, in which he scored 5 and 4 goals, respectively. Furthermore, he was a joint recipient of the 1962 World Cup Golden Shoe award, as one of the tournaments top scorers. He was also part of Brazil's squad for the 1952 Summer Olympics. Vavá earned 20 caps with the Brazil national football team between 1955 and 1964, scoring a total of 15 goals.

Vavá scored in the final of both 1958 (twice) and 1962 (once), thus becoming the first player to score in the final of two different world cups. To this day, only four players achieved this feat, the other three being Pelé, Paul Breitner, Zinedine Zidane and Kylian Mbappé.

Club career statistics

|-
|1958–59||rowspan="3"|Atlético Madrid||rowspan="3"|La Liga||27||16
|-
|1959–60||29||10
|-
|1960–61||15||5
71||31
71||31
|}

International career statistics

|-
!Total||20||15
|}

Honours
Club
Sport Club do Recife
 Campeonato Pernambucano: 1949

C.R. Vasco da Gama
 Campeonato Carioca (Rio de Janeiro State championship): 1952, 1956, 1958
 Torneio Rio - São Paulo (Rio – São Paulo Tournament): 1958
 Quadrangular Tournament of Rio: 1953
 Rivadavia Corrêa Meyer's Tournament (Rio): 1953
 Santiago de Chile Tournament: 1957
 Paris Tournament: 1957
 Theresa Herrera Trophy: 1957

Atlético de Madrid
Copa del Rey: 1960, 1961

Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras
 Campeonato Paulista (São Paulo State championship): 1963
 Guadalajara Tournament: 1963

Club América
Liga MX: 1966

International
Brazil national football team
FIFA World Cup: 1958, 1962
Taça Oswaldo Cruz: 1955, 1956, 1958, 1961, 1962
Taça Bernado O'Higgins: 1955, 1959, 1961
Taça do Atlântico: 1956, 1960
Roca Cup: 1957, 1960, 1963

Individual
 FIFA World Cup Golden Shoe: 1962
 FIFA World Cup All-Star Team: 1962
 Brazilian Football Museum Hall of Fame

References

 Other websites 

Category:1934 births
Category:2002 deaths
Category:Footballers from Recife