Waldemar Graciano

Waldemar Graciano (4 February 1938 in São Paulo – 6 December 2010 in Innsbruck), called Jacaré (Portuguese crocodile), was a Brazilian-Austrian football player and coach. He played as a striker. After playing for several teams in Brazil, he moved to Austria Wien in April 1962. He became the first Brazilian and the first dark-skinned player in Austrian professional football.oepb.at (German)

He played for 	EC XV de Novembro (Piracicaba) and 	Ituano FC in Brazil. A sports journalist, Alice Kaufmann, brought the 24-year-old to Austria for a transfer fee of 250,000 Schillings. Josef Argauer, then section head of Wiener Austria, was not satisfied with the rather slender player. The newcomer had not been able to be observed in advance and a giant was expected.

His first appearance in a friendly against Újpest Budapest was seen by 52,000 people in the Prater Stadium. During his time in Vienna he was champion and runner-up once and won the cup twice with Austria.

Graciano became an Austrian citizen after his active career. He married a woman from Tyrol and moved to Innsbruck, where he ran a record business. In 1999 he suffered a stroke.

He died in December 2010 at the age of 72.

References

Category:1938 births
Category:2010 deaths
Category:Austrian footballers
Category:Footballers from São Paulo
Category:FK Austria Wien players
Category:Austrian football forwards
Category:Austrian football champions