Juvenal (footballer, born 1923)

Juvenal Amarijo (27 November 1923 - 30 October 2009) was a former Brazilian football player. He has played for Brazil national team. Regarded as one of the best defenders of all time. He was renowned for man-marking, stamina, tackling and he stood out for his leadership.
Club career
Juvenal made his adult football debut in 1940 with Cruzeiro, where he spent nine seasons until 1949, he won the Brasileira Division five times in 1941, 1943 1944, 1946, 1948, he defended the colors of the team. With his game for the last team he attracted the attention of the coaching staff of the club "Flamengo", which he joined in 1949. He played for the team from Rio de Janeiro for the next two seasons of his playing career. Most of his time with Flamengo, he was a key player in the team's defense and he was highly praised for his leadership, marking opponents and a ball-winner and he made a formidable defensive duo with Bigode which was considered to be one of the best defences ever. In 1951 he signed a contract with the club "Palmeiras", in which he spent the next three years of his career as a player. Playing for Palmeiras, he also mostly played for the main team. From 1954 to 1958 he defended the colors of the Bahia club, and ended his professional playing career at the Ipiranga (Bahia) club, for which he played from 1958 to 1960.
International career
He made his debut on May 17, 1944 against Chile with 2-1 victory for the Brazilian national team. He was left out for two Copa America tournaments in 1945 and 1946, he was selected to play for Copa America in 1949 when Brazil won the tournament for the third time. During his career in the national team, which lasted 6 years, he played 22 matches and scored once. He was the main defender of the Brazilian national team at his home World Cup in 1950, taking part in all matches of the team in the tournament. In particular, he took part in the decisive match against the national team of Uruguay, in which the world champion was determined and in which the Brazilians were considered favorites, but unexpectedly lost 2-1 and received silver medals. He was blamed along with Barbosa and Bigode for the defeat and he retired from the Selecao.
International career statistics
|1944||2||0
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|1945||1||0
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|1946||1||0
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|1947||4||1
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|1948||2||0
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|1949||3||0
|-
|1950||9||0
|-
!Total||22||1
|}
Later life and death
In the 1990s, Juvenal was left destitute, his legs were extremely sore due to arthritis in his right knee, which made him unable to walk, and survived only thanks to the help of his neighbors. Juvenal lived in a hut with holes in the roof without a toilet, kitchen or shower. Soon a telecast about the hard life of Juvenal was shown on Bailly's telecast. And after this report, many people responded to help the former football player, many helped with money, someone gave Juvenal a portable radio. He was transferred to a fee-paying clinic in Santo Antonio das Obras, and then began to pay for his trips to das Clinicas in Salvador, where a former football player and now a doctor, Luis Carlos Menezes, helped Juvenal learn to walk again. And in 2009, the government of the state of Bahia gave Juvenal a new house on Jahua street in the city Kamasari, consisting of a living room, two bedrooms, a kitchen and a small courtyard. On October 30, 2009, Juvenal, the last living Brazilian player to take the field in the 1950 World Cup final, died in the Camasari Public Hospital, where he had been sent 15 days earlier. The cause of death has not been determined.
Honours
Club
Cruzeiro-RS
Brasileira Division: 1941, 1943, 1944, 1946, 1948
Flamengo
Embaixada Brasileira na Guatemala: 1949
Trofeu El Comite Nacional Olimpico da Guatemala: 1949
Palmeiras
Copa Rio: 1951
Torneio Rio-Sao Paulo: 1951
Bahia
Campeonato Baiano: 1956
International
Brazil
Roca Cup: 1945
Copa Rio Branco Runner-up: 1946, 1948
Copa Rio Branco: 1947, 1950
South American Championship: 1949
Taca Oswaldo Cruz: 1950
FIFA World Cup Runner-up: 1950
Individual
FIFA World Cup All-Star Team (Reserve): 1950
References
1923 births
2009 deaths
Brazilian footballers