Zico: A Fabulous Attacking Midfielder

Brazilian soccer has seen outstanding talented players who have proved their mettle over the period of time. There are players are certainly a treat to watch. There is one such player called Zico.

He made his debut in league in 1973 for Flamengo. He played at the international level for the first time against Uruguay in 1976. He scored with one dead-ball shots and became popular for it. He was known for his consistent performances and scored more than 100 goals during first 2 seasons.

He suffered from troublesome injuries at the World Cup, 1978 and was not pleased with the defensive game strategy of Coach Claudio Coutinho. In 1982, Brazil came back to their attacking game style. This suited Zico’s pace change, dynamic shooting and body swerves. He scored four goals at the World Cup, 1982 in Spain. This included the equalizing goal against Scotland. In 1983 he joined Udinese for a brief period. He made a return to Flamengo side in the 1985 summer.

Then was the time of World Cup, 1986 in Mexico. He got the opportunity here to play in three matches, all of these as a substitute player. His final game was against France in the quarter-finals. Unfortunately, he could not score a penalty here. What a sad finish for this amazing player from Brazil.

He played for his national team in 72 matches and scored 52 goals in them. After his retirement in 1990 he was appointed Sports Minister in his country.