Lula declares three-day mourning in honor of Zagallo – 01/06/2024 – Sports

President Lula (PT) declared three days of official mourning in honor of Mario Jorge Lobo Zagallo, four-time world champion with the Brazilian team.

The football icon died late Friday night (5), aged 92. He had been admitted to Barra D’Or hospital since December 26th. According to the medical unit, Zagallo died of multiple organ failure.

“In memory of the eternal Mário Jorge Lobo Zagallo, 3 days of official mourning have been declared in the country,” Lula wrote on social media.

Earlier, the president had already published a text paying tribute to the former football coach. “Courageous, dedicated, passionate and superstitious, Zagallo was an example of a Brazilian who never gave up. It is this lesson and spirit of affection, love, dedication and overcoming that he leaves for our entire country and for world football”, he stated.

Zagallo will be mourned this Sunday (7) at the headquarters of the CBF (Brazilian Football Confederation), in Barra da Tijuca, west of Rio de Janeiro. The wake will begin at 9:30 am and will be open to the public.

The former athlete won the main world football competition between national teams four times, played since 1930: twice as a player (Sweden-1958 and Chile-1962), once as a coach (Mexico-1970) and once as an assistant coach (USA-1994 ).

Besides him, only German Franz Beckenbauer (Germany-1974 and Italy-1990) and Frenchman Didier Deschamps (France-1998 and Russia-2018) won the Cup as a player and coach.

The player Zagallo wore the Brazilian national team’s shirt 37 times (with 30 wins, four draws and three defeats) and scored four goals. As coach of Brazil, there were 154 matches (110 wins, 33 draws, 11 defeats and the famous phrase “You’re going to have to swallow me!”). The data is from FIFA (International Football Federation).

In clubs, in his 35-year career, he managed, among others, Botafogo, Vasco, Fluminense and Portuguesa. He ended his coaching career in 2001, at Flamengo.

Zagallo was born in Maceió (AL), but the family soon moved to Rio de Janeiro, where he was raised. His first club was America, of which he was a member. He defended the club’s red color in the base football and table tennis teams, a sport in which he had above average skills.