This Saturday (22), one of the greatest players in the history of Brazilian football, Evaristo de Macedo, celebrates his 91st birthday. The former athlete is affectionately nicknamed “Mestre” (master).
The former striker was born in 1933, in Rio de Janeiro, and was the only player to score five goals in a match for the Brazilian National Team, in a game against Colombia, in 1957.
Macedo’s career began at Madureira, when he was 17 years old. He was then transferred to Flamengo, where he won the Carioca Championship three times. Subsequently, Mestre made his debut in Europe with Barcelona.
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For the Catalan club, he scored 178 goals in 226 games, being the Brazilian with the most balls in the net for Barcelona. In Spain, Macedo became an idol and piled up trophies.
In 1957, Mestre played in the World Cup Qualifiers, but was not released by Barça for the 1958 World Cup, in which the Brazilian National Team became champions for the first time.
After his stint at Barcelona, Evaristo de Macedo went to Real Madrid, where he won more titles. His career ended at Flamengo.
As a coach, he had many achievements, such as the Brazilian Championship with Bahia (1988), the Copa del Rey with Barcelona (1982/83) and the Copa do Brasil with Grêmio (1997). He also competed in a World Cup coaching Iraq and was in charge of the Brazilian National Team for a few months in 1985.
Of the 91 years lived, 60 were working with football.
