João Batista de Sales (born January 19, 1945, in

Conselheiro Pena Conselheiro Pena, formerly known as "Lajao", is located in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. This town of 20,000+ inhabitants, was formed alongside the " Rio Doce", or Sweet River. See also * List of municipalities in Minas Gerais This is ...

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil, being the fourth largest state by area and the second largest in number of inhabitants with a population of 20,539,989 according to the 2022 Brazilian census, 2022 census. Located in ...

), better known as Fio Maravilha, is a former

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

ian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player. In Brazil he played for

Flamengo Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (; ), more commonly referred to as simply Flamengo, is a Brazilian multi sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, in the neighborhood of Gávea. It was founded and named after the Flamengo, Rio de Janeiro, Flamengo n ...

Paysandu Sport Club Paysandu Sport Club, commonly referred to as Paysandu, is a Brazilian professional club based in Belém, Pará founded on 2 February 1914. It competes in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série B, the second tier of Brazilian football, as well as in th ...

, CEUB, Desportiva and

São Cristóvão São Cristóvão (, ''Saint Christopher'') is a Brazilian Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeastern state of Sergipe. Founded at the mouth of the Vaza-Barris River on January 1, 1590, the municipality is ...

. Later he moved to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, where he played for the

New York Eagles The New York Eagles were a professional soccer franchise that played in the American Soccer League (1933-1983), American Soccer League from 1978 to 1981, with a one-year hiatus in 1980. The franchise played its first season in Mount Vernon, New Yo ...

, the Montebello Panthers, and the San Francisco Mercury.

Biography

He is perhaps most famous for the hit single "Fio Maravilha" that was written about him in 1972 by

Jorge Ben Jorge Duílio Lima Menezes (born March 22, 1939) is a Brazilian popular musician, performing under the stage name Jorge Ben Jor since the 1980s, though commonly known by his former stage name Jorge Ben (). Performing in a samba style that also ...

(later known as Jorge Ben Jor). The musician attended a friendly game between Flamengo and Benfica at Maracanã. Fio was left out of Flamengo's starting lineup by coach

Mário Zagallo Mário Jorge Lobo Zagallo (; 9 August 1931 – 5 January 2024) was a Brazilian professional football player, coordinator and manager, who played as a forward. Zagallo holds the record for FIFA World Cup titles in general with four titles in t ...

, but after a chorus of fans demanded that he play, he was brought in as a substitute. After 33 minutes in the second half he scored the goal ("the goal of an angel") that was immortalized in the song: :''...driblou o goleiro'' :''Só não entrou com bola e tudo porque teve humildade.'' :("...he dribbled past the goalkeeper but did not enter the goal with the ball because he was humble.") As the result of a legal dispute between Jorge Ben and Fio, the title of the song was later changed to ''Filho Maravilha''. In 2007, Fio gave to the musician the permission to use his name Fio in the song. Fio Maravilha lives in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, where he worked as a pizza deliverer. He now coaches youth soccer.

References

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Fio Maravilha, nós gostamos de você
Living people 1945 births Brazilian men's footballers Brazilian expatriate men's footballers CR Flamengo footballers New York Eagles players Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States American Soccer League (1933–1983) players Men's association football forwards 20th-century Brazilian sportsmen Centro de Ensino Unificado de Brasília Esporte Clube players {{Brazil-footy-forward-1940s-stub