Hilderaldo Luiz Bellini (7 June 1930 – 20 March 2014) was a Brazilian

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

of Italian origin who played as a defender and was known in Brazil as one of the nation's greatest central defenders ever.

Biography

During his career he played for

Vasco da Gama Vasco da Gama ( , ; – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and nobleman who was the Portuguese discovery of the sea route to India, first European to reach India by sea. Da Gama's first voyage (1497–1499) was the first to link ...

São Paulo FC São Paulo Futebol Clube () is a professional Association football, football club in the Morumbi, São Paulo, Morumbi district of São Paulo, Brazil. It plays in Campeonato Paulista, São Paulo (state), São Paulo's premier State football lea ...

and

Atlético Paranaense Club Athletico Paranaense (abbreviated CAP, commonly known as Athletico Paranaense and up to 2019 known as Atlético Paranaense) is a Brazilian football team from the city of Curitiba, capital city of the Brazilian state of Paraná, founded o ...

, and he was the first

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 to lift the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the thir ...

. He won another World Cup in

1962 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...

and participated also at

1966 FIFA World Cup The 1966 FIFA World Cup was the eighth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in England from 11 to 30 July 1966. England defeated West Germany 4–2 in the 1966 FI ...

as the team

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

again. He was honored with a statue at the entrance of the

Maracanã stadium Maracanã Stadium (, ; named after the Maracanã River), officially known as Jornalista Mário Filho Stadium (, ; , named after Mário Filho), is an association football stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Located in the Maracanã neighbor ...

, which depicts him lifting the 1958 World Cup trophy. At the end of his international career from 1957 to 1966 with Brazil he earned a total of 51 caps being the captain during the

1958 FIFA World Cup The 1958 FIFA World Cup was the 6th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Sweden from 8 to 29 June 1958. It was the first and only FIFA World Cup to be played in a Nordic country. Br ...

in Sweden. Bellini is credited with starting the tradition of lifting the trophy into the air in football. He initially did this so that photographers could have a better view of the trophy and, as the photos were published around the world, the gesture became associated with victory. Bellini died on 20 March 2014, aged 83, in São Paulo, due to complications caused by

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

culminating with cardiac arrest. Shortly after his death in 2014, Brazilian footballer Bellini was posthumously diagnosed with CTE. Bellini, along with

Pelé Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; 23 October 1940 – 29 December 2022), better known by his nickname Pelé (), was a Brazilian professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. Widely reg ...

Didi Didi Chuxing Technology Company is a Chinese vehicle for hire company headquartered in Beijing with over 550 million users and tens of millions of drivers. The company provides app-based transportation services, including taxi hailing, private ...

and

Garrincha Manuel Francisco dos Santos (28 October 1933 – 20 January 1983), nicknamed Mané Garrincha, best known as simply Garrincha (, "little bird"), was a Brazilian professional association football, footballer who played as a Midfielder#Winger, righ ...

, led Brazil to

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

victories in 1958 and 1962.''washingtonpost.com''
2014/09/23.

Honours

Club

;Vasco da Gama *

Campeonato Carioca The Campeonato Carioca (Carioca Championship), officially known as Campeonato Estadual do Rio de Janeiro (Rio de Janeiro State Championship), also commonly known as the Cariocão, is the top-flight professional state football league in the Br ...

: 1952, 1956, 1958 * Torneio Octogonal Rivadavia Corrêa Meyer: 1953 * Torneio Rio – São Paulo: 1958

International

;Brazil *

Individual

* FIFA World Cup All-Star Team: 1958

References

External links

1930 births 2014 deaths People from Itapira 1958 FIFA World Cup players 1962 FIFA World Cup players 1966 FIFA World Cup players FIFA World Cup–winning players Brazil men's international footballers Brazilian men's footballers Brazilian people of Italian descent São Paulo FC players Association football players with chronic traumatic encephalopathy CR Vasco da Gama players Club Athletico Paranaense players Deaths from dementia in Brazil Deaths from Alzheimer's disease in Brazil Men's association football defenders Footballers from São Paulo (state) 20th-century Brazilian sportsmen {{Brazil-footy-defender-1930s-stub