Jair da Costa (; 9 July 1940 – 26 April 2025), known simply as Jair, was a Brazilian professional footballer who played as a

right winger In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

. Apart from playing in Brazil, he played professionally in clubs in Italy, where his teams won the

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...

and the Intercontinental Cup several times, as well as in Canada. Internationally, he briefly played for the Brazil national team. He was a member of the Brazilian team that won the

1962 FIFA World Cup The 1962 FIFA World Cup was the 7th edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams. It was held from 30 May to 17 June 1962 in Chile. The qualification rounds took place between ...

, but he did not play in the World Cup.

Club career

Jair da Costa started his club career with Portuguesa as a youth, making his senior debut against XV Novembro de Jaú. Whilst with Portuguesa he helped them to the runners-up spot in the 1960

Campeonato Paulista The Campeonato Paulista Série A1, commonly known as Campeonato Paulista, nicknamed Paulistão, is the top-flight professional state football league in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. Run by the São Paulo State Football Federation (FPF), ...

. Jair da Costa moved to Italian side

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football ...

in November 1962, and went on to play a total of 260 senior games for the Milan club in two spells (1962–1967 and 1968–1972). He was notably a key member of

Helenio Herrera Helenio Herrera Gavilán (; 10 April 1910 – 9 November 1997) was an Argentina, Argentine and naturalised France, French association football, football player and Manager (association football), manager. He is best remembered for his success ...

's ''

Grande Inter Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Since 1 ...

'' squad on the right wing, and won four

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

titles (two of which were won consecutively), and two European Cups in

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

and

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The First Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lynd ...

, as well as consecutive Intercontinental Cups in

and

, during his time at the club. He became not only the first Brazilian player to win multiple European Cups, but also the first Brazilian player to win multiple Intercontinental Cups with a European team. In between his two spells with Inter, Jair da Costa also spent the 1967–68 season with

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...

. Following his time in Italy, he later returned to Brazil in 1972 and played for

Santos Santos may refer to: People *Santos (surname) * Santos Balmori Picazo (1899–1992), Spanish-Mexican painter * Santos Benavides (1823–1891), Confederate general in the American Civil War Places *Santos, São Paulo, a municipality in São Paulo ...

until 1974, winning the Campeonato Paulista in 1973. He ended his career in Canada's

National Soccer League The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its ...

in 1975, with Windsor Star.

International career

At international level, Jair da Costa only obtained one cap for the Brazil national team, due to the presence of

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 ...

in his position; his only appearance came in a 3–1 friendly win over

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

in São Paulo, on 16 May 1962. He was also a non-playing member of the Brazilian team that won the

Style of play

An extremely fast and agile winger, with quick feet and good technique, Jair da Costa was also known for his powerful striking ability and his great pace on the ball; due to these abilities, he was also capable of functioning as a striker. He was also known for his

dribbling In sports, dribbling is maneuvering a ball by one player while moving in a given direction, avoiding defenders' attempts to intercept the ball. A successful dribble will bring the ball past defenders legally and create opportunities to score. As ...

skills and use of elaborate feints.

Death

Da Costa died in

Osasco Osasco () is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil, located in the Greater São Paulo area and ranking fifth in population among São Paulo municipalities. According to the IBGE 2015, Osasco currently has the ninth highest gross do ...

, São Paulo on 26 April 2025, at the age of 84.

Honours

Inter Milan *

: 1962–63, 1964–65, 1965–66, 1970–71 *

: 1963–64, 1964–65 * Intercontinental Cup:

Santos *

: 1973 Brazil *

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 ...

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 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Costa, Jair da 1940 births 2025 deaths 1962 FIFA World Cup players 20th-century Brazilian sportsmen AS Roma players Associação Portuguesa de Desportos players Brazil men's international footballers Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Canada Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Brazilian men's footballers Canadian National Soccer League players Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada FIFA World Cup–winning players Footballers from Santo André, São Paulo Inter Milan players Men's association football wingers Santos FC players São Paulo state football team players Serie A players UEFA Champions League–winning players