Eduardo Gonçalves de Andrade (born 25 January 1947), generally known as Tostão, is a Brazilian former professional

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 ...

who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

attacking midfielder 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. ...

and was a

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

. Tostão was an intelligent, hardworking and prolific left-footed forward, who was known for his creativity and technical skills, and was considered one of the best players in the world in his prime and arguably the best player in the world in the early 70s alongside Cruyff before health problems forced his early retirement. Tostão was widely considered at the time the second best or even the best Brazilian player in the late 60s alongside Pelé, even ahead of other stars that would be part of the legendary 1970 Brazil squad. He played most of his 11-year career with Cruzeiro. Tostão represented

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 ...

in two

World Cups 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 ...

, winning the tournament in 1970. He formed a lethal offensive partnership 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 ...

in the national team.

Football career

Born in

Belo Horizonte Belo Horizonte is the List of largest cities in Brazil, sixth-largest city in Brazil, with a population of around 2.3 million, and the third largest metropolitan area, containing a population of 6 million. It is the List of cities in Sout ...

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 ...

, Eduardo Andrade received, like the vast majority of Brazilian footballers, a nickname early into his football career, being dubbed 'Tostão' (little coin). Legend has it that as a six-year-old school boy he netted 47 goals in one game for his primary school football team. Tostão made his professional debut aged only 15, for local

América Mineiro The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.''Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sing ...

, returning after two years to Cruzeiro, where he had started his youth career. Although being a centre midfielder, he was crowned the ''

Campeonato Mineiro The Campeonato Mineiro is the top-flight professional state football league in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. It is run by the Minas Gerais Football Federation (FMF). The history of Campeonato Mineiro can be divided into two parts: bef ...

s topscorer on three consecutive occasions, the first in 1966, and left the club as its all-time scorer, with a total of 249 goals. In the

1970 FIFA World Cup The 1970 FIFA World Cup was the 9th edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's senior national teams. Held from 31 May to ...

, improvised as a forward, Tostão scored two of his 32 goals for

, and assisted four, as the national team won its third

trophy A trophy is a tangible, decorative item used to remind of a specific achievement, serving as recognition or evidence of merit. Trophies are most commonly awarded for sports, sporting events, ranging from youth sports to professional level athlet ...

, whilst finding the net on 19 occasions. The previous year, after being hit in the face by a ball during a match against

Corinthians The First Epistle to the Corinthians () is one of the Pauline epistles, part of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The epistle is attributed to Paul the Apostle and a co-author, Sosthenes, and is addressed to the Christian church in C ...

, he suffered a

detached retina Retinal detachment is a condition where the retina pulls away from the tissue underneath it. It may start in a small area, but without quick treatment, it can spread across the entire retina, leading to serious vision loss and possibly blindness. R ...

from which he never fully recovered. In April 1972, he signed 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 ...

for a then record fee in the country but, after good overall displays, was forced to retire from the game at only 27, after his sight problems resurfaced, despite attempts at corrective surgery. Weary of football and fame, Tostão became a

medical doctor A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the study, diagnosis, prognosis ...

, but ultimately rejoined the footballing world, working as a journalist and pundit on TV.

Style of play

Tostão was, due to his relatively small stature and slender frame, not particularly skilled in the air; in spite of his lack of pace, strong physical attributes, or long-range shooting abilities, however, he was a mobile, intelligent, and hard-working footballer, who stood out throughout his career due to his anticipation and timing in the penalty area, which made him a prolific goalscorer. A predominantly left-footed player, in his prime, he was considered one of the best players in the world, and was known for his technique, balance, and

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, while also contributing with many assists thanks to his vision, creativity, precise passing and playmaking abilities, as well as his work-rate, which often saw him drop back into midfield in order to retrieve the ball and start attacking plays. He was also known for his ability to disorient defenders and get onto the end of passes or create space for teammates with his movement and runs off the ball, which saw him act in a role which was essentially functioning as a precursor of the modern

false 9 In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on bei ...

role with Brazil during the 1970 World Cup, despite being deployed as a

centre-forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than Midfielder, midfielders and Defender (association football), d ...

on paper. Due to his versatility and wide range of skills, he was capable of playing in several attacking and midfield positions including as an attacking midfielder, as a

second striker In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on bein ...

, as a left winger, or even as an out-and-out striker.

Career statistics

International goals

Honours

Club

;Cruzeiro *

Campeonato Brasileiro Série A The Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (; English: "Brazilian Championship A Series"), commonly referred to as the Brasileirão (; English: "Big Brazilian" or "Great Brazilian"), the Série A or the Brazilian Série A (to distinguish it from the I ...

: 1966 *

: 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969

International

;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 ...

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

* Independence Cup:

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

Individual

* Bola de Prata: 1970 * Campeonato Brasileiro Série A Top Scorer: 1970 (12 goals) *

South American Footballer of the Year The Rey de América ("King of America"), often referred to as the South American Footballer of the Year, is an annual association football award presented to the best footballer in South America over the previous calendar year. The award was con ...

: 1971 * IFFHS Brazilian Player of the 20th Century (5th place)IFFHS' Century Elections
/ref> * IFFHS South American Player of the 20th Century (13th place) * World Soccer: The 100 Greatest Footballers of All TimeWorld Soccer: The 100 Greatest Footballers of All Time
Retrieved on 28 November 2015 * Brazilian Football Museum Hall of Fame

References

External links

*
International appearances
at

RSSSF The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (''RSSSF'') is an international organisation dedicated to collecting statistics about association football. The foundation aims to build an exhaustive archive of football-related information from around ...

Legendary Football Players - Tostão
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tostao 1947 births Living people Footballers from Belo Horizonte Brazilian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Men's association football forwards América Futebol Clube (MG) players Cruzeiro Esporte Clube players CR Vasco da Gama players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Brazil men's international footballers 1966 FIFA World Cup players 1970 FIFA World Cup players FIFA World Cup–winning players South American Footballer of the Year winners 20th-century Brazilian physicians Brazilian columnists 20th-century Brazilian sportsmen Federal University of Minas Gerais alumni