Jair Arantes do Nascimento (22 July 1942 – 25 March 2020), known as Zoca, 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 ...

who played as a forward. He was the brother of

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 ...

and son of Dondinho.

Footballing career

Zoca was born in

Três Corações Três Corações () is a municipality in the south of Minas Gerais state in Brazil. As of 2020, the city population was estimated at 80,032, making it one of the largest cities in the south of Minas Gerais. The city is geographically located close ...

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 ...

, two years after his older brother, legendary Brazilian footballer

. He grew up in the

Bauru Bauru () is a Brazilian municipality located in the interior of São Paulo state, recognized as the most populous city in the Central-West region of São Paulo. It is one of the 19 municipalities comprising the Bauru Immediate Geographic Region ...

municipality in

São Paulo state SAO or Sao may refer to: Places * Sao civilisation, in Middle Africa from 6th century BC to 16th century AD * Sao, a town in Boussé Department, Burkina Faso * Serb Autonomous Regions (''Srpska autonomna oblast'', SAO), during the breakup of ...

as a child, joining the youth academy of Noroeste in the 1950s. He moved to

Santos, São Paulo Santos (, ''Saints''), officially Municipality of Estância Balneária de Santos, is a city and Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in the Brazilian States of Brazil, state of São Paulo (state), São Paulo, founded in 1546 by the Portuguese n ...

, joining

Portuguesa Santista Portuguesa is a Portuguese language, Portuguese, Catalan language, Catalan, and Spanish language, Spanish feminine adjective meaning "Portuguese". It may also refer to: Places *Portuguesa (state), one of the 23 states of Venezuela *Portuguesa (Ri ...

, where he played for four seasons before following in his brother's footsteps and signing for Santos in 1960. He made his debut for Santos on 10 April 1961, coming on as a substitute for Coutinho in a 6–1 win over America-RJ. In the last minute of the game, Santos won a penalty, and though he stepped up to take it, Zoca failed to convert from the spot. Between April and June 1962, with seven members of the Santos squad at 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 ...

, Zoca was given a run in the squad for the Copa São Paulo. His first official goal for Santos came in this competition, scoring in a 2–1 loss to Corinthians de Presidente Prudente. In total, he scored 77 goals in 85 games for Santos (including matches with the reserve team, where he featured for the most part of his spell at the club), before retiring in 1966 to focus on supporting his brother's career.

Later life and death

Zoca received degrees in marketing and law from the

Catholic University of Santos The Catholic University of Santos (, UniSantos or Católica de Santos) is a Brazilian private and non-profit Catholic university, located in Santos, São Paulo, the first university in the region of the city. It is one of the largest and most p ...

and

University of São Paulo The Universidade de São Paulo (, USP) is a public research university in the Brazilian state of São Paulo, and the largest public university in Brazil. The university was founded on 25 January 1934, regrouping already existing schools in ...

, respectively. He worked as his brother's business manager during his time with the

New York Cosmos New York Cosmos may refer to * New York Cosmos (1970–1985), a team in the North American Soccer League (then the top-tier soccer league in the United States and Canada) * New York Cosmos (2010), a team playing since 2020 in the National Indepen ...

. In 1979, with Zoca looking to study English at the

Manhattanville College Manhattanville University is a private university in Purchase, New York, United States. Founded in 1841 as a school at 412 Houston Street in Lower Manhattan, it was initially known as the "Academy of the Sacred Heart". In 1917, the academy recei ...

Purchase, New York Purchase is a hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set ...

, the athletic director of the college, Joe Daunic, reached out and offered him the chance to coach the college women's soccer team while he studied, in an attempt to improve his English by immersing himself. Initially reluctant, Zoca eventually agreed, going on to manage the side for three seasons. In 1982, he was the assistant of the

Long Island University Long Island University (LIU) is a private university in Brooklyn and Brookville, New York, United States. The university enrolls over 16,000 students and offers over 500 academic programs at its main campuses, LIU Brooklyn and LIU Post on Long I ...

women's soccer team. Zoca died on 25 March 2020, after suffering with prostate cancer.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zoca 1942 births 2020 deaths University of São Paulo alumni Manhattanville University alumni People from Três Corações Footballers from Minas Gerais Brazilian men's footballers Men's association football forwards Esporte Clube Noroeste players Associação Atlética Portuguesa (Santos) players Santos FC players Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in the United States 20th-century Brazilian sportsmen