Zizinho

For the Brazilian football midfielder, see Zizinho (footballer, born 1962).

In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Soares and the second or paternal family name is da Silva.

Thomaz Soares da Silva, also known as Zizinho (Portuguese pronunciation: [ziˈzĩɲu]; 14 September 1921 – 8 February 2002), was a Brazilian footballer who played as an attacking midfielder for the Brazil national football team.^[9][10] He came to international prominence at the 1950 World Cup, where he scored two goals. He was lauded as a complete player, with an array of offensive skills such as his dribbling, passing, and shooting ability with both feet, as well as his accuracy from dead ball situations and extraordinary vision. He was Pelé's idol,^[7] and is often considered one of the best Brazilian men's footballers of the pre-Pelé era.

Zizinho

Zizinho in 1951
Personal information
Full name	Thomaz Soares da Silva
Date of birth	(1921-09-14)14 September 1921
Place of birth	São Gonçalo, Brazil
Date of death	8 February 2002(2002-02-08) (aged 80)
Place of death	Niterói, Brazil
Height	1.69 m (5 ft 7 in)^[1]
Position(s)	Attacking midfielder
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1939–1950	Flamengo^[2]	172	(88)
1950–1957	Bangu^[3]	147	(65)
1957–1960	São Paulo^[4]	35	(19)
1959	→ São Bento de Marília (loan)^[5]^[6]	9	(2)
1960	Uberaba Sport Club	10	(1)
1961	Audax Italiano^[7]	16	(3)
Total		389	(178)
International career
1942–1957^[8]	Brazil	53	(30)
Managerial career
1960	Bangu
1965–1966	Bangu
1967	Vasco da Gama
1972	Vasco da Gama
1980	Bangu
Medal record Men's Football Representing  Brazil FIFA World Cup Runner-up 1950 Brazil South American Championship Winner 1949 Brazil Runner-up 1945 Chile Runner-up 1946 Argentina Runner-up 1953 Peru Runner-up 1957 Peru 1942 Uruguay
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Career

Born at Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, he played for Flamengo, Bangu, São Paulo FC, Audax Italiano of Chile among others teams. He is considered the first idol of Flamengo, club that he defended - winning the state championships in 1942, 1943 and 1944 - until he was transferred just before the start of 1950 World Cup to Bangu. In São Paulo he won the state championship in 1957 being extremely important and becoming an idol.

In the 1950 World Cup he helped Brazil to progress to the final, but their surprise 2–1 defeat to Uruguay tarnished his reputation. Zizinho played a total of 53 times for his national team, scoring 30 goals. He turned down last minute invitations by the CBF to join first the 1954 World Cup Squad and then the 1958 squad, citing on both occasions that it would be unfair on the player being dropped at the last minute to make way for him.

Pelé always said that Zizinho was the best player he ever saw. "He was a complete player. He played in midfield, in attack, he scored goals, he could mark, head and cross."^[11]

Club career stats

As of match played 4 July 2023

Club	Season	League			State League		Friendly		Torneio Rio–São Paulo		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Flamengo	1940	Campeonato Carioca		0	-	9	—		-	3	—		-	5
	1941			1^[a]	-	12	—		—		-	4^[b]	-	1
	1942			1^[c]	-	11	—		—		-	1^[d]	-	14
	1943			3^[e]	-	7	—		—		-	-	-	36
	1944			1^[f]	-	8	—		—		-	1^[g]	-	29
	1945			3^[h]	-	12	—		—		—		-	26
	1946			6^[i]	-	0	—		—		—		-	7
	1947			0	-	1	—		—		—		-	22
	1948			4^[j]	-	16	—		—		-	-	-	19
	1949			0	-	7	—		—		-	-	-	22
	1950			0	-	0	—		-	1	-	-	-	22
	Subtotal			19	172	88				4		6	318	146
Bangu	1950	Campeonato Carioca	0	0	-	9	—		-	0	-	2^[k]	-	9
	1951		0	0	-	17	—		-	5	-	1^[l]	-	1
	1952		0	0	-	15	—		-	1	—		-	1
	1953		0	0	-	4	—		-	6	—		-	1
	1954		0	0	-	4	—		—		—		-	1
	1955		0	0	-	4	—		—		-	1^[m]	-	1
	1956		0	0	-	8	—		—		—		-	1
	1957		0	0	-	4	—		—		—		-	1
	Subtotal		-	-	147	65	-	-	-	12	-	4	283	124
São Paulo	1957	Campeonato Paulista	0	0	-	6	—		-	0	—		-	5
	1958		0	0	-	13	—		-	3	—		-	1
	Subtotal		-	-	35	19	-	-	-	3	-	-	67	27
São Bento de Marília	1959	Campeonato Paulista Série A2	0	0	9	2	0	0	—		-	-	-	2
Uberaba	1960	Campeonato Mineiro	0	0	10	1	0	0	—		-	-	-	1
Audax Italiano	1961	Chilean Primera División	16	3	—		0	0	—		-	-	-	3
Career total			16	3	373	175			-	19	-	23	-	303

1. Goals in Torneio Municipal-RJ
2. Goals in Carioca / Torneio Oscar Cox-RJ
3. Goals in Torneio Municipal-RJ
4. Goals in Torneio Início do Campeonato Carioca
5. Goals in Torneio Municipal-RJ
6. Goals in Torneio Municipal-RJ
7. Goals in Torneio Relâmpago-RJ
8. Goals in Torneio Municipal-RJ
9. Goals in Torneio Municipal-RJ
10. Goals in Torneio Municipal-RJ
11. Goals in Torneio Início do Rio-Sao paulo
12. Goal in Torneio Início do Campeonato Carioca
13. Goals in Torneio Início do Campeonato Carioca

International career stats

Years	Games	Goals
1942	5	2
1945	9	4
1946	7	6
1949	7	5
1950	7	3
1953	5	1
1955	1	2
1956	7	5
1957	6	2
Total	54	30

	Date	Venue	Score	Oppenent	Goal(s)	Competition
1.	14 January 1942	Centenário, Montevidéu	6–1	Chile	0	1942 South American Championship
2.	17 January 1942	Centenário, Montevidéu	1–2	Argentina	0
3.	21 January 1942	Centenário, Montevidéu	2–1	Peru	0
4.	31 January 1942	Centenário, Montevidéu	5–1	Ecuador	1
5.	5 February 1942	Centenário, Montevidéu	1–1	Paraguay	1
6.	21 January 1945	Estadio Nacional Julio Martínez Prádanos, Santiago	3–0	Colombia	0	1945 South American Championship
7.	28 January 1945	Estadio Nacional Julio Martínez Prádanos, Santiago	2–0	Bolivia	0
8.	7 February 1945	Estadio Nacional Julio Martínez Prádanos, Santiago	3–0	Uruguay	0
9.	14 February 1945	Estadio Nacional Julio Martínez Prádanos, Santiago	1–3	Argentina	0
10.	21 February 1945	Estadio Nacional Julio Martínez Prádanos, Santiago	9–2	Ecuador	2
11.	28 February 1945	Estadio Nacional Julio Martínez Prádanos, Santiago	1–0	Chile	0
12.	16 December 1945	Pacaembu Stadium, São Paulo	3–4	Argentina	1	Copa Roca 1945
13.	20 December 1945	Estádio São Januário, Rio de Janeiro	6–2	Argentina	1
14.	23 December 1945	Estádio São Januário, Rio de Janeiro	3–1	Argentina	0
15.	5 January 1946	Centenário, Montevidéu	3–4	Uruguay	1	Copa Rio Branco 1946
16.	9 January 1946	Centenário, Montevidéu	1–1	Uruguay	0
17.	16 January 1946	Estadio Gasómetro, Buenos Aires	3–0	Bolivia	1	1946 South American Championship
18.	23 January 1946	Estadio Gasómetro, Buenos Aires	4–3	Uruguay	0
19.	29 January 1946	Estadio Libertadores de América, Avellaneda	1–1	Paraguay	0
20.	3 February 1946	Estadio Gasómetro, Buenos Aires	5–1	Chile	4
21.	10 February 1946	Estadio Monumental (Buenos Aires), Buenos Aires	0–2	Argentina	0
22.	3 April 1949	Estádio São Januário, Rio de Janeiro	9–1	Ecuador	1	1949 South American Championship
23.	10 April 1949	Pacaembu Stadium, São Paulo	10–1	Bolivia	2
24.	13 April 1949	Pacaembu Stadium, São Paulo	2–1	Chile	1
25.	24 April 1949	Estádio São Januário, Rio de Janeiro	7–1	Peru	0
26.	30 April 1949	Estádio São Januário, Rio de Janeiro	5–1	Uruguay	1
27.	8 May 1949	Estádio São Januário, Rio de Janeiro	1–2	Paraguay	0
28.	11 May 1949	Estádio São Januário, Rio de Janeiro	7–0	Paraguay	0
29.	6 May 1950	Pacaembu Stadium, São Paulo	3–4	Uruguay	1	Copa Rio Branco 1950
30.	14 May 1950	Estádio São Januário, Rio de Janeiro	3–2	Uruguay	0
31.	17 May 1950	Estádio São Januário, Rio de Janeiro	1–0	Uruguay	0
–	4 May 1950	Estádio São Januário, Rio de Janeiro	6–4	Combinado Grenal	1	Friendly
32.	1 July 1950	Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro	2–0	Yugoslavia	1	1950 FIFA World Cup
33.	9 July 1950	Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro	7–1	Sweden	0
34.	13 July 1950	Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro	6–1	Spain	1
35.	16 July 1950	Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro	1–2	Uruguay	0
36.	1 March 1953	National Stadium of Peru, Lima	8–1	Bolivia	0	1953 South American Championship
37.	15 March 1953	National Stadium of Peru, Lima	1–0	Uruguay	0
38.	19 March 1953	National Stadium of Peru, Lima	0–1	Peru	0
39.	23 March 1953	National Stadium of Peru, Lima	3–2	Chile	1
40.	27 March 1953	National Stadium of Peru, Lima	1–2	Paraguay	0
41.	13 November 1955	Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro	3–0	Paraguay	2	Taça Oswaldo Cruz 1955
42.	12 June 1956	Estádio do Club Libertad, Assunção	2–0	Paraguay	0	Taça Oswaldo Cruz 1956
43.	17 June 1956	Estádio do Club Libertad, Assunção	5–2	Paraguay	2
44.	24 June 1956	Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro	2–0	Uruguay	1	Taça do Atlântico de 1956
45.	1 July 1956	Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro	2–0	Italy	0	Friendly
46.	8 July 1956	Estadio Presidente Juan Domingo Perón, Buenos Aires	0–0	Argentina	0	Taça do Atlântico de 1956
47.	5 August 1956	Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro	0–1	Czechoslovakia	0	Friendly
48.	8 August 1956	Pacaembu Stadium, São Paulo	4–1	Czechoslovakia	2	Friendly
49.	13 March 1957	National Stadium of Peru, Lima	4–2	Chile	0	1957 South American Championship
50.	21 March 1957	National Stadium of Peru, Lima	7–1	Ecuador	1
51.	24 March 1957	National Stadium of Peru, Lima	9–0	Colombia	1
52.	28 March 1957	National Stadium of Peru, Lima	2–3	Uruguay	0
53.	31 March 1957	National Stadium of Peru, Lima	1–0	Peru	0
54.	3 April 1957	National Stadium of Peru, Lima	0–3	Argentina	0

Honours

Club

Flamengo

• Campeonato Carioca: 1942, 1943, 1944

São paulo

• Campeonato Paulista: 1957

International

• FIFA World Cup runner-up: 1950
• South American Championship: 1949
• Taça do Atlântico: 1956
• Roca Cup: 1945
• Copa Rio Branco: 1950
• Taça Oswaldo Cruz: 1955, 1956

Individual

• FIFA World Cup Golden Ball: 1950^[12]
• FIFA World Cup All-Star Team: 1950
• IFFHS Brazilian Player of the 20th Century (4th place)^[13]
• IFFHS South American Player of the 20th Century (10th place)^[13]
• Brazilian Football Museum Hall of Fame

Records

• South American Championship / Copa América all-time top goalscorer: 17 goals (shared with Norberto Méndez)^[14]

References

1. "Zizinho (Player) | National Football Teams".
2. [1] Fla-Estatística (in Portuguese)
3. [2] Almanaque do Bangu (in Portuguese)
4. "Estadao.com.br - Acervo". Acervo Estadão (in Brazilian Portuguese).
5. [3] Arquivos do Futebol (in Portuguese)
6. [4] História do Marília (in Portuguese)
7. Morales, Italo. "El ídolo de Pelé y la selección brasileña que se retiró en Audax" (in Spanish). Diario AS Chile.
8. "Thomaz Soares da Silva "Zizinho" - Goals in International Matches". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation.
9. "World Football Legends - Zizinho (1921-2002)". World-football-legends.co.uk. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
10. "Obituary: Jair da Rosa Pinto". The Guardian. 16 August 2005. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
11. Bellos, Alex (12 February 2002), "Obituary: Zizinho", The Guardian
12. "World Cup 2014: Fifa announces Golden Ball shortlist". BBC Sport. 12 July 2014. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
13. IFFHS' Century Elections 7 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine
14. FIFA.com (30 June 2011). . FIFA.com. Archived from the original on 2 July 2017. Retrieved 25 May 2017.

External links

• – FIFA competition record (archived)
• Craque Imortal (in Portuguese)