Mario Zagallo, a hero in Brazilian football who became the first person to win the FIFA World Cup as both a player and coach, passed away at the age of 92.
Zagallo played a crucial role in Brazil’s ascent to prominence as a major player in international football.
Zagallo, who passed away on Friday, was the last living member of the Brazilian squad that raised the 1958 World Cup trophy—the nation’s first championship and a consolation prize after an agonizing eight-year loss to Uruguay at the Maracana.
“I was at the Maracana for that fateful loss to Uruguay. I was a soldier and it was my job to keep people off the pitch,” said Zagallo, of a result that prompted national mourning.