Waldemar de Brito

Waldemar de Brito

File:Waldemar de Brito.jpg Waldermar playing for Botafogo F.R. in 1934
Personal information
Full name	Waldemar de Brito
Date of birth	(1913-05-17)17 May 1913
Place of birth	São Paulo, Brazil
Date of death
Place of death	São Paulo, Brazil
Height
Position(s)	Forward
Youth career
1923–1927	São Paulo FC
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1927	Syrio	11	(11)
1928	Independência F.C.	9	(8)
1929–1932	Syrio	28	(25)
1933–1934	São Paulo F.C.	31	(23)
1934	Botafogo F.R.	29	(30)
1935–1936	San Lorenzo de Almagro	3	(3)
1937–39	C.R. Flamengo	61	(36)
1939–1940	San Lorenzo de Almagro	43	(22)
1941–1942	São Paulo F.C.	138	(56)
1943	Fluminense F.C.	4	(1)
1944	Associação Portuguesa de Desportos	5	(5)
1945–1946	S.E. Palmeiras	4	(3)
1946	Associação Atlética Portuguesa (Santos)	6	(5)
Total		372	(228)
International career
1934–1942	Brazil	18	(18)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Waldemar de Brito (Portuguese pronunciation: [vɐwdeˈmaɾ dʒi ˈbɾitu], 17 May 1913 – 21 February 1979) was a Brazilian footballer who played for several clubs in Brazil and Argentina, as well as for the Brazil national team. He is acknowledged to have discovered Pelé during the latter's early footballing days. His brother, Petronilho de Brito, was also a footballer.

Club career

Waldemar, a native of São Paulo, played as an inside forward or as centre forward. At the beginning of his career, he played for the local clubs Syrio, Independência, and São Paulo da Floresta, today's São Paulo FC; he was top goalscorer of the Rio-São Paulo Tournament with 21 goals. The following year, he moved to Botafogo, where he spent a short time, before transferring to San Lorenzo de Almagro in the Argentine first division. In 1936, he returned to Brazil, this time to play for Flamengo, with whom he won the Campeonato Carioca of 1939. He went back to São Paulo in 1943, to play for Portuguesa de Desportos. He finished his playing career in 1945 with Portuguesa Santista.

National team

Waldemar was capped 18 times for the Brazilian national team, scoring 18 goals. He played at the 1934 World Cup, where Brazil was eliminated by Spain in the first round. In that match, Waldemar took a penalty kick for Brazil, but Spain goalkeeper Ricardo Zamora saved his shot.

Post-playing career

After he retired, Waldemar de Brito was part of a project to scout young talents at Bauru Atlético Clube. In 1954, he spotted a kid named Edson Arantes do Nascimento, whom he took to Santos FC, predicting that he would become the greatest footballer in the world. Although Waldemar is recognized for his own talent while he was a player, it is perhaps his scouting of Pelé that makes him most notable in the history of football in Brazil.