How Can We Help?
You are here:
< Back

Edvaldo Izidio Neto (12 November 1934 – 19 January 2002), commonly known as Vavá, was a Brazilian professional footballer who is widely considered to be one of the greatest strikers of his generation. Nicknamed "Peito de Aço" (Steel Chest), he most notably played for Vasco da Gama, Atlético Madrid, Palmeiras and the Brazil national team.

International career

Vavá earned twenty caps with the Brazil national team between 1955 and 1964, scoring a total of fifteen goals. He was in the side that won both the 1958 and 1962 FIFA World Cups, in which he scored five and four goals, respectively. Furthermore, he was a joint-recipient of the 1962 World Cup Golden Boot as one of the tournament's top scorers. Vavá was also part of Brazil's squad for the 1952 Summer Olympics.[1]

Vavá scored in the World Cup finals of both 1958 (twice) and 1962 (once), thus becoming the first player to score in two finals. To this day, only five players have achieved this feat, the other four being Pelé, Paul Breitner, Zinedine Zidane, and Kylian Mbappé. He remained the only player to have scored in two consecutive World Cup final matches until Kylian Mbappé achieved the feat in the 2022 World Cup final, having also scored in the final in 2018.

Club statistics

Club performance League
Season Club League Apps Goals
Spain League
1958–59 Atlético Madrid La Liga 27 16
1959–60 29 10
1960–61 15 5
Country Spain 71 31
United States League
1968 San Diego Toros North American Soccer League 28 5
Country United States 28 5
Total 99 36

Honours

Club

Sport Recife

Vasco da Gama

Atlético de Madrid

Palmeiras

Club América

International

Brazil national football team

Individual

References

  1. ^ "Vavá". Olympedia. Retrieved 6 November 2021.

Sources

External links

Categories
Table of Contents