The 1950’s did not start well for Flamengo. In fact, the club found itself in quite a mess. During the fallout from Brazil’s 1950 World Cup loss, the club decided to sell Zizinho, a beloved Flamengo player that Pele once described as the best he had ever seen, to Bangu, in what was considered to be the worst transfer deal in Brazilian football history. Without Zizinho in their ranks, the team faltered and ended the 1950 Carioca Championship in 7th place. They became the laughing stock of the league until, that was, the arrival of Fleitas Solich, the former Paraguayan player known as “El Brujo”, who miraculously got Flamengo back on track. By no means did the side he inherited lack quality. Their defence was strong, the midfield was creative and the attack was talented, however a few pieces were still missing. So Solich added Dida, Evaristo, Zagallo and Nanny to the team, had Flamengo play in a classic, Hungarian-inspired 2-3-5 formation and did some other tactical tinkering. The result was one of the greatest club sides Brazil has ever seen, who had the teams that were laughing at them just a year before cowering in fear.

 

Flamengo that season had the best attacking and defensive records, plus the league’s top scorer. They earned back the respect of their opponents further in 1954 by winning the bicampeonato with 19 wins, 6 draws and 2 losses scoring 64 goals. In 1955, Flamengo aimed to make history by gunning for their second tri-championship. They rolled through the campaign with ease, which included a 6-1 victory over arch-rival Fluminense. 140,000 fans filled the Maracana and saw Flamengo win the championship, making the club the first three-time champion of the competition. They then took their brand of football home and abroad in a series of friendlies where they defeated Red Star (4-1), Internacional (5-1), Penarol (3-2), Nacional (3-2) and Benfica (1-0). Flamengo were unable to add to their titles between 1957 and 1960, and Solich temporarily left the club.

 

However, in 1957 Flamengo played the mythical Hungarian team Budapest Honved, who were at the time, possibly the greatest team in the world. Flamengo won an incredible match by the score of 6-4. The teams played each other twice more, though Honved won each. These games were the last in red and black for Evaristo, who departed for Barcelona. Zagallo followed him out for Botafogo in 1958 who had begun to build another one of the greatest sides in Brazilian football, but that’s another story.

 

Solich returned in 1960 to get the house back in order, and in 1961 the red-blacks won the Octagonal Summer Tournament. Normally, winning a summer tournament isn’t that big of a deal – except this one was comprised of Boca Juniors, River Plate, Nacional, Cerro, Vasco da Gama, Corinthians and Sao Paulo, the best sides on the continent. Apart from Boca and Cerro, they all suffered defeat to Flamengo. The trophy was celebrated as one of the biggest achievements in the club’s history, but there was more to come. Flamengo then entered the Rio-Sao Paulo tournament, one of the biggest competitions in Brazil at the time between the best teams from the two states. Flamengo started well with 2 wins, before a big 7-1 loss to Pele’s Santos, Brazils best team at the time. Flamengo overcame this with a defeat of Portuguese and qualified for the final round. They won all 3 matches including a surprise 5-1 upset of the same Santos who destroyed them earlier, in an unforgettable revenge match. Flamengo won the Rio-SP title, but had to wait for years to dominate their own state for the Carioca championship.

Achievements: Campionato Carioca – Champions x3 Runners-up x2
                              Tornio Rio-Sao Paulo – Winners x1 Runners-up x1
                              Octagonal Summer Championship – Winners x1

Star player: Mario Zagallo – DoB 9 August 1931, Maceio, Brazil, Nickname - Velho Lobo (The Old Wolf)

Mario Jorge Lobo Zagallo is a famous former football manager and player. Zagallo was the first player to win the World Cup as both a player and manager. He was on the winning side in 1958 and 1962 as a player with Brazil, and led the national team to World Cup glory in 1970 as manager and in 1994 as assistant manager. In 1970, he became the second youngest coach to win the world title, aged 38. His playing career began at America, another club based in Rio de Janeiro, before he joined Flamengo where he spent eight years making 217 appearances. He mainly played on the left wing and was known for his high defensive work rate, making runs into the attack from deep areas of the pitch. He was also a versatile player, having goes at forward, striker and inside forward. In his years as a manager, he became known as “The Professor” due to his tactical awareness and “Velho Lobo” (The Old Wolf) due to his surname Lobo. His managerial career lasted from 1966 to 2011, during which he coached Botafogo, Brazil, Flamengo, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Vasco da Gama among others.