Gérson
Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Full name | Gérson de Oliveira Nunes | ||||||||||||||||
Date of birth | 11 January 1941 | ||||||||||||||||
Place of birth | Niterói, Brazil | ||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)[1] | ||||||||||||||||
Position(s) | Midfielder | ||||||||||||||||
Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
1958 |
Canto do Rio | ||||||||||||||||
Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
1959–1963 |
Flamengo[2] | 58 | (33) | ||||||||||||||
1963–1969 | Botafogo[3] | 99 | (35) | ||||||||||||||
1969–1972 | 33 | (5) | |||||||||||||||
1972–1974 |
Fluminense[5] | 21 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
Total | 211 | (74) | |||||||||||||||
International career | |||||||||||||||||
1961–1972 | Brazil | 70 | (14) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
Gérson de Oliveira Nunes (Portuguese pronunciation:
Career
Gérson was born and spent his childhood in the city of Niterói, just to the eastern side of Guanabara Bay from Rio de Janeiro, then the capital of the former Rio de Janeiro State. In school he was nicknamed papagaio (parrot), a nickname he kept throughout his life and which many of his fellow footballers used when addressing him.
Both his father and uncle were professional footballers in Rio. His father was a close friend of the legendary
As a boy his heroes had been the aforementioned
Within a year of making his professional debut for
In 1963 he chose not to sign another contract with
Later on, he also played for
Gérson is considered one of the best passers in World Cup history. Although he didn't play well in 1966, he was the mastermind behind the whole Brazil national team in the 1970 tournament. He is regarded as the best passer and midfielder in that edition of that World Cup, in that Brazilian squad, and the second best player in the 4–1 victory against
Outside the soccer pitch, Gérson's name became nationally infamous after he starred in a
Style of play
Although Gérson played as a holding midfielder, Jonathan Wilson noted in a 2013 article for The Guardian that he was an early example of a more creative interpreter of this role, who focussed more on ball retention and passing rather than solely looking to win back possession.[14] A tactically intelligent, efficient, and technically gifted midfield playmaker, he was considered the "brain" behind the Brazilian squad that won the 1970 World Cup.[6] He was known for his ability to retain possession and dictate the tempo of his team's play in midfield with his precise passing, and was also capable of switching from defence to attack by playing sudden, accurate long balls to meet his teammates' runs; he is regarded as one of the best passers in the history of the sport, and as one of Brazil's greatest ever players. He also possessed an excellent positional sense, and a powerful shot with his left foot, which earned him the nickname Canhotinha de Ouro ("Golden left foot," in Portuguese).[11][12][15][16][17][18][19][20]
Controversy
Gérson displayed anger towards Pelé's list of the 125 greatest living footballer. He was adamant with the ruling and thought that he and a few of his teammates deserved a spot on the list. He symbolically ripped up a piece of paper, a clear representation of Pelé's list, on a local broadcasting station saying that "I respect his opinion, but I don't agree. Apart from Zidane, Platini, and Fontaine, I'm behind 11 Frenchmen? It's a joke to hear this."[21]
Career statistics
- Brazil national team (87 matches / 19 goals)
- Flamengo(153 matches / 80 goals)
- Botafogo (248 matches / 96 goals)
- São Paulo(75 matches / 12 goals)
- Fluminense(57 matches / 5 goals)
Honours
Club
Flamengo
- Torneio Rio-São Paulo: 1961
- Rio de Janeiro State Championship: 1963
Botafogo
- Torneio Rio-São Paulo: 1964, 1966
- Taça Brasil: 1968
- Rio de Janeiro State Championship: 1967, 1968
São Paulo
- São Paulo State Championship: 1970, 1971
Fluminense
International
Brazil
- 1970
Individual
- FIFA World Cup Silver Ball: 1970[citation needed]
- FIFA World Cup All-Star Team: 1970
- World XI: 1971[22]
- World Soccer: The 100 Greatest Footballers of All Time[23]
- Brazilian Football Museum Hall of Fame
References and notes
- ^ "Gérson". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
- ^ [1] Fla-Estatística (in Portuguese)
- ^ [2] BrFut (in Portuguese)
- ^ [3] BrFut (in Portuguese)
- ^ a b "Futpedia" (in Brazilian Portuguese). Futpedia.globo.com. Archived from the original on 21 May 2019. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
- ^ a b Kraba, Millie (2002), The Story Has Been Told. p.85. Xlibris Publishers. Retrieved 27 July 2012
- ^ ISBN 0-684-81955-4
- ^ RSSSF, José de Jesus Mora Rivera, Dave Litterer, Neil Morrison and Mikael Jönsson: "Panamerican Games 1959 (Chicago)" (there listed as "Garson")
- ^ "Gérson". Olympedia. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
- ^ RSSSF, Macario Reyes: "XVII. Olympiad Rome 1960 Football Tournament"
- ^ a b Dustin Parkes (27 May 2014). "What happened at the 1970 World Cup?". The Score. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
- ^ a b Brian Viner (13 July 2009). "Great Sporting Moments: Brazil 4 Italy 1, 1970 World Cup final". The Independent. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
- ^ Global Integrity – Brazil Notebook Archived 9 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Wilson, Jonathan (18 December 2013). "The Question: what does the changing role of holding midfielders tell us?". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
- ^ "Brazil's greatest midfielders". Sky Sports. 2 July 2010. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
- ^ Max Towle (9 May 2013). "25 Most Skilled Passers in World Football History". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
- ^ Sam Tighe (19 March 2013). "50 Greatest Midfielders in the History of World Football". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
- ^ Gary Thacker (10 October 2017). "Gérson: the brain of Brazilian football". thesefootballtimes.co. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
- ^ Christopher Atkins (15 January 2013). "Pele and the 20 Greatest Brazilian Footballers of All Time". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
- ^ Salvatore Lo Presti. "GERSON de Oliveira Nunes" (in Italian). Treccani: Enciclopedia dello Sport (2002). Retrieved 28 March 2019.
- ^ "Copacabana.info, Pele list of greatest living football players". Archived from the original on 2 October 2011. Retrieved 23 August 2011.
- ^ "Eric Batty's World XI – The Seventies". Beyond The Last Man. 7 November 2013. Archived from the original on 5 July 2022. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
- ^ World Soccer: The 100 Greatest Footballers of All Time. Retrieved 20 November 2015
External links
- Gérson profile – FIFA competition record (archived)
- Sambafoot
- Gérson at National-Football-Teams.com